Luis Francisco de Benavides Carrillo de Toledo, Marquis of Caracena, Marquis of Fromista (20 September 1608 in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

– 6 January 1668 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

) was a Spanish

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

and

political figure A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He served as

Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands The governor ( nl, landvoogd) or governor-general () of the Habsburg Netherlands was a representative appointed by the Holy Roman emperor (1504-1556), the king of Spain (1556-1598, 1621-1706), and the archduke of Austria (1716-1794), to administ ...

between 1659 and 1664. Raised in a noble Spanish family, he made a career in the army during the many battles in Italy and Flanders between 1629 and 1659. He conquered the fortress of

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrat hills. Beyond the river lies the v ...

in 1652. He was Governor of Milan between 1648 and 1656. After the defeat of

John of Austria the Younger John Joseph of Austria or John of Austria (the Younger) ( es, Don Juan José de Austria; 7 April 1629 – 17 September 1679) was a Spanish general and political figure. He was the only illegitimate son of Philip IV of Spain to be acknowledged b ...

in the

Battle of the Dunes (1658) The Battle of the Dunes (, ), also known as the Battle of Dunkirk, took place on 14 June 1658, near the strategic port of Dunkirk in what was then the Spanish Netherlands. Part of the Franco-Spanish War and concurrent Anglo-Spanish War, a com ...

, Caracena was appointed to succeed him. After the conclusion of the

Treaty of the Pyrenees The Treaty of the Pyrenees (french: Traité des Pyrénées; es, Tratado de los Pirineos; ca, Tractat dels Pirineus) was signed on 7 November 1659 on Pheasant Island, and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635. Negotiations were ...

, the Habsburg

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

saw a period of relative peace. Despite this fact, governing wasn't easy for Caracena, since by then various wars had pushed Spain to the brink of

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

. In 1664 he returned to Spain to assume command of the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, which was going poorly after a series of military setbacks, most recently after the defeat in 1663 in the

Battle of Ameixial The Battle of Ameixial, was fought on 8 June 1663, near the village of Santa Vitória do Ameixial, some north-west of Estremoz, between Spain, Spanish and Portugal, Portuguese as part of the Portuguese Restoration War. In Spain, the battle is b ...

, near

Estremoz Estremoz () is a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 14,318, in an area of 513.80 km². The city Estremoz itself had a population of 7,682 in 2001. It is located in the Alentejo region. History The region around Estremoz ...

of the same

. Caracena's command of the Spanish forces in Portugal was brief; he was decisively defeated by António Luís de Meneses at the

Battle of Montes Claros The Battle of Montes Claros was fought on 17 June 1665, near Vila Viçosa, between Spanish and a combined Anglo-Portuguese force as the last major battle in the Portuguese Restoration War. The battle resulted in a decisive Portuguese victory an ...

in 1665. The defeat effectively ended the War of Restoration in favor of the Portuguese. After the battle, Caracena was charged with treason and cowardice. He defended himself by claiming that he was not to blame, but rather the defeat was due to the poor state of the Spanish army, intrigue in the Spanish Court, and the lack of funds to protract a war against Portugal. Afterwards, he was disregarded by the Spanish Crown and died of disease in 1668. Benavides, Luis de – Gridario dell'eccellentissimo signore il sig. don Luigi de Benavides Carillo, e Toledo, 1650 – BEIC 15113112.jpg, ''Gridario'', Milan 1650

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luis De Benavides Carrillo, Marquis Of Caracena 1608 births 1668 deaths Spanish generals Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands Military personnel of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)