Marquis of Santa Cruz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 12 December 1526 |
| Died | 9 February 1588(1588-02-09) (aged 61) |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Spanish Empire |
| Branch | Spanish Navy |
| Years of service | 1544–1588 |
| Rank | Captain General of the Sea General Admiral |
| Battles / wars |
|
Álvaro de Bazán y Guzmán,1st Marquis of Santa Cruz (12 December 1526 – 9 February 1588), was a Spanish admiral and nobleman. He took part, among others, in theseizure of the rock of Vélez de la Gomera (1564), the relief to the besieged during the sieges ofOran (1563) andMalta (1565), theBattle of Lepanto (1571), theconquest of Tunis (1573), theincorporation of Portugal to the Spanish monarchy (1580), and theconquest of Terceira (1582).[1]
A leading admiral in both theMediterranean and theAtlantic, like hisfather before him, Bazán has been considered the prime naval commander in the history of Spain.[2][3] He made developments inamphibious warfare and pioneered the strategic usage of several kinds of ships, refining the design of existent vessels and popularisinggalleons as warships, ultimately making possible many of the successes of theSpanish Empire since the 16th and 17th centuries.[2][3] For his leadership and influence, Bazán was celebrated byMiguel de Cervantes asel Padre de los Soldados ("the Father of the Soldiers").[2] He was reputed to have never lost a battle under his command, a remarkable achievement in a fifty-year-long military career.[4]
He was agrandee of Spain and a patron of the arts.[3] He built thePalace of the Marquis of Santa Cruz inViso, Spain, which currently houses the General Archive of the Spanish Navy.
Álvaro de Bazán y Guzmán was born inGranada on 12 December 1526, son toÁlvaro de Bazán y Solís "the Elder" and Ana de Guzmán.[5] Just like his father and grandfather, he was a member of theOrder of Santiago, having joined the order as a knight when he was a toddler, in 1529.[6] Under the purview of his relationship with the order, he was grantedencomiendas inVillamayor (1568) and in Alhambra andLa Solana (1572).[6]
His grandfather, Álvaro de Bazán, took part in theconquest of Granada in 1492. Bazán's father took part together withGiovanni Andrea Doria and others marines in therecapture of Tunis in 1535, and was distinguished in the service ofCharles V, by whom he was made general of thegalleys, or commander-in-chief of the Spanish naval forces in theMediterranean.[7]
The future admiral followed his father into the navy in his youth and was employed in the high command of the Spanish officers at a very early age. At the age of eight, he was appointed "Military Governor and captain of the fortress and city ofGibraltar". His 'command' was via his father, who was in command of the galleys of Spain. It has been speculated that this unusual appointment was intended to showCharles V's confidence, but the commander of the galleys did not share that confidence. Bazán the Elder suggested to no effect that Gibraltar'sLine Wall Curtain be extended to thesouthern tip of the rock.[8] In 1564, he aided in the capture ofPeñón de Vélez de la Gomera and, the following year, he commanded the division of galleys employed toblockade Tetuan and to suppress thepiracy carried on from that port. The service is said to have been successfully performed.
The younger Bazán had a first showing serving under Sancho Martínez de Leyva during his failed expedition to the Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera. Bazán advised Leyva for a course of action that went unheeded, leading to a fiasco, during which Bazán was still instrumental in covering the Spanish retreat from his ships. He laterdefeated an English pirate fleet in Gibraltar.[2] Bazán participated again in the next expedition to Vélez de la Gomera, leading to itsfinal conquest. Actions like this earned the confidence ofPhilip II, by whom he was appointed in 1568 to command the galleys ofNaples. This post brought him into close relations withJohn of Austria, when theHoly League was formed against theTurks in 1570.[7]
He was given the title ofMarquis of Santa Cruz in 1569, in light of his role in the suffocation of theMorisco Revolt and previous services.[9] The title was named afterSanta Cruz de Mudela, acquired from the Crown by his father back in 1539.[10]
During the operations which preceded and followed theBattle of Lepanto (7 October 1571), Bazán was always in favour of the more energetic course. His personal galley was known asLa Loba ('The She-Wolf'), after her golden figurehead. In the battle, he commanded the reserve division, and his prompt energy averted a disaster whenUluj Ali, who commanded the left wing of the Turks, outmaneuvered the commander of the Christian right,Gian Andrea Doria, the nephew of his old comradeAndrea Doria, and broke the Allied line. He later accompanied Don John of Austria at the taking ofTunis in the following year.
