Fadrique de Toledo or Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo y Mendoza, 1st Marquess of Valdueza (

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

, 30 May 1580 –

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, 11 December 1634), was a Spanish noble and admiral. He was a Knight of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" (St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgri ...

and Captain General of the Spanish Navy at the age of 37.

Life

He was born in Naples as the son of Pedro de Toledo Osorio, 5th Marquess of Villafranca, then commander in chief of the Spanish Army in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

, and Doña Elvira de Mendoza. He served in the Spanish fleet under command of his father and rose quickly through the ranks, as did his elder brother García de Toledo Osorio, 6th Marquess of Villafranca. In 1617, he became Captain General of the Ocean Sea Navy, replacing the late Admiral Luis Fajardo. He gained several victories against the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, in 1621 near

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...

and in 1623 in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

, blockading the Dutch coast. In the same year he defeated a

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or s ...

incursion near Gibraltar. In 1625 he was appointed General of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

(then in a

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interli ...

with

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

), and Capitán General of the Army of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He sailed towards Brazil at the head of a fleet consisting of 34 Spanish ships, 22 Portuguese ships and 12,566 men (three quarters were Spanish and the rest Portuguese). There he reconquered the strategically important city of

Salvador da Bahia Salvador (English: ''Savior'') is a Brazilian municipality and capital city of the state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognized throughout the country and internationally for its cuisi ...

from the Dutch on 30 April 1625. This victory would prove decisively important in the Dutch-Portuguese War to oust the Dutch from Brazil over the next two decades. In 1629 he commanded a Spanish expedition that expelled the English and French colonial settlers from the islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis. For all of his victories he was awarded the title of Marquess of Villanueva de Valdueza on 17 January 1624.

Marriage and children

On 12 August 1627, in Madrid, Don Fadrique married his cousin Doña Elvira Ponce de León, daughter of Don Luis Ponce de León, VI Marqués de Zahara, and Doña Victoria Álvarez de Toledo. They had three children : * Doña Elvira de Toledo, married Don Juan Gaspar Enríquez de Cabrera, 6th Duke of Medina de Rioseco. * Doña Victoria de Toledo, married her cousin Don Francisco Ponce de León, 5th Duke of Arcos. * Don Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo Ponce de León, 2nd Marquess of Valdueza, 7th Marquess de Villafranca and

Grandee of Spain Grandee (; es, Grande de España, ) is an official aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ...

. Don Fadrique also had two illegitimate children: * Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, Abbot of the Royal Monastery of

Alcalá la Real Alcalá la Real is a city in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2006 census ( INE), the city has a population of 22,129. Geography Alcalá la Real is situated from the provincial capital, Jaén, and from Granada, on the slopes of ...

, Jaén. * Íñigo de Toledo, who married Leonor de Velasco, XI Countess of Siruela.

External links

Don Fadrique de Toledo y Osorio (in Spanish)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez de Toledo y Mendoza, Fadrique Marquesses of Spain Spanish politicians Captain generals of the Navy Fadrique Alvarez de Toledo y Mendoza 1580 births 1634 deaths Spanish admirals Spanish generals Military personnel from Naples Knights of Santiago Naval commanders of the Eighty Years' War People of the Dutch–Portuguese War People of the Anglo-Spanish War (1625–1630) Nobility from Naples