Balthazar Alvarez (April 1534 – July 25, 1580) was a Spanish Catholic mystic and was the spiritual director of St. Teresa.
Alvarez was born in Cervera del Río Alhama,[1] Spain, in April 1534 to a noble family.
His inclination was first towards the Carthusians because of their life of contemplation, but finally he entered the Society of Jesus at Alcalá in 1555, fifteen years after its foundation.
[3] Alvarez not only guided her in matters of the spirit, but defended her from her critics, encouraged her in her work of reform, and had much to do with framing the rules of the new Order.
[3] In 1574 he was made rector of Salamanca and visitor of the Province of Aragon and, in 1579, was about to be sent as provincial to Peru but that project was never carried out.