When Philip II enforced hisclaim as heir to the crown of Portugal in 1580–1581, Santa Cruz held a naval command butAntónio, Prior of Crato, an illegitimate representative of the formerPortuguese royal family, who conducted some popular resistance to the crowning of what was seen as a foreign king, continued to hold the islands of theAzores. António was supported by a number of French adventurers underPhilip Strozzi, aFlorentine exile in the service of France.Santa Cruz was sent as "Admiral of the Ocean" to drive the pretender and his friends away in 1582.[7]
Badly outnumbered, he won theBattle of Ponta Delgada offTerceira Island against a loose confederation of Portuguese, French, English and Dutch adventurers andprivateers, which decided the struggle for the Azores in favour of the Spanish Habsburgs.
Santa Cruz, who recognised that England presented a grave threat to Spain's empire, became a zealous advocate of war. A letter written by him to King Philip fromAngra do Heroísmo inTerceira, on 9 August 1583, contains the first definite suggestion of theSpanish Armada.[7] His proposed plan included striking first inIreland and mounting a local rebellion, in a way that would divert the English forces, before heading for the channel to start the main invasion of England.[11]
Santa Cruz was to have commanded the fleet. His plans, schemes and estimates occupy a conspicuous place in the documents concerning the Armada collected byCesáreo Fernández Duro. The hesitant character of the king, and his many embarrassments, political and financial, caused many delays and left Santa Cruz unable to take action. He was atLisbon without the means to fit out his fleet, whenFrancis Drake burnt the Spanish ships atCádiz during his1587 expedition. The king was offended by Santa Cruz's independence of judgement, and he held the admiral responsible for the failures and delays, although these are better attributed to the Crown. Santa Cruz died on 9 February 1588 at Lisbon, reportedly in part because of the unjustified reproaches of the king.[7][1]
The greatgalleons employed to carry the trade between Cádiz andVera Cruz inNew Spain were the joint creation of Santa Cruz andPedro Menéndez de Avilés.[12]
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The documents relating to the Spanish Armada have been collected byCesáreo Fernández Duro inLa Armada Invencible (1895–1903), and he gives a biography of the Santa Cruz in hisConquista de las Islas Azores. A separate life has been published by Don Ángel de Altolaguirre. There are various notices of Santa Cruz inSir W. Stirling Maxwell'sDon John of Austria.[7]
Several ships of theSpanish Navy were namedÁlvaro de Bazán in his honour. Currently, aclass of frigates is in service with the Spanish Navy, and the lead ship is namedÁlvaro de Bazán (F101).
He was depicted on the 1953 one-peseta banknote.
In the Chapter XXXIX ofDon Quixote, Cervantes says:Tomóla la capitana de Nápoles, llamada La Loba, regida por aquel rayo de la guerra, por el padre de los soldados, por aquel venturoso y jamás vencido capitán don Álvaro de Bazán, marqués de Santa Cruz. ("She was taken by the Captain of the Naples-galleys, calledLa Loba (The She-Wolf), commanded by that lightning of war, by the father of soldiers, for that fortunate and never defeated captain, Don Álvaro de Bazán, marquess of Santa Cruz.")
In the episode "The Enterprise of England" in the 1971 BBC seriesElizabeth R, he is portrayed by Geoffrey Wincott in a historically accurate script, in which King Philip's meddling clearly dooms his plans and exacerbates his declining health.
Attribution:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Hannay, David (1911). "Santa Cruz, Álvaro de Bazan, 1st Marquis of". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 185.
