Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand was a Spanish and Portuguese prince, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal of the Holy Catholic Church, Archduke of Austria, Archbishop of Toledo (1619–41), and a general during the Thirty Years' War, the Eighty Years' War, and the Franco-Spanish War. He is commonly considered the last great commander and strategist of the Spanish Empire, whose premature death in a critical moment helped bring about the end of Spanish hegemony in Europe. He is, as well, one of few generals undefeated on the battlefield.
Archduke Ferdinand in 1635 depicted by Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens. Collection of John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
"Ferdinand Receives the Keys of the City from the Virgin of Ghent", print after a painting made by Antoon van den Heuvel for the Joyous Entry by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand into Ghent in 1635
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria as Actaeon by Diego Velázquez
Battle of Nördlingen (1634)
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The Battle of Nördlingen took place on 6 September 1634 during the Thirty Years' War. A combined Imperial-Spanish force inflicted a crushing defeat on the Swedish-German army.
The Battle of Nördlingen by Jan van den Hoecke
Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar
The Victory of the Two Ferdinands, Peter Paul Rubens (1635)