Infante Ferdinand | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Cardinal-Deacon ofSanta Maria in Portico | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portrait byGaspar de Crayer (1584–1669) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Church | Catholic Church | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Installed | 29 July 1619 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Term ended | 9 November 1641 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Ferdinando Gonzaga | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Virginio Orsini | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other posts | Apostolic Administrator of Toledo Governor of the Spanish Netherlands Governor of the Duchy of Milan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Orders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Created cardinal | 29 July 1619 byPaul V | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rank | Cardinal-Deacon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1609-05-16)16 May 1609 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 9 November 1641(1641-11-09) (aged 32) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buried | El Escorial | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Denomination | Catholic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parents | Philip III of Spain Margaret of Austria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand (also known asDon Fernando de Austria,Cardenal-Infante Fernando de España and asFerdinand von Österreich; 16 May 1609 – 9 November 1641) was a Spanish and Portuguese prince (Infante of Spain, Infante of Portugal (until 1640)),Governor of the Spanish Netherlands,Cardinal of the Holy Catholic Church,Archduke of Austria,Archbishop of Toledo (1619–1641), and a general during theThirty Years' War, theEighty Years' War, and theFranco-Spanish War. He is commonly considered the last great commander and strategist of theSpanish Empire, whose premature death in a critical moment helped bring about the end of Spanish hegemony in Europe.[1]
| House of Habsburg Spanish line |
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| Emperor Charles V (King Charles I) |
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| Philip II |
| Philip III |
| Philip IV |
| Charles II |
Born at theEl Escorial nearMadrid, Spain in 1609, he was the son of theKing of Spain andPortugal,Philip III and II andMargaret of Austria, sister ofEmperor Ferdinand II.[2] His older siblings wereKing Philip IV and III and the French queenAnne of Austria.
As his father wished that he pursue an ecclesiastical career, Ferdinand was elevated to the Primacy of Spain in 1619, becomingArchbishop of Toledo.[3] Shortly afterwards he was createdCardinal. The style Cardinal-Infante was a combination of his dignity as Cardinal and his station as a royal Prince (Infante in Spanish) of Spain.
In 1630 the Cardinal Infante's auntIsabella Clara Eugenia planned to make him her successor as governor of theSpanish Netherlands. To move to the Netherlands in a style befitting a governor, a strong army had to accompany him. Travel by ship from Spain was not an option as it would expose him to risk of battle with the Dutch navy in the then ongoingEighty Years' War, so in 1633, he went toGenoa, having quit his governorship ofCatalonia where he had been trained. He met with an army from Milan for a planned march through the famousSpanish Way acrossLombardy,Tyrol, andSwabia, and then following theRhine to the Netherlands. Ferdinand also planned to secure this supply route with a string of garrisons, and to support the army of KingFerdinand III of Hungary, his brother-in-law the emperor's son and heir, who was leading the Imperial army facing the Swedes in theThirty Years' War.
Since disease delayed his travels, he sent half of his army ahead under the command of theDuke of Feria. However, this army was severely depleted during fighting with the Swedish army ofBernhard of Saxe-Weimar andGustaf Horn. The Spanish requested 4000 cavalry from the Imperial generalAlbrecht von Wallenstein, but this being denied, the Spanish had to fund the troops on their own. The Cardinal-Infante was able to continue his travels in 1634, collecting inBavaria the remains of the army of Feria, who had died in January 1634.
Meanwhile, Ferdinand of Hungary was able to defeat the Swedish army atRegensburg in July 1634. Ferdinand and his cousin the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand then raced to merge their armies. The Swedish forces of Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar and Gustaf Horn desperately tried to prevent this merger, but were unable to catch up with Ferdinand of Hungary. The Cardinal-Infante crossed theDanube in August 1634. In September both armies were able to merge, and camped south ofNördlingen inSwabia. At that time Nördlingen was protected by a small Swedish garrison. Shortly thereafter, the armies of Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar and Gustaf Horn also reached Nördlingen, preparing the events for the decisiveBattle of Nördlingen. Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand and his cousinFerdinand then prepared for battle, ignoring the advice of the more experienced generals, such as the Imperial generalMatthias Gallas. Bernhard and Horn also prepared for battle, but they were by now rivals and in disagreement with each other. They also underestimated the numerically superior enemy forces, due to incorrect reports that did not realize the Spanish Army of the late Duke of Feria had joined the Cardinal-Infante and believed that the enemy forces numbered only 7,000, not 21,000 infantry, compared to 16,000 Swedish infantry. During the battle, almost anything that could go wrong went wrong for the Swedish forces, in large part due to the efforts of the Spanish Infantry, so that the two Ferdinands achieved a great victory. The Swedish army that fled toHeilbronn was only a shadow of its former self.

The King of Hungary tried to convince his cousin to stay and to strengthen their hold on Germany, but the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand moved his troops almost immediately after the battle to continue toBrussels. At the end of 1634 he entered Brussels with all the glory befitting a Governor-General. Due to the unpopularity of the clergy in Brussels, he downplayed his religious status and instead emphasized his worldly ranks. Ferdinand was a skilled politician and diplomat, and quickly reformed the government and the military. He especially managed to win the support of theFlemings against France. However, his powers were secretly limited, and the leader of his army was instructed to follow Spanish orders instead of Ferdinand's orders if necessary.
In 1635, the French attackedNamur, planning to merge with the Dutch nearMaastricht but were held off by well prepared defenses. At thesiege of Leuven, the invading Franco-Dutch forces, suffering badly from supply problems and greatly depleted by disease and desertion, were forced to withdraw when a Spanish relief force arrived. This allowed Spanish forces under Ferdinand to go on the offensive. The Dutch were driven back and the French retreated. Ferdinand subsequently was able to captureDiest,Goch,Gennep,Limbourg, andSchenkenschanz.
"France declared war on me (on me, not on my brotherPhilip) and I've since then had to fight against their armies and the intrigues of our brother-in-lawLouis and his relentless ministerRichelieu." –Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand[4]


