Fadrique de Toledo Osorio (1580-1634)

Fadrique de Toledo Osorio (Naples, May 30, 1580 - Madrid, December 11, 1634), Spanish military and politician, 1st Marquis of Villanueva de Valdueza, Captain General of the Navy of the Mar Océano and of the Gentlemen of War of the Kingdom of Portugal, Knight of the Order of Santiago and later Commander of Valle de Ricote and Major Commander of Castile in said Order.

Biography

The Recovery of All Saints Bay It commemorates the expulsion of the Dutch from San Salvador de Bahia, in Brazil, by Don Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo in command of the Spanish-Portuguese forces, on May 1, 1625. Don Fadrique is the character that shows the population a tapestry in which the King Philip IV of Spain crowned with laurels for its validation, the Count-duke of Olivares.
Oil on canvas by Fray Juan Bautista Maíno for King Felipe IV of Spain and III of Portugal. Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Recovery of San Cristobal Island by Don Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, from the painter Felix Castelo. Museo del Prado, Madrid.

He was born in Naples on May 30, 1580. He was the son of Pedro de Toledo Osorio, V Marquis of Villafranca del Bierzo, and Elvira de Mendoza. He inherited from his birth the position of Commander of the Ricote Valley in the Order of Santiago.

He began serving in the galleys under his father's command and rose rapidly along with his brother, García Álvarez de Toledo Osorio, in the military career.

In 1617 he reached the position of Captain General of the Navy of the Ocean Sea. This led him to new and numerous combats, commanding the squad against the Dutch, English and Barbary.

In the naval battle of Cape Saint Vincent, in 1621, he defeated the armada of the United Provinces of the Netherlands and in the naval battle of the English Channel, in 1623, he again defeated the Dutch fleet and prevented the cross the channel establishing a blockade on its coasts. Shortly afterwards he defeated a Berber armada in the Strait of Gibraltar.

Due to the dynastic union aeque principaliter under the House of Habsburg, he was General of the Kingdom of Portugal and Captain General of the Brazilian Navy. In 1625, with a fleet of 26 ships, with 450 guns and 3,500 landing troops, he was sent to recapture the city of Salvador de Bahia, occupied by Dutch forces from the Netherlands. With a land and sea operation he surrendered the city of Bahia and captured thousands of Dutchmen. He continued with the military operations, evicting the Dutch and the English from other parts of Brazil.

In 1629 he led the expedition of the Spanish navy in the Sea of the Antilles and fought the Battle of San Cristóbal where he defeated a corsair fleet on the island of Nieves, expelled the English and French from the island of San Cristóbal and he burned all his coffee and tobacco plantations.

The increase in his power made him directly collide with the authoritarianism and foreign relations policies of the Count-Duke of Olivares, who, to distance him from the court, wanted to send him to America to recover the Pernambuco square and the rest of Brazilian places occupied in 1630 by a huge Dutch army that brought up to 7000 landing men. Don Fadrique did not accept the mission due to his state of health and the disposition and state of the fleet, for which reason a process of disobedience was formed against him. This council of war set him apart, humiliated, and condemned him to a life of hardship and disrepute. He practically fell into poverty for not fulfilling the mission that Olivares demanded of him.

Shortly thereafter his memory was restored. The naval and military exploits of Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo were reason enough for the King of Spain Felipe IV to grant him the title of Marquis of Villanueva de Valdueza, on January 17, 1634. His actions earned him great fame and were dedicated to him. plays and poetry.

Once the best Spanish sailor of his time died shortly thereafter, in Madrid, on December 11, 1634.

The fall of the Count-Duke of Olivares in 1643 increased his fame as one of the bravest and most outstanding captain-generals the Spanish navy had.

The stick you saw in his hand
with a real and flourishing look,
obeyed the Trident peacefully
Green Ocean Emperor

Francisco de Quevedo and Villegas.

Marriage and offspring

Fadrique married his niece Elvira Ponce de León in Madrid on August 12, 1627; daughter of Luis Ponce de León, V Marquis of Zahara, and Victoria Álvarez de Toledo Osorio, daughter of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo Osorio, V Marquis of Villafranca del Bierzo and II Duke of Fernandina. From his marriage Fadrique had the following children:

• Elvira Álvarez de Toledo Osorio, wife of Juan Gaspar Enríquez de Cabrera, VI duque de Medina de Rioseco.
• Victoria Colonna de Toledo, married to her cousin Francisco Ponce de León, V duque de Arcos.
• Fadrique de Toledo Osorio, VII marquis de Villafranca del Bierzo, II marquis de Villanueva de Valdueza y Grande de España.

Fadrique died in 1634, his wife the widowed Marchioness of Villanueva de Valdueza, was one of the most important figures in the court of Mariana de Austria since she held the post of chambermaid, on January 8, 1654, five years after the arrival at the Court of Mariana of Austria, whom she served throughout her time as queen consort of Spain, from 1649 to 1665 as the second wife of King Felipe IV and regent, from 1665 to 1675 as mother of King Carlos II and queen mother.

Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo y Osorio had two illegitimate children:

• Pedro Alvarez de Toledo Osorio, Abbot of the Abbey of Alcalá la Real between 1676-1691
• Iñigo de Toledo, married to Leonor de Velasco, XI Countess of Siruela?

Ancestors