History UsefulNotes / AlexanderFarnese

Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro (27 August 1545 – 3 December 1592), best known by the RedBaron of ''El Rayo de la Guerra'' ("The Lightning of the War"), was an Italian nobleman and general of the Spanish Empire, grandson to UsefulNotes/CharlesV and favorite nephew to UsefulNotes/PhilipII. He is regarded by military history as probably [[TheStrategist the finest land general of his age]], credited with taking more than 30 cities in the Netherlands and re-conquering enough rebel provinces to almost win the UsefulNotes/TheEightyYearsWar before being fatidically diverted from its theater. To modern readers, he might resound more as a likely inspiration for some elements of Creator/KentaroMiura's not less legendary manga ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''.

Farnese was raised in the Spanish royal family initially as a hostage, as Farneses and Habsburgs had originally been enemies almost to the point of war until a marriage between his parents, Ottavio Farnese and Charles V' illegitimate daughter Margaret, finally eased things a bit. A bona fide product of the European courts, who even as a child impressed UsefulNotes/MaryTudor with his knowledge and intelligence, Alexander had the chance to study in the prestigious University of Alcalá along with his best friend and uncle of the same age UsefulNotes/JohnOfAustria. The two were considered the next big things, but Alexander in particular stood out for being one of those people who seem [[TheAce almost unnaturally good at everything]], from the library to the sparring arena to the beds. He married the infanta María de Portugal to expand alliances, but Alexander was nonetheless eager to have his baptism of fire, and became sorely disappointed that he was not called by [[UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfAlba Fernando Álvarez de Toledo]], the infamous Duke of Alba, to reinforce the Spanish Netherlands during the start of the Dutch Revolt.

His grand debut came finally in the war against the Ottoman Empire throughout the Mediterranean, when John of Austria required his presence in the Catholic League that was about to clash with the Ottomans in the UsefulNotes/BattleOfLepanto. Farnese finally proved his worth there, helping to hold the multi-national fleet together, aboarding enemy ships with a zweinhander like an OneManArmy, and managing to personally capture the Muslim treasure ship. The subsequent disbanding of the League peace depressed him, though; as Alexander was never really close with his blood family or his wife, it's said he used to entertain himself by going out disguised at night and acting as a [[VigilanteMan street vigilante]] against the local thugs of Parma. However, his chance to participate in the war in the Netherlands arrived unexpectedly with the death of Alba's successor Luis de Requesens, who was replaced by John of Austria again. Initially, he only arrived there to bring reinforcements to John of Austria, but when John died shortly after, Farnese, who had scored a big role in their victory of Gemloux (and a not less big role saving their troops in the fiasco of Rijmenam), inherited his place, becoming captain general of the army of Flanders in a time of sore need.

As a curiosity, Farnese initially shared command with his own mother, Philip's half-sister Margaret of Parma, who had already been governor of the Low Countries and part of its high council along with William the Silent, the now rebel ringleader. She had warned Philip that his planned solution of sending heavy military presence would only worsen the rebellion, and while it is debatable if there was any possible solution by this point, his chosen enforcer the Duke of Alba certainly failed at quelling it. Now Philip put her on the job again to make a balance with Alexander, but mother and son didn't get along on the task, with Alexander even accusing her of conspiring against him, and when it was clear that her presence wouldn't really help, she was allowed to retire.

Margaret's lessons weren't lost, though, as Farnese was a diplomat as much as a military man, exploiting the factionalism of Catholics and Protestants to gain allies and single out his enemies in the Netherlands. Having skillfully attracted the southern rebel provinces to the Habsburg cause again by the 1579 Union of Arras, he initiated a methodical campaign against the still rebellious Union of Utretch, in which he advanced deeply by conquering a city after another in a long series of sieges. An OfficerAndAGentleman, he made sure to always offer generous terms for surrender to ease things (although war was still war and lootings happened whenever he wasn't looking). His predilection for complex siege tactics, which he had learned in Italy from his father and their military engineer Francesco de Marchi and often helped to build himself, earned him the joke that he made them all work more with spades than pikes. In a feat so exceptionally difficult that it resounded across Europe, he captured the great port city of Antwerp in 1584 by a grueling enclosure complete with a massive ditch and a bridge of 32 boats. Speaking of which, he also captured in 1583 the city of Dunkirk, organizing the imperial corsairs known as Dunkirkers.

