Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo y Mendoza

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Portrait of Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo y Mendoza after the Spanish victory over England and the capture of St. Kitts . ( Museo del Prado , Madrid )
The recapture on May 1st, 1625 city of Salvador da Bahia in today's Brazil by Spanish and Portuguese troops under captain general of the fleet Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo y Mendoza . He hands over the captured city to King Philip IV of Spain and the Prime Minister Gaspar de Guzmán, Conde de Olivares . On a painting by Juan Bautista Maíno commissioned for King Philip IV of Spain and Philip III. of Portugal, is now in the Museo del Prado , Madrid .

Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo y Mendoza, 1st Marquis of Villanueva de Valdueza (born May 30, 1580 in Naples , † December 11, 1634 in Madrid ) was a Spanish admiral and knight of the Order of Santiago . At the age of 37 he became captain general of the Spanish Navy .

Life

Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo y Mendoza was the son of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, 5th Marquis of Villafranca, Commander-in-Chief of the Spanish Army in the Kingdom of Naples , and his wife, Doña Elvira de Mendoza. He served in the Spanish fleet under his father's command and, like his older brother García Álvarez de Toledo, 6th Marquis of Villafranca, rose quickly up the career ladder.

In 1617 he was appointed Admiral of the Spanish Fleet in the Caribbean ( Armada de Barlovento , "Fleet above the Leeward "), with the title of Captain General de la Armada del Mar Océano . He won several victories against the Dutch Republic , in 1621 near Gibraltar and in 1623 in the English Channel during the blockade of the Dutch coast. In the same year he prevented a Moorish invasion near Gibraltar.

In 1625 he was appointed General Director of the Iberian Union (the amalgamation of Spain and Portugal) and then a captain general of the Army of Brazil . He sailed towards Brazil at the head of a fleet that consisted of 34 Spanish ships, 22 Portuguese ships and 12,566 men. Three quarters of these men were Spaniards, the remainder Portuguese. He recaptured the strategically important city of Salvador da Bahia from the Dutch on April 30, 1625. This victory was crucial in the Dutch-Portuguese War and made it possible to oust the Dutch from Brazil over the next two decades.

In 1629 he commanded a Spanish expedition and won the Battle of St. Kitts . He expelled the English and French colonial settlers from the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis .

For his victories he received the title of Marques de Villanueva y Valdueza on January 17, 1634 .

Marriage and children

Don Fadrique married his cousin Doña Elvira Ponce de León, daughter of Don Luis Ponce de León, VI in Madrid on August 12, 1627. Marqués de Zahara and Doña Victoria Álvarez de Toledo. They had three children:

  • Doña Elvira de Toledo, who later 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 y Ponce de León, 7th Marquis de Villafranca and Grandee of Spain

Don Fadrique also had two illegitimate children:

  • Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, Abbot of the Royal Monastery of lcalá la Real , Jaén
  • Íñigo de Toledo, married to Leonor de Velasco, the XI. Countess of Siruela

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ La recuperación de Bahía de Todos los Santos , Museo del Prado, accessed on March 28, 2019.
  2. ↑ Recuperación de la isla de San Cristóbal , Museo del Prado, accessed on March 28, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Álvarez de Toledo y Mendoza, Fadrique
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish nobleman, officer and admiral
DATE OF BIRTH May 30, 1580
PLACE OF BIRTH Naples
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 1634
Place of death Madrid