Alessandro Farnese | |
---|---|
![]() Portrait of Farnese by Otto van Veen | |
Duke of Parma and Piacenza | |
Reign | 15 September 1586 – 3 December 1592 |
Predecessor | Ottavio |
Successor | Ranuccio I |
Governor of the Spanish Netherlands | |
Reign | 1 October 1578 – 3 December 1592 |
Predecessor | John of Austria |
Successor | Peter Ernst I von Mansfeld-Vorderort |
Born | 27 August 1545 Rome, Papal States |
Died | 3 December 1592 Arras, Kingdom of France | (aged 47)
Burial | |
Spouse | Infanta Maria of Portugal |
Issue | Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma Margherita, Hereditary Princess of Mantua Cardinal Oddoardo |
House | Farnese |
Father | Ottavio Farnese |
Mother | Margaret of Parma |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Signature |
Alexander Farnese (Italian: Alessandro Farnese, Spanish: Alejandro Farnesio; 27 August 1545 – 3 December 1592) was an Italian noble and condottiero, who was Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1586 to 1592, as well as Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1578 to 1592. As a general of the Spanish army during the Dutch revolt, Farnese captured more than thirty towns in what is now Belgium between 1581 and 1587 and returned them to the control of Habsburg Spain.[1] During the French Wars of Religion he relieved Paris for the Catholic League.[2]
His talents as a commander on the battlefield, strategist and organizator earned him the regard of his contemporaries and historians as the greatest general of his age[3][4] and one of the best in history.[5] Under his leadership, Philip II's army achieved the most comprehensive successes in the history of the Eighty Years' War before being decisively diverted to the French theater. His military and diplomatic victories still gave Spain back control of the southern provinces, establishing the cultural and religious separation which would eventually become the nation of Belgium.[6]
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