Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba, known as the Grand Duke of Alba in Spain and Portugal and as the Iron Duke in the Netherlands, was a Spanish noble, general and diplomat. Alba achieved notoriety for his actions during the Eighty Years' War in the Spanish Netherlands, where his prolonged military campaigns and harsh repression failed to suppress the Dutch Revolt.
Portrait by Antonis Mor
Coat of arms of the 3rd Duke of Alba.
The Duke of Alba in 1549 by Anthonis Mor
Head of a bronze medal with the effigy and the cuirass of the Grand Alba bearing the Golden Fleece in commemoration of his triumphs in 1571 with the Latin legend «FERDIN[andus] • TOLET[anus] • ALBÆ • DUX • BELG • PRÆF[ectus]», which means, in English, "Fernando de Toledo Duke of Alba Governor of the Netherlands"
The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Reformation, centralisation, excessive taxation, and the rights and privileges of the Dutch nobility and cities.
The Battle of Gibraltar, 1607.
The Beeldenstorm or Iconoclastic Fury was a more or less organised destruction of Catholic sacred objects which swept through the Habsburg Netherlands' churches in 1566. 1630 painting by Dirck van Delen
Capture of Brielle in 1572 by Anthonie Waldorp (1862)
Stadtholder Maurice of Nassau during the 1600 Battle of Nieuwpoort, a tactical Dutch victory for little gain
