Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba (1507–1582)
Born 1507 CE, died 1582 CE.
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba (29 October 1507 – 11 December 1582), known as the Grand Duke of Alba (Spanish: Gran Duque de Alba, Portuguese: Grão Duque de Alba) in Spain and Portugal and as the Iron Duke (Dutch: IJzeren Hertog) or shortly 'Alva' in the Netherlands and Belgium, was a Spanish military officer, statesman and diplomat.
He has often been considered the most effective general of his generation, as well as one of the greatest in history. Historian John Lothrop Motley wrote of him "no man had studied military science more deeply, or practiced it more constantly" at his day. He was a royal promoter of military action against France and Protestantism, although he also defended a moral and strategic alliance with England that never realized.
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