Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 8th Duke of Alburquerque
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Francisco Fernández de la Cueva y Enriquez de Cabrera , 8th Duke of Alburquerque
Alburquerque, Badajoz
Alburquerque is a town in the province of Badajoz in Spain. It has 5,600 inhabitants. It is very close to the border with Portugal and was an ancient dominion of the kings of this country...

, Marquis of Cuéllar
Cuéllar
Cuéllar is a large town and local government district in the autonomous community of Castile and León, in Spain. It had a population of 9,841 in 2008....

, Count of Ledesma and of Huelma
Huelma
Huelma is a city located in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2010 census , the city has a population of 6,208 inhabitants....

(1619 — March 27, 1676) was a Spanish military officer and viceroy of New Spain from August 15, 1653 to September 15, 1660. He was also viceroy of Sicily from 1668 to 1670.

Early life

Francisco Fernández de la Cueva was born at Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

 into one of the most aristocratic families of Spain, as the eldest viable adult male from the third marriage of his father, the 7th duke, (1575–1637). The duke's first marriage to Antonia, a powerful "de Toledo-Beaumont" family woman, was barren. Further, the only offspring of the duke's marriage with "Ana María de Padilla", his second wife, deceased before 1614, also from a powerful family, Beltran, died at age 16 before 1617. In his 3rd marriage, the lonely duke, married to a "Enriquez de Cabrera y Colonna" woman managed to get a 10 children mixed bunch, his wife surviving him some 21 years, indeed.

Francisco, the eldest male, entered military service when very young. He served in the infantry in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

. Later, as general of cavalry, he fought in the defense of Tortosa
Tortosa
-External links:* *** * * *...

 and in the siege of Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

 in 1650. One feature of his career would be also his Ambassadorial activities in the Germanic countries.

Viceroy of New Spain

He made his formal entry into Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

 to take up the reins of government on August 15, 1653. He was accompanied by his wife, Juana de Armendáriz, the daughter of Lope Díez de Armendáriz, a previous viceroy of New Spain.

Because of the war with England, he feared an invasion of Spanish territories in the New World. Because of this he strengthened the defenses of Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...

 and San Juan de Ulúa
San Juan de Ulúa
San Juan de Ulúa, also known as Castle of San Juan de Ulúa is a large complex of fortresses, prisons and one former palace on an island overlooking the seaport of Veracruz, Mexico.-History:...

 on the east coast of New Spain. He also sent arms and munitions to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

 and Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

.

He increased trade with the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, Siam and Cochinchina
Cochinchina
Cochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1954. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ...

, sending mercury, saltpeter and other mineral products. He ordered the resumption of the minting of gold coins (suspended by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza
Antonio de Mendoza
Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco, Marquis of Mondéjar, Count of Tendilla , was the first viceroy of New Spain, serving from April 17, 1535 to November 25, 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru, from September 23, 1551 to July 21, 1552...

). He collected the royal rents with care, and sent back to Spain large quantities of silver. He reinforced the Armada de Barlovento, which guarded the coast and shipping. He ordered the construction in Campeche
Campeche
Campeche is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in Southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the states of Yucatán to the north east, Quintana Roo to the east, and Tabasco to the south west...

 of new ships for the coastal and overseas trade. He also repaired the aqueduct supplying Mexico City with water.

The viceroy accelerated the construction of the new cathedral of Mexico City, visiting it every afternoon, climbing the scaffolding, and giving monetary rewards to the workers. During a visit to the cathedral on 12 March 1660, a 19-year-old soldier in the viceroy's guard, Manuel Ledesma y Robles of Madrid, attacked the viceroy with a sword. The viceroy survived. Justice was swift for his attacker, who was quickly tried, then dragged around the city and back to the Plaza Mayor, where he was hanged the next day.

The city of Alburquerque, in what is now New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

, was founded on February 7, 1660 under his direction. He granted land to more than 100 Spanish families there.

The writers of this period attributed to his government a strong encouragement for the development of the sciences and the arts. His palace was considered a model of elegance and good taste.

Later life

He left New Spain for Madrid in September, 1660. Thereafter he was named lieutenant general of marines. He also served as ambassador extraordinary to Vienna to accompany Infanta Margaret Theresa of Spain
Margaret Theresa of Spain
Margaret Theresa of Spain was Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Archduchess consort of Austria, Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia. She was the daughter of King Philip IV of Spain and his second wife Mariana of Austria...

, daughter of King Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV of Spain
Philip IV was King of Spain between 1621 and 1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until 1640...

, when she married her uncle, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...

. In 1668 Fernández de la Cueva was named viceroy of Sicily, where he remained two years.

He died in March, 1676 in the Royal Palace of Madrid.
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