Valdez, or VALDES, JUAN DE, Spanish reformer (1500-44), became an object of suspicion to the Inquisition by a politico-religious tractate or 'Dialogue between Mercury and Charon,' and settled in Italy, living the rest of his life at Naples. He was the centre of an influential circle of religious thinkers, including Ochino; though regarded as a heretic, he sought the regeneration of the Catholic Church from within, and never inclined to Lutheranism.
Among his works are Spiritual Milk, The Christian Alphabet, CX. Considerations and Commentaries on Matthew, Romans, and 1st Corinthians, some extant in the original Spanish, some only in Italian translations. The four last-mentioned works have been translated into English (1865-83). See monographs by Stern (Strasb. 1869) and Carrasco (Geneva, 1880), M'Crie's Reformation in Italy, and Wiffen's life prefixed to his translation of the Considerations (1865).