For such a calculated strategist, Farnese also became known as a larger-than-life figure for his sheer RefugeInAudacity, being constantly in the frontlines to encourage his soldiers and showing himself fearless to the point of madness. In a scene worthy of an action film, during the siege of Oudenaarde, he once had his lunch blown up by a miraculous cannonball that landed in one of his commensals, to which Alexander answered calmly ordering to tend the wounded and serve food again so he could finish eating.

At one point, Farnese was contacted by Balthasar Gérard, the spy that would off William the Silent. The Italian was reportedly reluctant to support the plan, as he had expected to bully the rebels into capitulation some day and believed that assassinating their leader would only make him a martyr, but Philip had given orders about the bounty on William's head and Farnese was forced to participate. Much to Farnese's chagrin, Gérard was successful, after which things went exactly as predicted. The revolt would be very far from its ending, with William being succeeded by his son Maurice of Orange, who showed his own military brilliance by improving greatly the Dutch army through deep reforms. At the time, this change was not enough to offset the Spanish military science, but its importance would be proved proved later.

When the England of UsefulNotes/ElizabethI [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOfTheSpanishArmada openly joined the war]] in 1585 and disembarked troops in the Netherlands, Farnese, now officially Duke of Parma by the death of his father, duly defeated them, after which plans to invade England to unroot the problem were proposed. Farnese proposed to invade England with his most experienced 30,000 men and a daring hop in barques through the English Channel, but Philip judged it too dangerous, and when his grand admiral UsefulNotes/AlvaroDeBazan, Marquis of Santa Cruz, proposed instead to conquer the British isles with an armada, Philip decided to combine both plans. However, the resultant move would be monumental failure, stopped in its tracks by miscommunication, the incompetence of the admiral appointed after Bazán's untimely death, and unadulterated bad luck - factors that Farnese [[CassandraTruth had attempted to warn about without being listened]]. The defeat soiled Farnese's relationships with the court, where jealous noblemen slandered him as a traitor who was half-assing things, and he would have to endure next an unexpected failure to conquer Bergen op Zoom and an army mutiny. Farnese's plan to reagroup and come for the second round was then cancelled by the appearance of yet another enemy, Henry IV of France.

The subsequent [[UsefulNotes/FrenchWarsOfReligion French campaigns]] were a headache for the Duke of Parma, overworked and mistreated a bit too much by the Spanish court. Again and again, he had warned that it was ridiculous to abandon the Netherlands now that he was so close to finish the war, but Philip wanted to be absolutely sure that no Protestant ever sat in the French throne (a legitimate concern) and hopefully install his own daughter Isabella Clara Eugenia in said throne (which was wishing just ''too much''). Although the Duke's DynamicEntry in France was successful, kicking Henry away from the walls of Paris and Rouen and managing to balance it with some operations in the Low Countries, Farnese found himself trapped for a change in the city of Caudebec. He managed to nail an improbable escape with most of his army, but a previous musquet wound in the arm, received by his classical insistence to personally oversee things, caused him to fall ill, to the point he had to direct further operations from his bed with the help of his son Ranuccio. Farnese died shortly after, without knowing he had been removed from his job by Philip for various slanders and for not following his orders exactly to the letter.

The Eighty Years' War, which had never been so close to a Spanish victory and would never been again, saw everything returning to the status quo and much of the Spanish advance being undone by the Dutch. The new rebel leader Maurice of Orange turned out to be an excellent general himself with the help of his new battle formations, but the famed Duke of Parma, the only that had been consistently able to nullify him, was not there anymore. It would not be until more than a decade later that he received a worthy replacement in UsefulNotes/AmbrogioSpinola, another Italian general that would leave his own mark in an otherwise fruitless war.

Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro (27 August 1545 – 3 December 1592), best known by the RedBaron of ''El Rayo de la Guerra'' ("The Lightning of the War"), was an Italian nobleman and general of the Spanish Empire, grandson to UsefulNotes/CharlesV and favorite nephew to UsefulNotes/PhilipII. He is regarded by military history as probably [[TheStrategist the finest land general of his age]], credited with taking more than 30 cities and re-conquering enough rebel provinces in the Netherlands to almost single-handedly win the UsefulNotes/TheEightyYearsWar before being fatidically diverted from its theater. To modern readers, he might resound more as a likely inspiration for some elements of Creator/KentaroMiura's not less legendary manga ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''.

When the England of UsefulNotes/ElizabethI [[UsefulNotes/AngloSpanishWar15851604 openly joined the war]] in 1585 and disembarked troops in the Netherlands, Farnese, now officially Duke of Parma by the death of his father, duly defeated them, after which plans to invade England to unroot the problem were proposed. Farnese proposed to invade England with his most experienced 30,000 men and a daring hop in barques through the English Channel, but Philip judged it too dangerous, and when his grand admiral UsefulNotes/AlvaroDeBazan, Marquis of Santa Cruz, proposed instead to conquer the British isles with an armada, Philip decided to combine both plans. However, the resultant move would be monumental failure, stopped in its tracks by miscommunication, the incompetence of the admiral appointed after Bazán's untimely death, and unadulterated bad luck - factors that Farnese [[CassandraTruth had attempted to warn about without being listened]]. The defeat soiled Farnese's relationships with the court, where jealous noblemen slandered him as a traitor who was half-assing things, and he would have to endure next an unexpected failure to conquer Bergen op Zoom and an army mutiny. Farnese's plan to reagroup and come for the second round was then cancelled by the appearance of yet another enemy, Henry IV of France.

Farnese was raised in the Spanish royal family initially as a hostage, as Farneses and Habsburgs had originally been enemies almost to the point of war until a marriage between his parents, Ottavio Farnese and Charles V' illegitimate daughter Margaret, finally eased things a bit. A bona fide product of the European courts, who even as a child impressed UsefulNotes/MaryTudor with his knowledge and intelligence, Alexander had the chance to study in the prestigious University of Alcalá along with his best friend and uncle of the same age UsefulNotes/JohnOfAustria. The two were considered the next big things, but Alexander in particular stood out for being one of those people who seem [[TheAce almost unnaturally good at everything]], from the library to the sparring arena to the beds. He married the infanta María de Portugal to expand alliances, but Alexander was nonetheless eager to have his baptism of fire, and became sorely disappointed that he was not called by UsefulNotes/FernandoAlvarezDeToledoYPimentel, the infamous Duke of Alba, to reinforce the Spanish Netherlands during the start of the Dutch Revolt.

Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro (27 August 1545 – 3 December 1592), best known by the RedBaron of ''El Rayo de la Guerra'' ("The Lightning of the War"), was an Italian nobleman and general of the Spanish Empire, grandson to UsefulNotes/CharlesV and favorite nephew to UsefulNotes/PhilipII. He is regarded by military history as possibly [[TheStrategist the finest land general of his age]], credited with taking more than 30 cities and re-conquering the array of rebel provinces in the Netherlands that would become modern UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}}, although he might resound more to modern readers as a likely inspiration for some elements of Creator/KentaroMiura's not less legendary manga ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''.

A bona fide product of the European courts, who even as a child impressed UsefulNotes/MaryTudor with his knowledge and education, Farnese was brought among the royal princes as a hostage before marrying the infanta Maria de Portugal. Alumnus of the University of Alcalá, he participated as an officer in the UsefulNotes/BattleOfLepanto, where he first proved his worth, helping to hold the multi-national fleet together, aboarding enemy ships like an OneManArmy, and managing to personally capture the Muslim treasure ship. The subsequent peace with the Ottoman Empire disappointed him; it's said he used to entertain himself by going out at night and acting as a [[VigilanteMan street vigilante]] against the local thugs of Parma. However, it would be later, when the imperial provinces in Netherlands revolted in UsefulNotes/TheEightyYearsWar, that he gained the renown he would be later known for. Initially, he only arrived there to bring reinforcements to his [[RedOniBlueOni Red Oni]] and childhood friend UsefulNotes/JohnOfAustria, but when John died shortly after, Farnese, who had scored a big role in the victory of Gemloux (and a not less big role saving their troops in the fiasco of Rijmenam), inherited his place, becoming captain general of the army of Flanders.

As a curiosity, Farnese initially shared command with his own mother, Philip's half-sister Margaret of Parma, a former SpiritedYoungLady who had already been governor of the Low Countries and part of its high council along with William the Silent, the now rebel ringleader. She had warned Philip that his planned solution of sending heavy military presence would only worsen the rebellion, and while it is debatable if there was any possible solution by this point, his chosen enforcer UsefulNotes/FernandoAlvarezDeToledoYPimentel, the infamous Duke of Alba, certainly failed at quelling it. Now Philip put her on the job again to make a balance with Alexander, but mother and son didn't really get along on the task, and when it was clear that her presence wouldn't really make a difference in the conflict, she was allowed to retire.

Margaret's lessons weren't lost, though, as Farnese was a diplomat as much as a military man, exploiting the factionalism of Catholics and Protestants to gain allies and single out his enemies in the Netherlands. After skillfully attracting the southern rebel provinces to the Habsburg cause again by the 1579 Treaty of Arras, he initiated a methodical campaign against the still rebellious Brabant and Flanders, which he accomplished by conquering a city after another in a long series of sieges. An OfficerAndAGentleman, he made sure to always offer generous terms for surrender to ease things (although war was still war and lootings happened whenever he wasn't looking). His predilection for complex siege tactics, which he had learned from his father and their military engineer Francesco de Marchi, earned him the joke that he made his soldiers work more with spades than pikes. In an exceptionally difficult feat, he captured the port city of Antwerp in 1584 by a grueling enclosure complete with a bridge of boats. Speaking of which, he had also a hand in sea dominance, capturing in 1583 the city of Dunkirk and first organizing the infamous imperial corsairs known as Dunkirkers.

At one point, Farnese was contacted by Balthasar Gérard, the spy that would off William the Silent, but the Duke declined to support the plan, as he had expected to reasonably bully the rebels into negotiation one day and believed that assassinating their leader would only turn him into a martyr and make it even harder. Much to Farnese's chagrin, Gérard was successful, after which things went exactly as the Italian had predicted. The revolt would be very far from its ending, with William being succeeded by his son Maurice of Orange.

When the England of UsefulNotes/ElizabethI [[UsefulNotes/AngloSpanishWar15851604 joined the war]] in 1585 and disembarked troops in the Netherlands, Farnese, now officially Duke of Parma by the death of his father, duly defeated them. Plans to invade England were proposed, with Farnese calculating he might be able to solve the problem with his 30,000-man elite ''Tercio de Flandes'' and a daring hop, but Philip and his admiral UsefulNotes/AlvaroDeBazan, Marquis of Santa Cruz, opted to throw in a massive armada for extra naval supremacy. However, the resultant plan would be monumental failure, stopped in its tracks by miscommunication, the incompetence of the admiral appointed after Bazán's untimely death, and unadulterated bad luck - factors that Farnese [[CassandraTruth had attempted to warn about without being listened]]. The defeat soiled Farnese's relationships with the court, where jealous noblemen slandered him as a traitor who was half-assing things, and he would have to endure next an unexpected failure to conquer Bergen op Zoom and an army mutiny. Farnese's plan to reagroup and come for the second round was then cancelled by the appearance of yet another enemy, Henry IV of France.

