Álvarez de Toledo, Fernando

Fernando Álvarez de Toledo (1507-1582), the third Duke of Alba, arrived in Brussels with the mission of suppressing the revolt in Flanders. The six and a half years that the new governor spent in those territories are divided into three main periods: violent repression and the first war against the Orangists (1567-1568); a truce (1569-1572); and the second war against the Orangists (1572-1573). Upon beginning his stay in Antwerp, the relationship between the Duke of Alba and the Duke of Alba approached friendship. BAM, like the rest of the Spaniards, appreciated Alba's effectiveness, whose military prowess had halted the spread of Protestantism in the Netherlands with a clear victory over the rebels in 1568. From 1568, when Alba put down the first revolt, until 1572, when the second broke out, BAM collaborated closely with the governor's religious policy: with the aim of defending Catholicism by all means, the Index expurgatorius librorum qui hoc saeculo prodierunt (Antwerp, 1571), ordered by Alba and carried out by BAM. In his first report as councilor in February 1571, BAM defended the severity of Alba's repression, which he considered necessary to stop all kinds of heresy. When the duke asked permission to retire in the summer of 1571, BAM was one of the voices that most clearly opposed that decision (cf. Arias Montano to Zayas, 1571 02 05). From 1572 onwards, BAM's perception of Alba's iron fist changed substantially. After a clear military and political failure, in 1573 Alba was replaced in his post by Luis de Requesens.

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