Aliprando caprioli-Retrato de Antonio de Leiva

Antonio de Leyva, Duke of Terranova, Prince of Ascoli, Count of Monza (1480–1536) was a Spanish general during the

Italian Wars The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, mostly in the Italian Peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the House of Valois, Valois kings o ...

. During the

Italian War of 1521 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, he commanded

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

during the siege of the city by

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

, and took part in the

Battle of Pavia The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg Empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, Holy Roman Empero ...

in 1525. After the death of Fernando d'Ávalos, Marquis of Pescara, he held further commands in Italy during the

War of the League of Cognac The War of the League of Cognac (1526–1530) was fought between the Habsburg dominions of Charles V—primarily the Holy Roman Empire and Spain—and the League of Cognac, an alliance including the Kingdom of France, Pope Clement VII, the Re ...

and finally died shortly after attempting an invasion of

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

Biography

Belonging to a family from

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

, Antonio de Leyva made his military debut in the

Alpujarras The Alpujarra (, ) is a natural and historical region in Andalusia, Spain, on the south slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the adjacent valley. The average elevation is above sea level. It extends over two provinces, Granada and Almería; ...

(1502) during the struggle against the revolting

Mudéjar Mudéjar were Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period following the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for Mudéjar art, which was greatly influenced by Islamic art, but produced typically by Christian craftsmen for C ...

es from

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

and later served in Italy under the '' Gran Capitán'' (1503–1504). He had a prominent part in the

and was wounded at the Battle of Ravenna in 1512. Later on, under the Marquis of Pescara, he fought near Milan and in the unlucky campaign of

in 1524, in which they succeeded in looting the countryside but were forced to withdraw without having managed to conquer

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. After this failure he had the post of commander of the garrison of

and here sustained the long siege from the French army led by King Francis I (October 1524 – February 1525) which gave time to the Spanish and Imperial forces to reorganize and to win the famous

. In 1525 he succeeded to the Marquis of Pescara as commander-in-chief of the Imperial army in the Duchy of Milan. When the last Sforza Duke of Milan Francesco II died in 1535, he was appointed Governor of Milan by

Emperor Charles V Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...

. During a review in honor of de Leyva, Charles V appeared dressed as a common pikeman and asked to be recorded in the rolls of the Tercio as "Carlos de Gante, soldier of the gallant Tercio of Antonio de Leyva". Antonio de Leyva died of

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of pain in a red, tender, hot, and Joint effusion, swollen joint, caused by the deposition of needle-like crystals of uric acid known as monosodium urate crysta ...

during the campaign of Provence in 1536 but was buried in Milan in the now-destroyed church of San Dionigi. His descendants lived in Milan where they became one of the city's most prominent families. One of his descendants was the infamous Nun of Monza.

References

*Bleiberg, Germán (editor). ''Diccionario de Historia de España'' vol.2. Madrid, 1986. . *Konstam, Angus. ''Pavia 1525: The Climax of the Italian Wars''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 1996. . *Lopez, Ignacio. ''The Spanish Tercios''. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2012. .

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leyva, Antonio de 1480 births 1536 deaths Military leaders of the Italian Wars Dukes of Spain Spanish generals People of the War of the League of Cognac