The subsequent [[UsefulNotes/FrenchWarsOfReligion French campaign]] would be the end of the Duke of Parma, overworked and mistreated a bit too much by the Spanish court. Although his DynamicEntry in France was successful, kicking Henry away from the walls of Paris and Rouen, Farnese found himself trapped for a change in the city of Caudebec. He managed to nail an improbable escape with most of his army, but a previous musquet wound in the shoulder caused him to fall ill, to the point he had to direct further operations from his bed with the help of his 13-year-old son Ranuccio. Farnese died shortly after, without knowing he had been removed from his job by Philip for what they considered a disappointing performance, and would be replaced in his job by Peter Ernst, Count of Mansfeld.

The war would then enter a new phase, with the new rebel leader Maurice of Orange turning out to be an excellent general himself, but the famed Duke of Parma, the only able to defeat him, would not be there anymore. It would not be until more than a decade later that he received a worthy replacement in UsefulNotes/AmbrogioSpinola, another Italian general that would leave his own mark in an otherwise fruitless war.

A bona fide product of the European courts, who even as a child impressed UsefulNotes/MaryTudor with his knowledge and education, Farnese was brought among the royal princes as a hostage before marrying the infanta Maria de Portugal. Alumnus of the University of Alcalá, he participated as an officer in the UsefulNotes/BattleOfLepanto, where he first proved his worth, helping to hold the multi-national fleet together, aboarding enemy ships like an OneManArmy, and managing to personally capture the Muslim treasure ship. The subsequent peace with the Ottoman Empire disappointed him; it's said he used to entertain himself by going out at night and acting as a [[VigilanteMan street vigilante]] against the local thugs of Parma. However, it would be later, when the imperial provinces in Netherlands revolted in UsefulNotes/TheEightyYearsWar, that he gained the renown he would be later known for. Initially, he only arrived there to bring reinforcements to his [[RedOniBlueOni Red Oni]] and childhood friend John of Austria, but when John died shortly after, Farnese, who had scored a big role in the victory of Gemloux (and a not less big role saving their troops in the fiasco of Rijmenam), inherited his place, becoming captain general of the army of Flanders.

The subsequent [[UsefulNotes/FrenchWarsOfReligion French campaign]] would be the end of the Duke of Parma, overworked and mistreated a bit too much by the Spanish court. Although his DynamicEntry in France was successful, kicking Henry away from the walls of Paris and Rouen, Farnese found himself trapped for a change in the city of Caudebec. He managed to nail an improbable escape with most of his army, but a previous musquet wound in the shoulder caused him to fall ill, to the point he had to direct further operations from his bed with the help of his 13-year-old son Ranuccio. Farnese died shortly after, without knowing he had been removed from his job by Philip for what they considered a disappointing performance, and would be replaced in his job by Peter Ernst, Count of Mansfeld. The war would then enter a new phase, with the new rebel leader Maurice of Orange turning out to be an excellent general himself, but the famed Duke of Parma, who should have been a proper match for him, would not be there anymore.

Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro (27 August 1545 – 3 December 1592), best known by the RedBaron of ''El Rayo de la Guerra'' ("The Lightning of the War"), was an Italian nobleman and general of the Spanish Empire, grandson to UsefulNotes/CharlesV and favorite nephew to UsefulNotes/PhilipII. He is regarded by military history as possibly [[TheStrategist the finest land general of his age]], credited with taking more than 30 cities and re-conquering the array of rebel provinces in the Netherlands that would become the modern UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}}, although he might resound more to modern readers as a likely inspiration for some elements of Creator/KentaroMiura's not less legendary manga ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''.

