Francisco de Melo
Francisco de Melo as Governor of the Spanish Netherlands.
Born? 1597
Estremoz, Portugal
Died18 December 1651 (aged 54 or 53)
Madrid, Spain
AllegianceSpain
Service/branchSpanish Empire Spanish Army
Years of service1638–1645
RankCaptain General
Battles/warsThirty Years' War
Catalan Revolt

Dom Francisco de Melo (1597 – 18 December 1651) was a Portuguese nobleman who served as a Spanish general during the Thirty Years' War.

Biography

Francisco was born in Estremoz, Portugal. From 1632 to 1636 he was the Spanish ambassador to the Republic of Genoa.[1] In 1638, Francisco was appointed viceroy of Sicily,[2] and two years later he was ambassador in Vienna.[1] He was appointed as an understudy of Marquess of Leganés.[3]

Francisco was marquis of the Portuguese Tor de Laguna, count of Assumar, and from 1641 to 1644, interim governor of the Southern Netherlands.[4]

When Francisco arrived in the Southern Netherlands, he already had an impressive political career. He scored a victory against Antoine III de Gramont at the Battle of Honnecourt in May 1642.[5]

Francisco was defeated at the Battle of Rocroi in 1643.[3][lower-alpha 1] In August 1644, Francisco returned to Spain and was appointed to the council of state and royal military adviser by Philip IV of Spain.[6][4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Parker states, incorrectly, that Francisco was recalled in disgrace following his loss at Rocroi.[6]

References

Sources

  • Guthrie, William P. (2003). The Later Thirty Years War: From the Battle of Wittstock to the Treaty of Westphalia. Greenwood Press.
  • Hanlon, Gregory (2016). Italy 1636: Cemetery of Armies. Oxford University Press.
  • van Nimwegen, Olaf (2010). The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688. The Boydell Press.
  • Stradling, R. A. (1994). Spain's struggle for Europe, 1598-1668. Bloomsbury Academic.
  • Watanabe-O'Kelly, Helen (2010). Europa Triumphans: Court and Civic Festivals in Early Modern Europe. Ashgate Publishing.



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