Luis de Velasco y Velasco

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Don Luis de Velasco y Velasco, 1st marqués de Belvedere, 2nd conde de Salazar (* 1559/60 in Valladolid ; † September 13, 1625 or 1626 in Dunkirk ) was a Spanish general in the Habsburg Netherlands . He is also (incorrectly) referred to as Luis de Velasco y Aragón .

He was the second son of Juan de Velasco, señor de Castelgeriego y Salazar and his wife Beatriz de Velasco y Mendoza , daughter of the viceroy of New Spain Luis de Velasco from another branch of the Castilian noble family Velasco .

As a young man he went to Italy and distinguished himself there in the service of the Viceroy of Naples . In 1591 he was called to the Spanish Netherlands, where the war against the rebellious Dutch was raging. Initially employed as field master ( Maestre de Campo ) of a Tercio infantry unit, he was appointed commander (captain general) of the artillery in 1597 and finally captain general of the cavalry of the Army of Flanders ( Ejército de Flandes ) in 1602 .

Under the high command of Albrecht VII of Austria and Ambrosio Spinola , Velasco took part in numerous campaigns in the following years. He played his first important role in the conquest of the French Calais in 1596 , which was returned to France two years later in the Treaty of Vervins . In 1622, during Spinola's campaign against Bergen op Zoom , he succeeded in conquering Steenbergen .

For his military achievements he received the Neapolitan title of nobility Marqués de Belvedere in 1616 . In 1621, after the childless death of his older brother, Luis de Velasco also inherited his titles Conde de Salazar and Conde de Castilnovo . In 1621/22 he was accepted into the Order of the Golden Fleece . In 1623 and 1624 he was appointed a member of the Supreme War Council and a member of the Council of State.

He died of illness in 1625 (or 1626) in Dunkirk, where he was inspecting the fortifications.

Don Luis de Velasco was married to Anne de Hénin , the daughter of Jacques, Marquis de Vere et de Vlissingen . The couple had several children, including three sons, who succeeded the father in his titles.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ According to Francisco de Quevedo, Alfonso Rey: Obras completas en prosa , 2005, p. 164, he lived from 1560 to 1626. According to Pierre Jodogne: Libro de memoria de la famille Cassina (1576–1650) , 2002, p. 171 ( Footnote), he died in 1625.
  2. ↑ See for example: Juan Miguel, Soler Salcedo: Nobleza española: grandeza inmemorial, 1520 , Visión Libros, 2008, p. 214.
  3. ↑ Luís de Salazar y Castro: Historia genealogica de la Casa de Lara , Volume 1, Madrid, 1696, p. 446
  4. ↑ tercios.org: LUIS DE VELASCO Y VELASCO, I MARQUÉS DE BELVEDERE (accessed March 2016)
  5. ↑ Juan Giménez Martín: Tercios de Flandes , Falcata Ibérica, 1999, pp. 224/225
personal data
SURNAME Velasco y Velasco, Luis de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish general in the Habsburg Netherlands
DATE OF BIRTH 1559 or 1560
PLACE OF BIRTH Valladolid
DATE OF DEATH 1625 or 1626
Place of death Dunkirk