Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba (29 October 150711 December 1582), known as the Grand Duke of Alba (, ) in Spain and Portugal and as the Iron Duke () or shortly 'Alva' in the Netherlands and Belgium, was a Spanish military officer, statesman and diplomat.
He has often been considered the most effective general of his generation,De la Fuente Arrimadas, Nicolás. Fisiografía e historia del Barco de Ávila. Ávila. Tipografía y encuadernación de Senén Martín. 1925. p. 251.The World's Great and Eccentric Characters: Their Lives and Their Deeds, A.L. Bancroft, 1877The London Magazine; Or, Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer Vol. 48, 1779 as well as one of the greatest in history.Belda Plans, Juan. Grandes personajes del Siglo de Oro español. Ediciones Palabra S.A. Madrid. 2013. p. 20. . Historian John Lothrop Motley wrote of him "no man had studied military science more deeply, or practiced it more constantly" at his day.Motley, John Lothrop. The Rise of the Dutch Republic. London, 1868, 9, 336. He was a royal promoter of military action against France and Protestantism, although he also defended a moral and strategic alliance with England that never realized. Alba achieved notoriety for his role during the Eighty Years' War in the Spanish Netherlands, where his prolonged campaigns and repressive political actions caused his figure to be reviled in European history as a symbol of tyranny.
Born into a prominent Castilian military family, Alba first distinguished himself in the 1535 conquest of Tunis during the Ottoman–Habsburg Wars as part of a long conflict for predominance over the western Mediterranean Sea. He then commanded the Spanish troops at the Battle of Mühlberg (1547), where the army of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V defeated the German Protestant princes in the Schmalkaldic War. Alba was the commander-in-chief of the Spanish-Habsburg army during the Italian War of 1551–1559, and became governor of Milan in 1555 and viceroy of Naples in 1556.
In 1567, King Philip II of Spain appointed Alba governor of the Netherlands and tasked him with the suppression of Dutch rebels. Alba instituted the Council of Troubles, which led to the condemnations of thousands and came to be known as the "Council of Blood". Alba repeatedly defeated the troops of William of Orange during the first stages of the Eighty Years' War, but failed to extinguish politically the rebellion, and in 1573 he was recalled to Spain in temporary political disgrace. Alba's last military successes were in the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580, for which he was rewarded the titles viceroy and constable of Portugal. He held both titles until his death in Lisbon in 1582.
Early years
Fernando was born in Piedrahíta, Province of Ávila, on 29 October 1507. He was the son of García Álvarez de Toledo y Zúñiga, heir of Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo y Enríquez de Quiñones, II Duke of Alba de Tormes, and of Beatriz Pimentel, daughter of Rodrigo Alonso Pimentel, IV Count – I Duke of Benavente and his wife, María Pacheco. Fernando was orphaned at age three when his father, García, died during a campaign in 1510 on the African island of Djerba. At the age of six, Fernando accompanied his grandfather, the second Duke of Alba, on a military mission to capture Navarre.
His youth and education were typical for Castilian nobility of the age. He was educated at the ducal court of the House of Alba, located in the Castle Palace of Alba de Tormes, by two Italian preceptors, Bernardo Gentilea Sicilian Benedictineand Severo Marini and by the Spanish Renaissance poet and writer Juan Boscan. He was educated in Roman Catholicism and humanism. He mastered Latin and knew French, English and German.
In 1523, when he was sixteen, he joined the troops of Constable of Castile, Íñigo Fernández de Velasco, II Duke of Frías, during the capture of Fuenterrabía, then occupied by France and Navarre. For his role in the siege, Fernando was appointed governor of Fuenterrabía.
When his grandfather Fadrique died in 1531, the ducal title passed to Fernando as the firstborn son of Garcia. Throughout his adulthood, he served the Spanish monarchs Charles I and his successor Philip II.
Mayordomo mayor to the Spanish kings In 1541 Fernando Álvarez de Toledo was named Mayordomo Mayor del Rey de España (High Steward to the King of Spain) by Charles I of Spain.De Atienza y Navajas, Julio (barón de Cobos de Belchite). La obra de Julio de Atienza y Navajas, barón de Cobos de Belchite y marqués del Vado Glorioso en "Hidalguía". Instituto Salzar y castro. Madrid. Hidalguía. 1993. p. 196. Alba kept this office in court until the abdication of the monarch in 1556.
In 1546 Charles I, Grand Master, invested the Duke of Alba as knight of the Illustrious Order of the Golden Fleece.
From 1548 King Charles intensified the preparations of Prince Philip as his successor in the Spanish Monarchy, and he named Duke of Alba mayordomo mayor of his son to prepare Philip for his new role. Fernando took Philip on a tour around Europe that lasted until 1551. In 1554, Fernando accompanied Philip to England to attend his marriage to Mary I. The Duke was one of fifteen grandees of Spain who attended the ceremony in the abbey of Winchester on 25 July.
After the death of Charles, the new King Philip II maintained Alba as mayordomo mayor until the death of the Duke in 1582.
In 1563, King Philip II created the title Duke of Huéscar to be bestowed on the heir of the Dukes of Alba. Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, son of Fernando became 1st Duke of Huéscar.
