Pedro de Toledo Osorio y Colonna or Pedro Álvarez de Toledo Osorio, 5th Marquess of Villafranca del Bierzo, (

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, 6 September 1546 – 17 July 1627),

Governor of the Duchy of Milan The governor of Milan was a political and military office of the Duchy of Milan, the title of the representatives of the foreign sovereigns who held dominion over the Milanese area, substantially from the 16th century until the Unification of It ...

, 1616–1618, Prince of Montalbano, 2nd

Duke of Fernandina Duke of Fernandina is a hereditary title in the Spanish nobility, peerage of Spain. It was granted by King Philip II of Spain, Philip II to García Álvarez de Toledo, 4th Marquis of Villafranca, García Álvarez de Toledo y Osorio, Viceroy of S ...

was a Spanish-Italian nobleman and a

Grandee of Spain Grandee (; , ) is an official royal and noble ranks, 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 ha ...

Biography

He was the son of

García de Toledo Osorio, 4th Marquess of Villafranca García or Garcia may refer to: People * García (surname) * Kings of Pamplona/Navarre ** García Íñiguez of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 851/2–882 ** García Sánchez I of Pamplona, king of Pamplona 931–970 ** García Sánchez II of Pamp ...

, and Vittoria Colonna di Paliano. His mother was the niece of

Vittoria Colonna Vittoria Colonna (April 149225 February 1547), marchioness of Pescara, was an Italian noblewoman and poet. As an educated and married noblewoman whose husband was in captivity, Colonna was able to develop relationships within the intellectual ci ...

. In June 1585 Pedro was appointed captain general of the galleys of the Kingdom of Naples and fought the Ottoman corsairs in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. On 14 July 1607, Philip II entrusted him with command of all the galleys of Spain. In 1608, he was sent to Paris as Ambassador extraordinary to France to seal a pact with King

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

, which failed. The expulsion of the Spanish

moriscos ''Moriscos'' (, ; ; " Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Catholic Church and Habsburg Spain commanded to forcibly convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed Islam. Spain had a sizeable M ...

since 1610 increased the Ottoman naval attacks in the West Mediterranean, especially when young

Ahmed I Ahmed I ( '; ; 18 April 1590 – 22 November 1617) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 to 1617. Ahmed's reign is noteworthy for marking the first breach in the Ottoman tradition of royal fratricide; henceforth, Ottoman rulers would no ...

became Sultan. Pedro Alvarez set up an extensive defensive engineering program, with Italian engineers working in Italy, Spain and the Caribbean in America. Between 1616 and 1618, he was

, where he led the Spanish Army in the second phase of the War of the Montferrat Succession against Savoy and France. After this, he was Commander in chief of an army in

, General of Cavalry of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in 1621. His success in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

was awarded with the honorable

Grandeza de España Grandee (; , ) 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 have the significant co ...

title in 1623. In 1625 he participated in the successful Defense of Cadiz against the attacks from the Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of Sir Edward Cecil.Real Academia de la Historia
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Marriage and children

On 7 June 1576 he married Elvira de Mendoza, daughter of Íñigo Lopez de Hurtado de Mendoza, III Marquess of

Mondéjar Mondéjar is a municipality located in the Guadalajara (province), province of Guadalajara, Spain. According to the 2008 census (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (Spain), INE), the municipality has a population of 2,637 inhabitants. Refe ...

, 4th count of Tendilla,

Viceroy of Naples This is a list of viceroys of the Kingdom of Naples. Following the conquest of Naples by Louis XII of France in 1501, Naples was subject to the rule of the foreign rulers, first for a short time by the King of France and later by Spain and the Hab ...

, 1575–1579, a.k.a. Iñigo López de Mendoza y Mendoza (1512–1580), and Maria de Mendoza. They had four children. * Doña Victoria de Toledo, married Don Luis Ponce de León (1573-1605), 6th Marquess of Zahara * Don García de Toledo Osorio, 6th Marquess of Villafranca (1579–1649),

, notorious admiral fighting against the French and Moroccans. * Don Fadrique de Toledo, 1st Marquess of Valdueza (1580–1634), Captain General of the Spanish Navy * Doña María de Toledo, a nun

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez de Toledo, Pedro 1546 births 1627 deaths

Pedro Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meanin ...

102 102 may refer to: *102 (number), the number * AD 102, a year in the 2nd century AD * 102 BC, a year in the 2nd century BC * 102 (ambulance service), an emergency medical transport service in Uttar Pradesh, India * 102 (Clyde) Field Squadron, Royal E ...

17th-century Italian nobility Marquesses of Spain Spanish diplomats Spanish generals Spanish politicians Spanish imperial proconsuls Grandees of Spain