In 1636, Ferdinand disempowered the last Protestant priests in the Spanish Netherlands, and continued his military counter-offensive by capturingHirson,Le Catelet, andLa Capelle, and securingLuxembourg using the usual mixed nationalities typical of the early modern age that includedCroatian troops, and reaching as far a stronghold in France asCorbie during theCrossing of the Somme, threatening Paris.
In 1637, with Spanish forces concentrated in the fight with the French, a relatively lightly defendedBreda, that had been under Spanish control for twelve years, wasrecaptured by the Dutch after a 3-month siege by thePrince of Orange. The loss of Breda was a blow to Spanish prestige but was of much less strategic significance than the gains made by Ferdinand during its course in taking the Dutch towns ofVenlo andRoermond in theMeuse valley, effectively cuttingMaastricht from the Dutch Republic and, thus, preventing further Dutch attacks on the Spanish Netherlands from the east.[5][6] In the southern front Ferdinand lost the towns ofLa Capelle,Landrecies, andDamvillers to the French, but then he forced them to retreat south ofMaubeuge.[7]
In 1638, Ferdinand's army successfully defendedAntwerp,Saint-Omer andGeldern from the Dutch and French armies.[8] His defense of Antwerp led to theBattle of Kallo, where Ferdinand achieved a crushing victory over the Dutch army while heavily outnumbered. In a letter to his brother the King of Spain shortly afterwards, Ferdinand described the battle as "the greatest victory which your Majesty's arms have achieved since the war in the Low Countries began".[9]
In 1639, Ferdinand managed again to thwart Franco-Dutch plans. The Dutch navy destroyed an important Spanish fleet in theBattle of the Downs, off the English coast, but it failed to prevent most of the army it was carrying, some 7,000 to 10,500 infantry, from landing at Dunkirk.[10] While Ferdinand frustrated the Prince of Orange's move againstHulst, an Imperial-Spanish army underCount Piccolomini destroyed the main French army in the south at theBattle of Thionville.[10]

In 1640, Dutch attacks on Hulst andBruges were repelled by the local Spanish garrisons under the Cardinal-Infante.[11] In the south, after a failed attack on the Spanish fortress ofCharlemont inGivet, a combined Dutch and French army underGaspard III de Coligny and Frederick Henry launched a great offensive uponArras, the capital of the County of Artois. The city finally surrendered on 9 August, marking the first victory of importance for the French in the war after five years of fighting.[12]
More dangerous than his military enemies, however, were his enemies at the Spanish court. Numerous rumours and lies floated about, and it was claimed that Ferdinand was planning to become an independent ruler of the Spanish Netherlands with the help of the French King, an enemy of Spain. This rumour was enhanced by another rumour that the French court was planning to marry Ferdinand toAnne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, the (eldest) daughter ofGaston, Duke of Orléans, the French king's brother. The former claim was untrue however his sisterAnne of Austria did suggest a marriage between Ferdinand and Anne Marie Louise, the greatest heiress in Europe. Making matters worse, the Spanish empire was under intense pressure militarily and financially; the Cardinal-Infante was even given conflicting orders to send troops to Spain to aid against the 1640Portuguese uprising.
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Ferdinand fell ill during battles in 1641 and died on 9 November 1641 inBrussels at age 32.[13] It was thought that death was caused by exhaustion combined with ill health. Reports talk about astomach ulcer, but rumors also claimed that he waspoisoned. Before his death, he had anillegitimate daughter, Marie Anne de la Croix, born in Brussels in 1641 and died anun in Madrid in 1715. The Cardinal-Infante would leave behind quite a legacy which was unfortunately never exceeded. The Spanish Netherlands would only begin its decline not long after his death. His body was brought to Spain in 1643, and 12,000requiem Masses were performed in accordance with his last wishes. He was buried in the Panteón de Infantes.
Disputes about his successor as the Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands destroyed the alliance between the Emperor inVienna and the Spanish in Madrid. The Emperor (by now the Cardinal-Infante's old comrade in arms, Ferdinand III) favored his brotherArchduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, a militarily unfortunate but otherwise capable ruler. Madrid favoredJohn of Austria the Younger, the twelve-year-old illegitimate son ofPhilip IV and the actressMaría Calderón. Theinauguration of the unpopular bastard was delayed, and the rule of the Spanish Netherlands was taken over byFrancisco de Mello, Marquis of Terceira.
From a young age, the Cardinal-Infante was ever longing for a life as a soldier. He had never shown vocation in religion, rather, as a child, he was interested in guns, horses, and war.[14] He lacked friends growing up, and felt his interests were thrown aside in favor of political movements conducted by his father,Philip III, and theDuke of Lerma.[14] Ferdinand was given the religious role out of his two brothers as he was the youngest, and according to royal tradition, pertained to ecclesiastical responsibilities.[15] It was only after his governorship over Catalonia that he would finally be able to achieve what he'd been longing for during his short yet highly intensive military career. He was resoundingly successful and considered by many, including his own brotherPhilip IV, as the best general of his generation, being referred to as the "Infante-Cardinal."[16][17] Many contemporary sources consider him as the last great general of theSpanish Empire.[16] Provided below is the list of battles recorded on Wikipedia in which the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand has held command:
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria Born: 16 May 1609 Died: 9 November 1641 | ||
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Governor of the Duchy of Milan 1633–1634 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands 1634–1641 | Succeeded by |
| Catholic Church titles | ||
| Preceded byas Archbishop | Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Toledo 1620–1641 | Succeeded byas Archbishop |