Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba (29 October 1507 – 11 December 1582), known as the Grand Duke of Alba (Spanish: Gran Duque de Alba, Portuguese: Grão Duque de Alba) in Spain...
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba (29 October 1507 – 11 December 1582), known as the Grand Duke of Alba (Spanish: Gran Duque de Alba, Portuguese: Grão Duque de Alba) in Spain and Portugal and as the Iron Duke or shortly 'Alva' in the Netherlands and Belgium, was a Spanish nobleman, general and statesman.
He has often been considered the most effective general of his generation, as well as one of the greatest in history. Historian John Lothrop Motley wrote of him "no man had studied military science more deeply, or practiced it more constantly" at his day. He was a royal promoter of military action against France and Protestantism, although he also defended a moral and strategic alliance with England that never realized.
English navigator Francis Drake lands on the coast of California at what becomes known as Drakes Bay, for ship repairs; claims area on behalf of Queen Elizabeth, and names it "Nova Albion" [1] [2]
Union of Utrecht signed by Northern Habsburg counties of Holland and Zeeland, and provinces of Utrecht and Groningen, marking the beginning of protestant Dutch Republic
The Union of Utrecht (Dutch: Unie van Utrecht) was an alliance based on an agreement concluded on 23 January 1579 between a number of Dutch provinces and cities, to reach a joint commitment against...
Sir Francis Drake (1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer and privateer best known for making the second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (being the…
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba (29 October 1507 – 11 December 1582), known as the Grand Duke of Alba (Spanish: Gran Duque de Alba, Portuguese: Grão Duque de Alba) in Spain and Portugal and as the Iron Duke or shortly 'Alva' in the Netherlands and Belgium, was a Spanish nobleman, general and statesman. He has often been considered the most effective general of his generation, as well as one of the greatest in history. Historian John Lothrop Motley wrote of him "no man had studied military science more deeply, or practiced it more constantly" at his day.
Why is Duke of Alva's army occupies Portugal historically important?
Historian John Lothrop Motley wrote of him "no man had studied military science more deeply, or practiced it more constantly" at his day. He was a royal promoter of military action against France and Protestantism, although he also defended a moral and strategic alliance with England that never realized.