Francisco Fernández de la Cueva y de la Cueva, 7th Duke of Alburquerque (in full, ) (

Cuéllar Cuéllar () is a municipality in the Province of Segovia, within the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. The municipality had a population of 9,730 inhabitants according to the municipal register of inhabitants (INE) as of 1 Janu ...

, 1575 – Madrid, 18 July 1637) was a Spanish nobleman, military and politician. He was the son of Don Beltrán III de la Cueva y Castilla, 6th Duke of Alburquerque and Isabel de la Cueva y Córdoba. In 1617, he was appointed

Viceroy of Catalonia This is a list of Spanish viceroys (also called lieutenants) of the Principality of Catalonia from 1479 to 1713. *1479–1493: Enrique de Aragón *1493–1495: Juan de Lanuza y Garabito *1495–1496: Juan Fernández de Heredia *14 ...

, a function in which he became known as "one of the toughest, most rigorous, and successful of the viceroys of

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 ...

...and had specialized in the suppression of disorder." To suppress "banditism", he didn't hesitate to clash with the local authority, the

Principality of Catalonia The Principality of Catalonia (; ; ; ) was a Middle Ages, medieval and early modern state (polity), state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of its history it was in dynastic union with the Kingdom of Aragon, constituting together ...

, and to restrict the Catalan constitution. Between 1627 and 1632, he was

Viceroy of Sicily A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

, where he had 2 bronze statues erected of Kings Charles I and Philip IV. He was also a member of the

Spanish Council of State The Council of State (), is the supreme consultative council of the Spanish Government. The current Council of State was established in 1980 according to the article 107 of the Constitution of 1978. The institution of the Council of State, under ...

and the War Council under King Philip IV. He served as Ambassador to the Holy See and finally was President of the

Council of Italy The Council of Italy, officially the Royal and Supreme Council of Italy (, ), was a ruling body and key part of the government of the Spanish Empire in Early Modern Europe, Europe, second only to the monarch himself. It was based in Madrid and ...

and

Council of Aragon The Council of Aragon, officially, the Royal and Supreme Council of Aragon (; ; ), was a ruling body and key part of the domestic government of the Spanish Empire in Europe, second only to the monarch himself. It administered the Crown of Arago ...

Marriage and children

Francisco Fernández de la Cueva married 3 times and had 10 children.http://es.fundacionmedinaceli.org/casaducal/fichaindividuo.aspx?id=2089 First he married with Doña Antonia de Toledo-Beaumont, sister of

Antonio Álvarez de Toledo, 5th Duke of Alba Antonio Álvarez de Toledo y Beaumont, 5th Duke of Alba, Grandee of Spain, (in full, ), (1568 – 29 January 1639) was a Spanish nobleman and politician. Biography Antonio was the grandson of the Iron Duke Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke ...

, who died without children. He married again with Ana María de Padilla, daughter of Martín de Padilla y Manrique, who deceased before 1614. Their only son, Beltran, died on 12 December 1617, aged 17. In his 3rd marriage, the Duke married in 1614 with Ana Enríquez de Cabrera y Colonna, daughter of the Duke of Medina de Rioseco and had: # Francisco Fernández de la Cueva y Enríquez de Cabrera (1618–1676), 8th Duke of Alburquerque. #Gaspar de la Cueva y Enríquez de Cabrera, General of the artillery in the Army of Extremadura during the war with Portugal. #Melchor Fernández de la Cueva y Enríquez de Cabrera (1625–1686), 9th Duke of Alburquerque. # Baltasar de la Cueva, Count of Castellar (1627–1686), Viceroy of Peru. #José de la Cueva y Enríquez, Canon (priest). #Isabel de la Cueva y Enríquez, married firstly with

Jorge de Cárdenas y Manrique de Lara Jorge is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name George. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese . It is derived from the Greek name Γεώργιος (''Georgios' ...

and secondly with Pedro Nuño Colón de Portugal y Castro, Viceroy of New Spain. #Ana de la Cueva y Enríquez, married Juan Enríquez de Borja y Almansa. #María de la Cueva y Enríquez, died young. #Victoria de la Cueva y Enríquez, died young.

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez de la Cueva, Francisco III 1575 births 1637 deaths Dukes of Alburquerque Marquesses of Cuellar Counts of Ledesma Counts of Huelma Viceroys of Sicily Viceroys of Catalonia Ambassadors of Spain to the Holy See 17th-century Spanish people