Johann Wilhelm von Ripperda was born around 1680 in a small village in Groningen, Netherlands. He claims to have been born a Roman Catholic, but he appears to have converted to Calvinism in order to be elected to the Dutch Government. In 1715 he was appointed as the Dutch ambassador to Spain. After some time it became clear to the Dutch officials that Ripperda was more concerned with Spain's interests than Holland's and so he was recalled. Shortly after this he returned to Spain, reverted to Catholicism and took up Spanish citizenship. He was then employed by the Spanish government in commercial matters due to his knowledge of economics. He was also given a post in a cloth factory in Guadalajara where he apparently sent 50 or so Dutch weavers in order to save the factory. It's thought that this may be what brought him to the attention of Queen Elisabeth (who it is said had a good deal of influence over her husband King Phillip V). At any rate in 1724 Phillip and Elisabeth were looking for someone to send to Vienna to negotiate a treaty with the Holy Roman Empire, and Ripperda was chosen. He was probably chosen because he was obscure enough to be disavowed and he had a knowledge of foreign languages. His mission was to secure favorable marriages for Phillip and Elisabeth's children and to gain the Empire's protection for Spain. By all accounts the terms he negotiated were not very good for Spain but right around the time that he relayed these terms back to Spain there was a falling out between France and Spain. So with France and Spain on the brink of War King Phillip signed the treaty (which became known as the 1725 treaty of Vienna) on May 1 1725. In the meantime other countries were beginning to get nervous about the new friendship between Austria (The site of the Holy Roman Empire) and Spain and so France, Prussia, and England signed the Alliance of Hanover on September 3 1725. This in turn scared Spain and Austria which couldn't have been better for Ripperda. He used the occasion to secure marriages for the King and Queen's children and to strengthen Spain's relationship with Austria; and when he returned to Spain in November of 1725 he convinced the King of Spain that the Holy Roman Emperor wished for him to become the Prime Minister of Spain. So on December 12 1725 Johann Ripperda became the Prime Minister of Spain. However, it wouldn't last long, it soon became apparent that he had been less than honest with both the King of Spain and the Emperor. It turns out that in the treaty he had negotiated Spain was to supply the money and Austria the troops, unfortunately Ripperda misled Austria into thinking that Spain had the funds (which they certainly did not) and he also misled Spain into thinking that Austria would provide far more protection then they were actually capable of doing. So on April 14 1726 he was asked to step down from the position of Prime Minister. Now at this point he still wasn't really in any actual trouble in fact he was given a pension when he was asked to step down, but soon word of the bad treaty started to spread to the general population. It got so bad that Ripperda feared that he would be ripped to pieces by angry mobs in the street. Panic-stricken he took refuge in the English embassy. While there he spilled his guts to the English Ambassador, which the Spanish government didn't take very kindly to as one would imagine. Actually some historians believe that Ripperda's babbling may have actually prevented war since England and the other members of the Alliance felt much less threatened once they knew the true extent of the treaty between Spain and Austria. At any rate, Spain demanded that the English Ambassador hand Ripperda over. He refused and in a huge breach of protocol Spanish troops came into the embassy and forcibly removed him. From there he was sent to prison in a castle in Segovia, Spain. He was imprisoned here for two years. Then in 1728 it seems he seduced a young maid-servant named Josefa Ramos. With her help and the help of a corporal who remained loyal to Ripperda he escaped from the tower. It is said that he made his escape by way of a rope-ladder despite being crippled with the gout. They then made their way across the border to Portugal and eventually to London. The English government showed him their appreciation by providing for his expenses which allowed him a large home in Soho square. In London on April 23 1729 Josefa gave birth to her first child with Ripperda. In time the matters between Spain and England were settled and Ripperda was of no use to England any longer so he was cast off. In 1731 he and Josefa returned to Holland and there on December 5 1731 in the Haag, Francois Joseph was born to Josepha Ramos and Johan Ripperda. Shortly after this Ripperda met and befriended a Moorish agent in Holland and bargained to enter the service of Muley Abdallah, Emperor of Morocco. It is known that he did go to Morocco, but not much of what he did there is known although there are many stories most of which are probably just tall tales. The only thing that is known for certain is that on May 11 1737 he died in Tetuan, Morocco.