Diego Mexía Felipez de Guzmán y Dávila (1580 – 1655), vicecount of Butarque and first Marquis of Leganés, was a Spanish politician and army commander.

Biography

He was the youngest son of Diego Velázquez Dávila y Bracamonte, marquis of Loriana, and Leonor de Gúzman, aunt of the Count-Duke of Olivares

Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares

Don Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel Ribera y Velasco de Tovar, Count-Duke of Olivares and Duke of San Lúcar la Mayor , was a Spanish royal favourite of Philip IV and minister. As prime minister from 1621 to 1643, he over-exerted Spain in foreign affairs and unsuccessfully attempted domestic reform...

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Since 1600, he fought during more than 20 years in the Spanish Netherlands in the service of Albert VII, Archduke of Austria

Albert VII, Archduke of Austria

Archduke Albert VII of Austria was, jointly with his wife, the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands between 1598 and 1621, ruling the Habsburg territories in the southern Low Countries and the north of modern France...

. After his death, Diego returned to Spain where his cousin Olivares had become valido, and under his patronage, Diego soon became very influential.
He became a member of the State Council in 1626, was made Marquis of Leganés in 1627 and married in the same year with Polixena Spinola, the very rich daughter of the great general Ambrosio Spinola.

In 1627 he was sent back to Flanders to force the States General to accept Olivares' project of the Unión de Armas, and pay for an extra 12.000 infantry soldiers.

On his way back, he and general Ambrosio Spinola visited the Siege of La Rochelle

Siege of La Rochelle

The Siege of La Rochelle was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627-1628...

 by the French, on which occasion they discussed the succession of the Duchy of Mantua

Duchy of Mantua

The Duchy of Mantua was a duchy in Lombardy, Northern Italy, subject to the Holy Roman Empire.-History:After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Mantua was invaded by Byzantines, Longobards and Franks. In the 11th century it became a possession of Boniface of Canossa, marquis of Toscana...

, which would eventually lead to the War of the Mantuan Succession

War of the Mantuan Succession

The War of the Mantuan Succession was a peripheral part of the Thirty Years' War. Its casus belli was the extinction of the direct male line of the House of Gonzaga in December 1627. Brothers Francesco IV , Ferdinando and Vincenzo II , the last three dukes of Gonzaga, had all died leaving no...

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After this mission, he held several important political and military posts in the Spanish Netherlands, which earned him the title of Grandee of Spain in 1634.

On September 24, 1635 he was named Captain General and Governor of the Duchy of Milan, and was soon involved in the Franco-Spanish War (1635) and the Piedmontese Civil War

Piedmontese Civil War

The Piedmontese Civil War was a conflict in northern Italy, connected with the Franco-Spanish War of 1635-59.-Background:From 1635, Piedmont had been forced to join France in its war against Spain, fighting principally against Spanish-controlled former Duchy of Milan, though its ruler, Victor...

 against France, Parma, Mantua and Savoy. He defeated Odoardo Farnese

Odoardo Farnese

Odoardo Farnese was Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1622 to 1646.-Biography:Odoardo was the sole legitimate son of Ranuccio I Farnese and Margherita Aldobrandini...

, Duke of Parma and Piacenza and forced him to sign a peace treaty in 1637. He also prevented the French to take the Valtellina

Valtellina

Valtellina or the Valtelline valley ; is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Today it is known for its skiing, its hot spring spas, its cheeses and its wines...

 and won some victories against Savoy

Savoy

Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....

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In 1638 Leganés conquered Breme and Vercelli

Vercelli

Vercelli is a city and comune of about 47,000 inhabitants in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around the year 600 BC.The city is situated on the river Sesia in the plain of the river...

, and launched the next year a great offensive against Piedmont

Piedmont

Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...

. He conquered a large number of cities, but suffered a great defeat near Casale

Casale Monferrato

Casale Monferrato, population 36,058, is a town and comune in the Piedmont region of north-west Italy, part of the province of Alessandria. It is situated about 60 km east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrato hills. Beyond the river lies the...

 and failed in the Siege of Turin (1640)

Siege of Turin (1640)

The 1640 siege of Turin was a major action in two distinct wars: the Franco-Spanish War and the Piedmontese Civil War. Thomas of Savoy and his supporters had seized the city of Turin in 1639, but French troops supporting the Regent Christine continued to hold the citadel...

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He was called back to Spain and in November 1641 given the command of the army of Catalonia to push back the French and Catalan troops in the Catalan Revolt

Catalan Revolt

The Catalan Revolt affected a large part of the Catalan Principality of Catalonia between the years of 1640 and 1659. It had an enduring effect in the Treaty of the Pyrenees , which ceded the county of Roussillon and the northern half of the county of Cerdanya to France , thereby splitting the...

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After some initial successes in defending Tarragona

Tarragona

Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...

, he suffered a defeat in the Battle of Lerida (1642)

Battle of Lerida (1642)

The Battle of Lerida was a battle fought on October 7 1642 during the Catalan Revolt.After a series of victories in 1642 the Franco-Catalan army under the command of Philippe de La Mothe-Houdancourt controlled almost the whole of Catalonia, including Lerida...

, which made him fall from grace.

In 1645 he was rehabilitated and made nominal Viceroy of Catalonia where he defended successfully the city of Lérida in 1646. He remained viceroy until 1648.

He spent the last years of his life in Italy as president of the council of Italy.

Marriage and children

• First he married Polixena Spinola (died 1639), daughter of Ambrosio Spinola. They had two children :
  • Gaspar Felípez de Guzmán y Spinola, second marquis of Leganés, Viceroy of Valencia and governor of Oran
    Oran
    Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
    
    .
  • Ambrosio Ignacio Mexía Felípez de Guzmán y Spinola (1632–1684), tutor of Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias and Archbishop.
• He next married Juana Fernández de Córdoba y Rojas, daughter of Luis Fernández de Córdoba, 6th Duke of Sessa.

Art collector

The marquis of Leganés was also one of the greatest art collectors of his time, he is said to have owned a total of 1.330 paintings. He was also portaited by Antony van Dyck, a painting which today can be found in the Banco Santander Foundation in Madrid.

External links

• Retrato de Diego Felipez de Guzmán, Marquis of Leganés, his biography in Spanish from 1791.