Alba, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of

ALBA, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of. - B. at Petrahita in 1507, and left fatherless at the age of four, he was raised by his grandfather Federico Alvarez, from whom he inherited monarchical fanaticism, religious zeal, hatred of heresies and strict discipline. Quite early he distinguished himself as a man-at-arms under Charles V, who wanted him at his side in the military campaigns in Hungary, Tunis and Germany and entrusted him with the education of Philip II, out of the esteem in which he held him rather than out of the confidence which he could never grant him because of the disparity of their characters. Under Philip II, the duke's fortune shone brightly, since their Spanish and religious way of feeling was identical, as were their slowness in taking decisions, their determination in maintaining them, their idea of authority and their cruelty toward enemies. He accordingly obtained the government of Milan (1555) and of Naples (1556), the command of the war against Paul IV and the task of Hispanizing the Low Countries.

In the war against Paul IV, which was ennobled by the old Pontiff's generous desire to remove Italy from Spanish dominion and revealed the diplomatic and military unpreparedness of the papal government and the selfishness of the Italian princes, the duke of A. found himself facing undisciplined papal militias with French forces led by a commander, the duke of Guise, whom the irresolution and double-dealing of the rulers hampered and ensnared. It was therefore not difficult for him not only to prevent the invasion of the Neapolitan kingdom, desired by Paul IV, but to reach the walls of Rome and dictate the famous Peace of Cave. The Pontiff emerged from it without territorial sacrifices or heavy indemnities, but the pontificate then lost every possibility of asserting its political primacy in the peninsula. It was long debated whether the duke's moderation in renouncing a second sack of Rome, which he could have carried out, and in dictating the terms of that peace was due to political calculation or, as is believed, to respect for the papacy.

The duke of A. was sent to the Low Countries to reduce to obedience a people that had come, under the guidance of able leaders, to achieve autonomy, to impose adequate taxes and to crush the spreading heresy; and he acted with such ferocious resolution and ruthless cruelty as to make himself execrated in future centuries. He imprisoned the leaders (the counts of Egmont and Horn), instituted a Council against the rebels and sat on it up to nine hours a day to sign decrees of confiscation and death, and reduced the people to misery and banditry. The prince of Orange, instigated by the émigrés and aided by Huguenots from France and Lutherans from Germany, made war on him, but the duke reacted energetically and emerged victorious from the trial. He then believed he could Hispanize the country by abolishing privileges, introducing new ordinances, imposing such taxes as to free Spain from every burdensome contribution. The taxes were unheard-of and provoked the sudden insurrection of the people which, supported by Lutherans and Huguenots, would have won the day had the St. Bartholomew's Night not crushed the French Huguenots. The duke then rushed against the rebels of the South, wreaking havoc on garrisons and populations, but the North resisted to advantage and got the better of him. Philip II was forced to recall him in 1573, and could no longer forgive him the political and military setback of which, according to the historians of Belgium, impartial judges, the true responsible party was he himself. He therefore confined him as a prisoner, on a pretext, in the village of Uzeda. Only in 1580, needing his expertise, did he release him to send him to the conquest of Portugal. It was an easy conquest, but saddened by the usual sackings and atrocities. Amid the flashes of that unjust war, for which his hands once again dripped with blood, the duke of A. died of a slow fever at Tourar in 1582. The duke of A. is also known as an appreciator and patron of the arts and for his relations with Titian.

Luigi Berra