AL'BA, or AT...VA, FERDINAND ALVAREZ VON TOLEDO, Duke of, prime-minister, and gen. of the Spanish armies under Charles V. and Philip II., was b. in 1508, of one of the most illustrious families of Spain. He was educated under the eye of his grandfather, who instructed him in the arts of war and of government. He fought, while yet a youth, at the battle of Pavia, and had the custody of Francis I. while a prisoner. He commanded under Charles V. of Hungary, was present at the siege of Tunis, and accompanied the expedition against Algiers. He defended Perpignan against the dauphin, distinguished himself in Navarre and Catalonia, and was in consequence created duke of A. His cau tiousness and his taste for political intrigue afforded as yet no very high evidence of his military talents; and even Charles V., whom he counseled, when in Hungary, to build a bridge of gold for the Turks, rather than hazard a decisive battle, seems to have intrusted him with the command rather as matter of personal favor than recognition of his abilities. His pride was hurt at the low estimation in which he was held; and his real genius began to show itself. The victory which Charles V. gained at ?ItIldberg over John Frederic, elector of Saxony. in 1547, was due to the able generalship of the duke of A. Under his influence, as president of the council of war, the captive elector was condemned to death; and it was entirely against his wish that the emperor commuted the sentence. He took part under the emperor in the expedition against Henry II., king of France, who had taken possession of Metz; but here his exertions, as well as those of the emperor, proved unavailing. He was more fortunate in Italy against the combined armies of the pope and the French king, which be repeatedly defeated during the campaign of 1555. After the abdication of the emperor Charles V. in 1556, he continued to hold the command of the army, and overran the states of the church, which, after the retreat of the French army in 1557, lay entirely at his mercy. He was obliged, however, by the command of Philip II., to conclude a peace with pope Paul IV., and restore all his conquests. Bern recalled from Italy, he appeared in 1559 at the court of France, with which Spain had become reconciled by the peace of Chilteau-Carnbresis, April 3, 1559; and as proxy for his sovereign, espoused Elizabeth, Henry II.'s daughter.
When the inhabitants of the Netherlands, who had been accustomed to freedom, revolted against the tyranny of Spain, and especially against the hated inquisition, the duke of As counsel was to suppress the insurrection forcibly and with rigor. The king accordingly committed the matter to his hands, and sent him to the Netherlands, 1567, with unlimited poWer and a large military force. His first step on arriving was to estab lish what was called the "bloody council," in which he himself at first presided, and over which he afterwards appointed the sanguinary don Juan de Vargas. This tribunal condemned all without distinction whose opinions appeared dubious, or whose wealth excited jealousy. The present and the absent, the living and the dead, were subjected alike to trial, and their property confiscated by the council. A number of the merchants and mechanics emigrated to England; above 100,000 abandoned their native country, and many others enlisted under the banners of the proscribed princes, Louis and William of Orange. A., rendered still more savage by a defeat which befell his lieutenant, the duke
of Aremberg, put to death the counts Egmont and Horn on the scaffold. He afterwards defeated prince Louis, and compelled William of Orange to retire to Germany; upon which he entered Brussels in the greatest triumph on the 22d Dec., 1568. The pope pre sented him with a consecrated hat and sword, as defender of the Catholic faith; an honor which, having been hitherto conferred only on crowned heads, increased his insolence to the highest degree. He caused a statue to be cast, in which he was represented as tramp ling under foot two human figures, representing the nobles and people of the Netherlands; and this he set up in Antwerp. His executioners shed more blood than his soldiers; and none now withstood his arms except Holland and Zealand. But these provinces con tinually renewed their efforts against him, and succeeded in destroying the fleet which had been equipped by his orders. This disaster, and perhaps still more the apprehension that he might lose the king's favor, induced him to request that he might be recalled. Philip gladly acceded, as he perceived that the obstinacy of the rebels was only increased by these cruelties, and he was desirous of trying the effect of milder measures. A. accordingly resigned the command of the troops to don Louis de Requesens, and, Dec. 18, 1573, left the country, in which, as he himself boasted, he had executed 18,000 men. The war which he had kindled burned for 68 years, and cost Spain $800,000,000, her finest troops, and thg loss of seven of the richest provinces of the Netherlands.
A. was received at Madrid with the highest distinction, but did not long enjoy his former consideration. Don Frederic, one of his sons, having seduced one of the queen's ladies of honor under promise of marriage, and being arrested on this account, the fattier assisted him to escape, and, in opposition to the desire of the king, united him in marriage to one of his relatives. He was in consequence banished from the court to his castle of Uzeda, where he lived two years. But now the troubles in Portugal, the crown of which Philip claimed as his hereditary right, induced the king to draw A. anew from his retreat. The duke accordingly led an army into Portugal, and drove out don Antonio, who, as grandson of John III., had taken possession of the throne. The whole country was speedily conquered (1581); and A., with his accustomed cruelty and rapacity, seized the treasures of the capital himself, while lie allowed the soldiers to plunder without mercy the suburbs and the surrounding country. Philip, dissatisfied with these proceedings, desired to have an investigation of the conduct of the duke; but the haughty bearing of the latter, and the fear of a revolt, induced him to abandon it. A. d. at Lisbon, Dec.11, 1599, at the age of 74. He had a fine countenance, with a haughty air and a robust frame; he slept little, while he both labored and wrote much. It has been said of him, that during 60 years of military service he never lost a battle, and never allowed himself to be surprised.