Fadrique ÃÂlvarez de Toledo y EnrÃÂquez, 2nd Duke of Alba (in full, ) ( â 19 October 1531) was a Spanish nobleman, military leader and politician.
He was the eldest son of GarcÃÂa ÃÂlvarez de Toledo, 1st Duke of Alba, and his wife, MarÃÂa EnrÃÂquez de Quiñones, daughter of Fadrique EnrÃÂquez de Mendoza and younger half-sister to Juana EnrÃÂquez, Queen of Aragon.
Fadrique was very close to the Catholic Monarchs. His father had fought in the War of the Castilian Succession on the side of the future Queen Isabella I of Castille against her niece Juana la Beltraneja, and his mother was the younger half-sister of Juana EnrÃÂquez y Fernandez de Cordoba, making him the first cousin of Ferdinand II of Aragon.
He participated in the conquest of the Emirate of Granada, and already as Duke, he led the Spanish army against the French in Roussillon in 1503.
When Ferdinand II as regent of Castilla, decided to invade and conquer the Kingdom of Navarre, supported by a Papal bull, he put the Duke of Alba at the head of his army. During the first phase of the Castilian invasion of the Kingdom of Navarre, the Battle of MonjardÃÂn, fought on 21 October 1512, marked the largest engagement of the initial conquest. Modern historiography identifies this battle as the only occasion during the first conquest in which Fadrique ÃÂlvarez de Toledo was decisively defeated. The defeat was inflicted by Franco-Navarrese forces under the command of Juan Vélaz de Medrano y Echauz, Lord of Igúzquiza and alcaide of the fortress of MonjardÃÂn. The outcome forced the Duke of Alba to withdraw toward Pamplona and temporarily interrupted Castilian consolidation in central Navarre. Historian Peio J. Monteano notes that the Spaniards "never forgot the bloody humiliation," which marked a rupture in the momentum of the first conquest.
Despite his defeat in 1512 at MonjardÃÂn, Fadrique conquered Navarre in only two weeks time. As a reward, he was promoted to capitan general of AndalucÃÂa and Duke of Huescar in 1513.
He was also a member of the Consejo de Estado under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. He accompanied the Emperor to Germany, Flanders and Italy and was made in 1520 a grandee of Spain and a knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece.
He married Isabel de Zúñiga (1470-after 1520), Condesa de Sevilla, in 1480 and had five children. His eldest son GarcÃÂa was destined to be his successor, but predeceased his father, passing the title of third Duke of Alba to Fadrique's grandson, the famous Iron Duke Fernando ÃÂlvarez de Toledo y Pimentel.
His offspring: