GONSALVO DE CORDOVA, dh kOr'd6-nii (GONZALO HERNANDEZ Y AGUILAR). A celebrated Spanish commander. He was born at Montilla, near Cordova. in 1453 (according to some in 1443). He distinguished himself in the war waged by Queen Isabella of Castile against Portugal and in the war against the Moors, and was charged in 1491 with the conduct of the negotiations for the surrender of Gran ada. In 1495 he was sent by Ferdinand of Aragon to the assistance of Ferdinand, King of Naples. against the French. In less than a year, Gonsalvo, with his limited resources, had delivered the greater part of the kingdom, and obtained the appellation of 'El Gran Capithn.' In 1498 he returned to Spain and was received with signal marks of distinction by the King. Having been placed in command of a fleet in the Mediterranean. he took Cephalonia from the Turks at the beginning of 1501 and restored it to Venice. When the partition of the Kingdom of Naples was determined upon by a compact between Louis XII. of France and Ferdinand the Catholic, entered into at Granada in 1500. Gon salvo de Cordova led the invading Spanish army. The conquest of the kingdom was speedily achieved, but the conquerors soon quarreled over the partition of the booty, and war broke out between them in 1502. Consalvo de Cordova
vanquished the French at Cerignola, April 28, 1503, took possession of Calabria, the Abruzzi, Apulia, and the city of Naples itself, and then laid siege to Gaeta, but was compelled to retreat before a superior force of the enemy. On Decem ber 27th of the same year, however, he fell upon them unexpectedly near the Garigliano, and ob tained a complete victory. The French army was almost annihilated, the fortress of Gaeta fell, and the possession of Naples was secured to the Spaniards. King Ferdinand. bestowed the Duchy of .Sesa upon the conqueror, and appointed him vice roy of Naples with unlimited authority. His good fortune, however, made him many powerful ene mies, and his popularity with the Neapolitans awoke the King's jealousy. Gonsalvo was recalled to Spain, where the King treated him with marked neglect. He now betook himself to his estates in Granada; but after the defeat of the new viceroy in Naples by Gaston de Foix, he was again ap pointed to the command of the Spanish army in Italy. Mental suffering, however, had under mined his health, and on December 2, 1515, he died at Granada.