Andrea Cantelmo (2 August 1598 – 5 November 1645) was a Neapolitan commander of Habsburg armies during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

, the

War of the Mantuan Succession The War of the Mantuan Succession (1628–1631) was a related conflict of the Thirty Years' War, caused by the death in December 1627 of Vincenzo II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, Vincenzo II, last male heir in the direct line of the House of Gonzaga ...

, the second phase of the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

and the

Franco-Spanish War (1635–59) Franco-Spanish War may refer to any war between France and Spain, including: {{disambig France–Spain military relations ...

Life

Cantelmo, son of the duke of

Popoli Popoli is a ''comune'' and town in the province of Pescara in the Abruzzo region of Italy. History Though the site has not revealed significant Roman presence it appears in a ninth-century document as ''borgo di Pagus Fabianus''. Its name in med ...

and of Laura d'Evoli, was born in

Pettorano sul Gizio Pettorano sul Gizio is a ''comune'' and town in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of central-southern Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It ...

on 2 August 1598. In 1620 he obtained a commission as captain of a company of

arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...

iers being sent to the

Valtelline Valtellina or the Valtelline (occasionally spelled as two words in English: Val Telline; rm, Vuclina (); lmo, Valtelina or ; german: Veltlin; it, Valtellina) is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. To ...

. After serving in the Valtelline he transferred to the army of

Emperor Ferdinand II Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria of Bavaria. His parents were dev ...

as a cavalry commander, serving in Bohemia before returning to Italy to take part in the

Relief of Genoa The Relief of Genoa took place between 28 March 1625 and 24 April 1625, during the Thirty Years' War. It was a major naval expedition launched by Spain against the French-occupied Republic of Genoa, of which the capital Genoa was being besieged ...

. He remained in Italy to serve in the initial stages of the War of the Mantuan Succession, taking part in the

Siege of Casale A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characterize ...

. In 1631 he transferred again, to the

Army of Flanders The Army of Flanders ( es, Ejército de Flandes nl, Leger van Vlaanderen) was a multinational army in the service of the kings of Spain that was based in the Spanish Netherlands during the 16th to 18th centuries. It was notable for being the longe ...

, serving in the Rhineland and later in Picardy. As general of artillery he played an important role in the Habsburg victory in the

Battle of Kallo The Battle of Kallo was a major field battle fought from 20 to 21 June 1638 in and around the forts of Kallo and Verrebroek, located on the left bank of the Scheldt river, near Antwerp, during the second phase of the Eighty Years' War. Following ...

(1638). He was interested in history and politics, and wrote on the art of war, but his writings have not been preserved. He maintained a correspondence with the humanist historian

Erycius Puteanus Erycius Puteanus (4 November 1574 – 17 September 1646) was a humanist and philologist from the Low Countries. Name Erycius Puteanus is a latinization of his name, which was rendered in various ways, including Hendrick van den Putte (Put, Putt ...

.Agostino Lauro, "Cantelmo, Andrea", ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', vol. 18 (1975)
Online edition
accessed 14 Feb. 2015. By 1644 he was in Spain, where he was appointed a member of the Council of War and given command of the Army of Catalonia as acting captain general (substituting for

Felipe de Silva D. Felipe da Silva (died 1644) was a Portuguese soldier in the service of Spain. Felipe da Silva was the son of Dona Filipa da Silva (1550–1590), 4th Countess of Portalegre and of Don Juan de Silva (1528-1601), Spanish ambassador to the cour ...

). He died at

Alcubierre Alcubierre is a municipality located in the province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census (INE), the municipality has a population of 439 inhabitants. This town gives its name to the Sierra de Alcubierre Sierra de Alcubierre ...

on 5 November 1645.

References

Bibliography

* Lionardo Di Capua, ''Vita di Andrea Cantelmo'' (Naples, Giacomo Raillard, 1693)
Copy from

National Central Library (Rome) The Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma (''Rome National Central Library''), in Rome, is one of two central national libraries of Italy, along with ''Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze'' in Florence. In total, 9 national libraries exist, ...

available on

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

. Accessed 14 Feb. 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cantelmo, Andrea 1598 births 1645 deaths Military personnel of the Eighty Years' War Italian military writers Military personnel of the Thirty Years' War