Don Íñigo de Borja y Velasco (1575–1622) was a Spanish nobleman and military commander who served as governor of

Antwerp Citadel Antwerp Citadel (, ) was a pentagonal bastion fort built to defend and dominate the city of Antwerp in the early stages of the Dutch Revolt. It has been described as "doubtlesse the most matchlesse piece of modern Fortification in the World" and ...

Family

Don Íñigo was born at

Gandía Gandia (, ) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, eastern Spain on the Mediterranean. Gandia is located on the Costa de Valencia, south of Valencia and north of Alicante. Vehicles can access the city through road N-332 and ...

in 1575 to the prominent Spanish noble house of Borja, the son of Francisco Tomás de Borja y Centelles, sixth Duke of Gandia. His grandfather was

Íñigo Fernández de Velasco, 2nd Duke of Frías Íñigo Fernández de Velasco (1462–17 September 1528), 2nd Duke of Frías, Grandee of Spain, and Constable of Castile (), was a Spanish nobleman. Fernández de Velasco was the son of Pedro Fernández de Velasco and of Beatriz Manrique ...

. His brother, Gaspar de Borja y Velasco, archbishop of Toledo and Seville, was the wealthiest clergyman in Spain. Íñigo married the Flemish noble lady Hélène de Hénin-Liétard, daughter of the Marquess of Veere, with whom he had five children: * Don Gaspar de Borja y Hénin. * Don Francisco de Borja y Hénin. * Doña Juana de Borja y Hénin, married first Don Juan de Vega y Menchaca, III conde de Grajal, second Don Luis Francisco Núñez de Guzmán * Doña María Teresa de Borja y Hénin, married first Don Gaspar Antonio de Alvarado, second Don Fernando Miguel de Tejada * Doña Ana Clara de Borja y Hénin.

Military career

Early in his career Borja became a knight of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; ) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, ''Santiago'' ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of S ...

, holding the commandery of Membrilla. He served with the forces of

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

in France and Burgundy in the 1590s, and after the Peace of Vervins (1598) in northern Italy. He went to the

Low Countries The Low Countries (; ), historically also known as the Netherlands (), is a coastal lowland region in Northwestern Europe forming the lower Drainage basin, basin of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta and consisting today of the three modern "Bene ...

in 1603, marching a force of 3,700 men along the

Spanish Road The Spanish Road was a military road and trade route linking Spanish territories in Flanders with those in Italy. It was in use from approximately 1567 to 1648. The Road was created to support the Spanish war effort in the Eighty Years' War ag ...

to serve

Albert VII, Archduke of Austria Albert VII (; 13 November 1559 – 13 July 1621) was the ruling Archduke of Austria for a few months in 1619 and, jointly with his wife, Isabella Clara Eugenia, sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands between 1598 and 1621. Prior to this, he had ...

. In 1605 he led the Antwerp garrison in repulsing a Dutch landing at Blokkersdijk on the left bank of the Scheldt opposite Antwerp, led by Ernest Casimir I, Count of Nassau-Dietz. This victory was celebrated in a broadsheet published by Abraham Verhoeven, with a Latin verse by

Cornelis Kiliaan Cornelis Kiliaan (1528, Duffel – 1607, Antwerp), was a 16th-century lexicographer, linguist, translator and poet of the Southern Netherlands. Biography He was born in Duffel between 1528 and 1530. His parents, Anna and Hendrick van Kiele Rec ...

. During his military career Borja went on to participate in the 1606 Siege of Grol and was appointed general of artillery in the

Army of Flanders The Army of Flanders (; ) was a field army of the Spanish Army based in the Spanish Netherlands between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was one of the longest-serving field armies of the early modern era, being founded in 1567 and disbanded in 170 ...

. He was governor of Antwerp Citadel from 1606 until his death. In 1614, during the

War of the Jülich Succession The War of the Jülich Succession, also known as the Jülich War or the Jülich-Cleves Succession Crises (German language, German: ''Jülich-Klevischer Erbfolgestreit''), was a war of succession in the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. The fi ...

, he took part in the capture of

Wesel Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel (district), Wesel district. Geography Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine. Division of the city Suburbs of Wesel i ...

.''Relacion de la iornada, que hizo el Marques Espinola con don Iñigo de Borja, y don Luys de Velasco con veynte mil infantes, y dos mil y quinientos cavallos'' (Seville, 1614)
Available on Fondos Digitalizados
of the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, in 2022 it has a student body of 57,214,U-Ranking Universidades español ...

. Borja died in Brussels on 31 October 1622.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inigo de Borja Military personnel of the Spanish Netherlands Spanish people of the Eighty Years' War House of Borgia Knights of Santiago House of Hénin