In 1566, Alba's son and heir, Fadrique, broke his promise of marriage to Magdalena de Guzman, lady of Queen Anne of Austria, which led to his arrest and imprisonment in the Castle of La Mota in Valladolid. The following year he was released so he could go to Flanders with his father to serve in the military. In 1578 Philip II ordered the case against Fadrique reopened. It was discovered that in order to avoid marriage, Fadrique had secretly married María de Toledo, daughter of García Álvarez de Toledo y Osorio, IV Marquess of Villafranca del Bierzo, using a permit issued for that purpose by his father the Duke of Alba. Fadrique was sent to prison, in the Castle of La Mota. Fernando, Duke of Alba was banished from the court for one year for "breaking the strict court protocol." The Duke went into exile in Uceda, where his secretaries Fernando de Albornoz and Esteban Ibarra likewise spent their punishment.Documents about the causes that motivated the prission of D. Fadrique, son of the duke of Alba, and that the same time, the duke himself, op. cit., vol. VII, pp. 464–524, y vol. VIII, pp. 483–529.
Military commands
Against the Ottomans and French (1532–1542) After Fernando had become the third Duke of Alba in 1532, Charles V sent him to Vienna to help defend the city against an Ottoman invasion army. No battle ensued as the Ottomans, having lost momentum due to time lost during the Siege of Güns, decided not to advance against Vienna and retreated from the field.
During this time, he was accompanied by the soldier-poet Garcilaso de la Vega throughout his travels in Europe. The special access that De La Vega had as a close companion to Alba, coupled with his skilled craft as a writer, allows the historian to delve into the deepest emotions expressed by the Duke of Alba through the poetry of De La Vega, specifically concerning the arduous travels while on a war-footing as well as the emotional longing that Alba expressed for his wife.
The Duke's first military command to engage in battle was in the conquest of Tunis. In early June 1535 at Cagliari, he embarked with the military force commanded by the Marquess of Vasto. On 14 July, the fortress of La Goleta was seized, and a week later the army took the city of Tunis which was defended by Hayreddin Barbarossa. Thus Spain regained control over the western Mediterranean Sea.
In 1542, he led the Spanish troops against the French Army, ending the siege of Perpignan. The siege was a decisive victory for Alba and one of the worst defeats of Francis I during the French offensive of 1542.
In Germany (1546–1547) In 1547, Charles I, in his capacity as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor engaged with the Protestant forces in the Schmalkaldic War. The Duke of Alba was in charge of Tercios, the elite Spanish ground troops during the Battle of Mühlberg on the banks of the river Elbe. A flanking attack by Alba's Tercios was largely responsible for the imperial army's decisive victory against the Elector of Saxony.
In Milan and Naples (1555–1559)
In later years, the focus of conflict between France and Spain had moved to the Italian peninsula. Alba was sent to Italy as commander in chief of the Spanish-Habsburg army in Italy, and became governor of Milan in 1555, and viceroy of Naples in 1556.
The newly appointed Pope Paul IV, an enemy of the Habsburgs, prompted King Henry II of France to expel the Spanish from Italy. Papal troops joined the French for this aim. In July 1556 the Pope declared Philip II was removed from the title King of Naples. Alba did not hesitateLetter from the Duque of Alba to Paul IV, in the Colección de documentos inéditos para la historia de España, vol. II, pp. 437–446. and marched on Rome at the head of 12,000 Spanish soldiers. He financed the campaign, in part, by obtaining a loan of 430,000 ducats from Bona Sforza, dowager Queen of Poland; the loan became known as Neapolitan sums and was never repaid.
The Pope called for a truce, giving time for a French army commanded by Francis, Duke of Guise to march on Naples. Alba sat back in his positions and declined to give battle, so Guise turned towards Campli and devastated it, followed by a siege of Civitella, garrisoned by Alba. However, the siege was unsuccessful and costly for Guise, who retreated out of Naples by the arrival of Alba with an increased army from Naples. Alba and his protegee Marcantonio Colonna marched towards Rome, with Guise now being ordered back to northern Italy to protect French positions. Without French support, the papal troops were overwhelmed by the Spanish and the Duke of Alba entered Rome in September 1557. The pope had to sue for peace.Virreyes de Nápoles, op. cit., vol. XXIII, pp. 148–163.
In April 1559, Alba was one of the signatories of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis which ended their war with France and released Spanish resources for maximising its economic exploitation of New Spain. The Italian Peninsula entered a prolonged period of peace, sealed by marriage between the twice widowed Philip II and Isabel de Valois, daughter of Henry II of France. During the royal wedding, which was held in Paris, Alba acted as proxy for Philip.
In 1565, Alba served as a stand-in for Philip at the Bayonne Interview with King Charles IX of France, and his mother Catherine de' Medici. He was instructed by Philip to advocate for an anti-Protestant policy in France.
Governor of the Netherlands (1567–1573)
On 26 December 1566 Alba received the Golden Rose, the blessed sword and hat granted by Pope Pius V, through the papal brief Solent Romani Pontifices, in recognition of his singular efforts in favor of Catholicism and for being considered one of his champions.Sampedro Escolar, José Luis. La Casa de Alba. La Esfera de los Libros, S. L. Madrid. 2007. . pp. 97–98.
From August to October 1566, the "Iconoclasm" () took place in the Netherlands, during which Calvinist mobs attacked and destroyed numerous Catholic monasteries and churches, ransacking tombs and destroying statues. To tackle the civil and religious rebels, King Philip II sent Alba to Brussels on 22 August 1567, at the head of a powerful army. Upon arrival, he replaced Margaret of Parma, the sister of the Spanish king, as head of the civil jurisdiction. He decided that the local nobility was in open rebellion against the king and supported the new Protestant teachings, heresy in the Catholic view.