Lelio Brancaccio (around 1560–1637),

Marquess A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

Montesilvano Montesilvano () is a city and ''comune'' of the province of Pescara in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Abruzzo often called Mare-Monti (Sea-Mountain) region. The name Montesilvano is apparently derived from the Latin which means "woody hill" ("wood ...

, was a Neapolitan commander of Habsburg armies in Italy, the Low Countries and Catalonia.

Life

Brancaccio was born in Naples around 1560. In 1584 he renounced his inheritance and joined the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

. In 1589 he entered Spanish Habsburg service as captain of an infantry company. Apart from a brief stint as sergeant major of a regiment of Italian infantry in the Long Turkish War, he served the Habsburgs for the rest of his life. In 1602 he joined the Army of Flanders, as ''

Maestre de Campo ''Maestre de campo'' was a rank created in 1534 by the Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Carlos V, inferior in rank only to the ''captain general, capitán general'' and acted as a chief of staff. He was chosen by the monarch in the Council o ...

'' of an infantry regiment he had raised. Taking ship from Flanders for Spain to convoy Spanish infantry, he was captured en route by an English naval squadron. He was released and returned to Naples in 1603. By 1604 he was back in Flanders, and was appointed to the Council of War in Brussels. After the signing of the

Twelve Years' Truce The Twelve Years' Truce was a ceasefire during the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, agreed in Antwerp on 9 April 1609 and ended on 9 April 1621. While European powers like France began treating the Republic as a sovereign n ...

between the Habsburgs and the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

, he returned to Naples and became a member of the

Collateral Council Collateral may refer to: Business and finance * Collateral (finance), a borrower's pledge of specific property to a lender, to secure repayment of a loan * Marketing collateral, in marketing and sales Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Collater ...

. He wrote a military treatise, ''I Carichi militari'', dedicated to Albert VII, Archduke of Austria, which was first printed in Antwerp by

Joachim Trognaesius Joachim Trognaesius, sometimes Trognesius or Trogney (died 23 June 1624), was a printer and bookseller in late-16th-century and early-17th-century Antwerp. Life Joachim Trognaesius is first mentioned as a bookseller in the accounts of the Planti ...

(1610), and went through further editions in Milan (1620) and Venice (1641). Brancaccio became an inspector of fortifications for the Viceroy of Naples, the

Duke of Osuna Duke of Osuna is a Spanish noble title that was first awarded in 1562 by King Philip II of Spain to Pedro Girón de la Cueva, (Osuna, Seville, 29 July 1537 – 1590). Pedro was also Viceroy of Naples, (1582–1586), Ambassador in Portugal and ...

. With the recommencement of war in Flanders in 1621, Brancaccio returned there. In 1623, in recognition of his services to the Spanish monarchy,

Philip IV of Spain Philip IV ( es, Felipe, pt, Filipe; 8 April 160517 September 1665), also called the Planet King (Spanish: ''Rey Planeta''), was King of Spain from 1621 to his death and (as Philip III) King of Portugal from 1621 to 1640. Philip is remembered f ...

created him Marquess of Montesilvano. In 1626 he became ''maestro di campo generale'' of the Genoese forces in their conflict with Savoy over the Marquisate of Zuccarello. From 1627 to 1630 he was in Spain as an adviser to the Council of War in Madrid. He returned to Italy in 1630 to command forces in the War of the Mantuan Succession, and when that war was settled by treaty in 1631 he travelled to Flanders for a fourth time. He commanded the garrison defending Maastricht during the siege of 1632. In that year or the following Philip IV named him a councillor of state. In 1633 he travelled via Lombardy to Barcelona. Given command of the army of

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; ca, Rosselló ; oc, Rosselhon ) is a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the reg ...

(then part of the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...

), he died at Elna in November 1636.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brancaccio, Lelio 1560 births 1637 deaths Knights of Malta Military personnel of the Eighty Years' War Italian military writers 16th-century Neapolitan people 17th-century Neapolitan people People of the War of the Mantuan Succession