Francisco Castillo Fajardo, 2nd Marquis of Villadarias (17 December 1642 – ) was a Spanish military officer and nobleman.

Service record

Fajardo was the only son of Maria Muñoz y Ruiz and Antonio Arias Castillo Fajardo Maldonado, who was given the title of Marquis of Villadarias as a posthumous award for his other son, who was killed in Flanders in 1690. As it was Fajardo who was the first person to officially use the title when he inherited the honour in 1699. In 1693 he unsuccessfully defended

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against the French, becoming Capitán General de

Guipúzcoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantique ...

in 1696. In 1698 he successfully defended

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

against the Ottomans. In the same year he became the governor of the small Spanish territory of Ceuta on the north African coast. In 1702 he had to travel across the

Straits of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

to become the captain-general of the southern tip of Iberia known as

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. In 1702, during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

, he defended Cadiz successfully against an Anglo-Dutch fleet under the command of

George Rooke Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Rooke (1650 – 24 January 1709) was an Royal Navy officer and politician. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and again at the Battle of Schooneveld duri ...

in the Battle of Cadiz. From June to July 1704 he invaded Portugal and conquered

Castelo de Vide Castelo de Vide () is a municipality in Portugal, with a population of 3,407 inhabitants in 2011, in an area of . History It is unclear when humans settled Castelo de Vide, although archaeologists suggest the decision came from the morphology of ...

and

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. During 1704–1705 he unsuccessfully tried to recapture

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

from the English and Dutch in the Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar, until he was replaced on 8 February 1705 by the French Marshal de Tessé, who gave up the siege and retired. In 1710 he was commander of the Bourbon army in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, where he lost the

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. After this battle he was replaced by the Marquis de Bay. In 1713 he became captain-general of

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

.Francisco Arias del Castillo Fajardo y Muñoz Marquès de Villadarias
, 11setembre1714.org, accessed 26 March 2013 He died in 1716 in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fajardo, Francisco Castillo, Marquis Of Villadarias Villadarias, Francisco Castillo Fajardo, Marquis of Castillo Fajardo, Francisco Villadarias, Francisco Castillo Fajardo, Marquis of 1642 births 1716 deaths