García Álvarez de Toledo y Osorio, 4th Marquess of Villafranca del Bierzo (29 August 1514 – 31 May 1577), was a Spanish general and politician.

Biography

He was born at

Villafranca del Bierzo 250px, Castle of Villafranca. Villafranca del Bierzo is a village and municipality located in the comarca of El Bierzo, in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. Villafranca del Bierzo lies 187 kilometers from Santiago de Compostela and ...

, the son of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, Maquesss of Villafranca,

Viceroy of Naples This is a list of viceroys of the Kingdom of Naples. Following the conquest of Naples by Louis XII of France in 1501, Naples was subject to the rule of the foreign rulers, the Kings of France, Aragon and Spain and the Habsburg Archdukes of Austri ...

between 1532 and 1553. His mother was Juana Pimentel, Marchioness of Villafranca del Bierzo. The famous

Duke of Alba Duke of Alba de Tormes ( es, Duque de Alba de Tormes), commonly known as Duke of Alba, is a title of Spanish nobility that is accompanied by the dignity of Grandee of Spain. In 1472, the title of ''Count of Alba de Tormes'', inherited by ...

, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, was his first cousin. Among his many siblings was

Eleonora of Toledo Eleanor of Toledo (Italian: ''Eleonora di Toledo'', 11 January 1522 – 17 December 1562), born Doña Leonor Álvarez de Toledo y Osorio, was a Spanish noblewoman and Duchess of Florence as the first wife of Cosimo I de' Medici. A keen businessw ...

, wife of Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany. He started his military career under the command of

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; lij, Drîa Döia ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was a Genoese statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. As the ruler of Genoa, Doria reformed the Re ...

in the galleys of Naples, as commander of two ships. In 1535, already the commander of six galleys, he distinguished himself in the battles of La Goletta,

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, Algiers, Sfax, Calibria y Mebredia. After this he was named Capitain General of the Galleys of Naples. He was Capitain General of the expedition to Greece, and ''Capitán General del Mar'', a title he received in 1544 after having fought

Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa ( ar, خير الدين بربروس, Khayr al-Din Barbarus, original name: Khiḍr; tr, Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa), also known as Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1478 – 4 July 1546), was an O ...

. He was

Viceroy of Catalonia This is a list of Spanish viceroys (also called lieutenants) of the Principality of Catalonia from 1479 to 1713. *1479–1493: Enrique de Aragón *1493–1495: Juan de Lanuza y Garabito *1495–1496: Juan Fernández de Heredia *149 ...

between 1558 and 1564. He then became Colonel General of the Infantry of the Kingdom of Naples and finally, between 1564 and 1566,

Viceroy of Sicily This is a list of viceroys of Sicily: Aragonese direct rule 1409–1516 * John of Aragon, Duke of Peñafiel, later king John II of Aragon, 1458–1479, acted 1409–1416. * Domingo Ram y Lanaja, Bishop of Lleida 1416–1419 * Antonio de Cardona ...

. As Viceroy of Sicily he accomplished his two greatest achievements: the conquest of Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera in 1564, and the relief of the

Siege of Malta (1565) The Great Siege of Malta ( Maltese: ''L-Assedju l-Kbir'') occurred in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer the island of Malta, then held by the Knights Hospitaller. The siege lasted nearly four months, from 18 May to 13 September ...

. For this he received from King Philip II of Spain the titles Duke of Fernandina and Prince of Montalbán on 24 December 1569. He died at

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in 1577.

Marriage and children

In 1552, in Naples, the Duke married Donna Vittoria Colonna, the daughter of Don Ascanio Colonna, 2nd Duke of Paliano, and Giovanna d'Aragona and the niece of famed poet and diplomat Vittoria Colonna, with whom she shares a name. They had six children: *

Pedro de Toledo Osorio, 5th Marquess of Villafranca Pedro de Toledo Osorio y Colonna or Pedro Álvarez de Toledo Osorio, 5th Marquess of Villafranca del Bierzo, (Naples, 6 September 1546 – 17 July 1627), Governor of the Duchy of Milan, 1616–1618, Prince of Montalbano, 2nd Duke of Ferna ...

and

Grandee of Spain Grandee (; es, Grande de España, ) is an official aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...

; * María de Toledo, married

Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, 4th Duke of Alba Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo y Enríquez de Guzmán, 4th Duke of Alba, Grandee of Spain, (in full, ), (21 November 1537 – 11 December 1583), was a commander in the Spanish army during the Eighty Years' War. Biography He was the first leg ...

; * Juana de Toledo, married Bernardino Pimentel, 3rd Marquess of Távara; * Leonor de Toledo, married her cousin

Pietro de' Medici Don Pietro de' Medici (3 June 1554 – 25 April 1604) was the youngest son of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora di Toledo. Early in 1571 he went to Rome and in the spring of 1575 he went to Venice. In 1571 he married his fi ...

, Prince of

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

; * Ana de Toledo, married Gómez Dávila, 3rd Marquess of Velada; * Inés de Toledo, married Juan Pacheco, 2nd Marquess of Cerralbo. He also had two illegitimate children: * Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, Señor de Gaipuli; * Delia de Toledo, a Carmelite nun.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez De Toledo, Garcia 1514 births 1577 deaths People from El Bierzo Garcia 101 Italian nobility Marquesses of Spain Spanish politicians Spanish military personnel Spanish admirals Spanish diplomats Viceroys of Catalonia Viceroys of Sicily