Girolamo Caraffa (or Carafa), Marquis of Montenegro (

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

, 1564 –

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, 1633) was a general in Spanish and Imperial service from Italian descent.

Life

Girolamo was born in the noble Neapolitan Caraffa family. His parents were Rainaldo Caraffa and Portia Carracciola, daughter of the Duke of Sicignano. At the age of 14, he was sent to Rome to study science under guidance of his uncle Cardinal

Antonio Carafa Antonio Carafa (1538 – 13 January 1591) was an Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal from the House of Carafa. Biography Early years Antonio Carafa was born in Naples to Rinaldo I Carafello Carafa, a local patrician, and Giovanna of the ''signor ...

. Girolamo married young with Hippolyta de Lannoy, granddaughter of

Charles de Lannoy Charles de Lannoy (c. 1487 – 23 September 1527) was a soldier and statesman from the Low Countries in service of the Habsburg Emperors Maximilian I and Charles V. Family He was a member of the noble de Lannoy family. Charles de Lannoy wa ...

, Spanish

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 Austria ...

. In 1587, Girolamo joined the Spanish army, against the will of his family. First he served under

Alexander Farnese Alessandro Farnese may refer to: *Pope Paul III (1468–1549), Roman Catholic Bishop of Rome *Alessandro Farnese (cardinal) (1520–1589), Paul's grandson, Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal-nephew *Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma (1545–1592), P ...

in the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

. Then he fought against King

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

, more specifically at

Ligne The ''ligne'' ( ), or line or Paris line, is a historic unit of length used in France and elsewhere prior to the adoption of the metric system in the late 18th century, and used in various sciences after that time. The ''loi du 19 frimaire an V ...

(1590) and

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

(1592). Later he commanded an army unit in

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

and

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

. In the Franco-Spanish War (1595-1598) he first fought in some smaller battles in the border area. But in 1597, he participated in the

Siege of Amiens The siege of Amiens (French language, French: Siège d'Amiens) was a siege and battle fought during the Franco-Spanish War (1595–1598), as part of both the French Wars of Religion and the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604), between 13 May and 25 Se ...

, where he became leader of the besieged Spanish troops, when General Porto-Carrero was killed. He defended the city with great courage, and was honoured by King Henry IV of France, when he had to surrender the city on September 25. After his return to the Low Countries, he fought in the

Siege of Ostend The siege of Ostend was a three-year siege of the city of Ostend during the Eighty Years' War and the Anglo–Spanish War. A Spanish force under Archduke Albrecht besieged the fortress being held initially by a Dutch force which was reinforc ...

. When Ostend was taken, he was sent to Italy to fight against

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

. After peace was concluded, he became commander of the cavalry in Sicily. Here he was contacted by

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, Hungary, and List of Croatian monarchs, Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Charles II, Archduke of Austria, Archd ...

and entered in his service at the outbreak of 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 ...

. He played an important role in the victory at the

Battle of White Mountain ), near Prague, Bohemian Confederation(present-day Czech Republic) , coordinates = , territory = , result = Imperial-Spanish victory , status = , combatants_header = , combatant1 = Catholic L ...

, when he prevented the union of the troops of

Gábor Bethlen Gabriel Bethlen ( hu, Bethlen Gábor; 15 November 1580 – 15 November 1629) was Prince of Transylvania from 1613 to 1629 and Duke of Opole from 1622 to 1625. He was also King-elect of Hungary from 1620 to 1621, but he never took control of th ...

with his Bohemian allies. He also fought near Milan in 1621. After the peace treaty with Gábor Bethlen was signed, Girolamo became Imperial Field Marshal and ''Reichsfürst''. He returned to Spain where he became

Viceroy of Aragon This is a list of viceroys (or lieutenants) of the Kingdom of Aragon. *Alonso de Aragón, bishop of Zaragoza 1517-1520 *Juan de Lanuza y Torrellas 1520-1535 *Beltrán de la Cueva, 3rd Duke of Alburquerque 1535-1539 *Pedro Manrique de Luna y de Ur ...

. Shortly after, he was sent one more time to the low Countries, but died underway. Caraffa was a strict Catholic and was highly educated.

Sources

ADB
* C. A. Schweigerd: ''Österreichs Helden und Heerführer.'' Band 1, Wurzen 1857, S. 644–647 {{DEFAULTSORT:Caraffa, Girolamo 16th-century Spanish military personnel Military personnel of the Thirty Years' War 1564 births 1633 deaths Neapolitan people of the Thirty Years' War Italian untitled nobility Field marshals of the Holy Roman Empire 17th-century Spanish military personnel