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Francisco de Moncada
Francisco de Moncada | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 29, 1586 |
| Died | 1635 (aged 48–49) |
| Occupations | Military officer, diplomat, historian |
Francisco de Moncada y Moncada (Valencia, 1586 – Goch (Germany), 1635), 3rd Marquis of Aytona, was a Spanish historian and diplomat of the Golden Age who came to hold the office of Governor of the Spanish Netherlands.
Biography
He was the firstborn son of Gastón de Moncada, 2nd Marquis of Aitona and Viceroy of Sardinia and Aragon, and of Catalina de Moncada, Baroness of Callosa. He was baptized on December 29 in the Church of San Esteban in Valencia.
From a very young age he was drawn to letters, mastering Latin and Greek. He entered military service at a very early age.
He married Margarita de Castro y Alagón, Baroness of La Laguna. The couple had five children, among them Guillén Ramón, who inherited the title as 4th Marquis of Aytona. After the death of his wife in 1624, he married a second time in 1630, to Mencía de Guzmán, Countess of Villaverde.[1]
Francisco de Moncada was entrusted with very delicate diplomatic missions. In January 1622 he was officially sent to Brussels to convey to the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia the condolences of Philip IV on the death of Archduke Albert of Austria, which had occurred in July 1621. But his unofficial commission had a clearly military purpose, at the proposal of the royal favorite, the Count-Duke of Olivares. He was to inform himself about the affairs of the Palatinate and to learn the situation of the main strongholds of the Netherlands.
After the end of the Twelve Years' Truce with the United Provinces of the Netherlands, in mid-1622, he was ordered to inspect the main military garrisons. He remained in his post for eight months, after which he returned to Madrid.
In 1623 he was given a mission in Catalonia to resolve certain conflicts that had arisen from the appointment of the Bishop of Barcelona, Juan de Sentís, as Viceroy.[2] In that year he wrote the book Expedición de los catalanes y aragoneses contra turcos y griegos. In 1624 he was sent as ambassador to the Court of Vienna, before the Emperor Ferdinand II.
From there he reported favorably to the Count-Duke of Olivares about the person of Wallenstein, whom he considered the most loyal man he had ever known, a friend of the Spanish and an enemy of the French.
In 1629 he was sent again to Brussels as ambassador to the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, to replace Cardinal de la Cueva, who had been posted to Rome, in order to oversee the military administration, since his presence had become indispensable.
In 1630 he was appointed Commander of the Navy, and two years later supreme commander of the Army. Upon the death of the Infanta in 1633 he himself remained as interim governor of the Netherlands, obtaining several military victories. Thanks to reinforcements coming from the Palatinate, he managed to halt the advance of the troops of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, which had been weakened after the siege of Maastricht.
During his interim government, between December 1633 and November 1634, not only the office of Governor of Arms but also that of superintendent of the treasury disappeared, and once the Cardinal-Infante assumed the captaincy general of the Army of Flanders, Aytona exercised them until his death. In August 1635 he took part, together with Ferdinand, in the siege of Goch against the Dutch rebels and their French allies. He died there after a brief illness on the 12th.[3] Philip IV said of him that he was "a minister of many gifts, and such that I see no other today who equals him."
He was portrayed several times by Anthony van Dyck. A half-length portrait is preserved in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, and there are at least three portraits of Moncada on horseback: in the Louvre Museum in Paris, in the Liria Palace in Madrid (House of Alba Collection), and in the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia. This last version, 3 meters high, was restored in 2016.
Works
- Expedición de los catalanes y aragoneses contra turcos y griegos, in which he narrates the deeds of the Aragonese and Catalans in the East, drawing on testimonies and chronicles of the period. It was widely disseminated in the 18th and 19th centuries. This work has the great merit of using Muntaner, Gregoras and Pachymeres, and it even cites Demetrios Chalkokondyles, whose versions of the events it compares. It is not known, however, whether he read them in Greek or in Latin. But he cites the History of Cantacuzenus, brought to light by Father Pontano, probably Giovanni Pontano (1426–1503), author of De bello neapolitano.[4]
- Vida de Anicio Manlio Torquato Severino Boecio, published posthumously in 1642;
- Genealogía de la casa de los Moncada, inserted by Pedro de Marca in his Historia de Bearne;
- Antigüedad del santuario de Montserrate.
See also
References
- ↑ Eugenio de Ochoa: Tesoro de historiadores españoles (in Spanish)
- ↑ Theatro universal de España: descripcion eclesiastica y secular de todos sus reynos y provincias, vol. IV, p. 91. (in Spanish)
- ↑ Romualdo de Santa Ágata: Sermón en las honras del exc. señor Marquez de Aytona. (in Spanish)
- ↑ Expedición de los catalanes y aragoneses contra turcos y griegos Cervantes Virtual (in Spanish)
External links
- Biografía de Francisco de Moncada y Moncada at the Real Academia de la Historia (in Spanish).