A bona fide product of the European courts, who even as a child impressed UsefulNotes/MaryTudor with his knowledge and education, Farnese was brought among the royal princes as a hostage before marrying the infanta Maria de Portugal. Alumnus of the University of Alcalá, he participated as an officer in the UsefulNotes/BattleOfLepanto, where he first proved his worth, helping to hold the multi-national fleet together, aboarding enemy ships like an OneManArmy, and managing to personally capture the Muslim treasure ship. The subsequent peace with the Ottoman Empire disappointed him; it's said he used to entertain himself by going out at night and acting as a [[VigilanteMan masked vigilante]] against the local thugs of Parma. However, it would be later, when the imperial provinces in Netherlands revolted in UsefulNotes/TheEightyYearsWar, that he gained the renown he would be later known for. Initially, he only arrived there to bring reinforcements to his childhood friend John of Austria, but when John died shortly after, Farnese, who had scored a role in the Battle of Gemloux, inherited his place, becoming Captain General of the Army of Flanders.

Farnese worked not only as a military man, but also a diplomat, exploiting the factionalism of Catholics and Protestants to gain allies and single out his enemies in the Netherlands. After skillfully attracting the southern rebel provinces to the Spanish cause again by the 1579 Treaty of Arras, he initiated a methodical campaign against the still rebellious Brabant and Flanders, which he accomplished after conquering a city after another in a long series of sieges. An OfficerAndAGentleman, he made sure to always offer generous terms for surrender to ease things (although war was still war and lootings happened whenever he wasn't looking). Hiis predilection for complex siege tactics, which he had learned from his father and their military engineer Francesco de Marchi, earned him the joke that he made his soldiers work more with spades than pikes. In an exceptionally difficult case, he captured the port city of Antwerp in 1584 by a grueling enclosure complete with a bridge of boats. Speaking of which, he had also a hand in sea dominance, capturing in 1583 the city of Dunkirk and first organizing the infamous imperial corsairs known as Dunkirkers.

When the England of UsefulNotes/ElizabethI [[UsefulNotes/AngloSpanishWar15851604 joined the war]] in 1585 and disembarked troops in the Netherlands, Farnese, now officially Duke of Parma by the death of his father, duly defeated them. Plans to invade England were proposed, with Farnese calculating he might be able to conquer them with his 30,000-man elite ''Tercio de Flandes'' and a daring hop, but Philip and his admiral UsefulNotes/AlvaroDeBazan, Marchis of Santa Cruz, opted to throw in a massive armada for extra naval supremacy. However, the resultant plan would be monumental fiasco, stopped in its tracks by miscommunication, the incompetence of the admiral appointed after Bazán's untimely death, and unadulterated bad luck. The defeat soiled Farnese's relationships with the court, where jealous noblemen slandered him as a traitor, and he would have to endure next an unexpected failure to conquer Bergen op Zoom and an army mutiny. Farnese's plan to reagroup and come for the second round was then cancelled by the appearance of yet another enemy, Henry IV of France.

The subsequent [[UsefulNotes/FrenchWarsOfReligion French campaign]] would be the end of the Duke of Parma, overworked and mistreated a bit too much by the Spanish court. Although his DynamicEntry in France was successful, kicking Henry away from the walls of Paris and Rouen, Farnese found himself trapped for a change in the city of Caudebec. He managed to nail an improbable escape with most of his army, but a musquet wound in the shoulder caused him to fall ill, and he would die shortly after, without knowing he had been finally removed from his job by Philip for what they considered a disappointing performance.

A bona fide product of the European courts, who as a child impressed UsefuNotes/MaryTudor with his knowledge, Farnese was brought among the royal princes as a hostage before marrying the infanta Maria de Portugal. Alumni of the University of Alcalá, he participated as an officer in the UsefulNotes/BattleOfLepanto, where he first proved his worth, helping to hold the multi-national fleet together, aboarding enemy ships like an OneManArmy, and managing to personally capture the Muslim treasure ship. The subsequent peace with the Ottoman Empire disappointed him; it's said he used to entertain himself by going out at night and acting as a [[VigilanteMan masked vigilante]] against the local thugs of Parma. However, it would be later, when the imperial provinces in Netherlands revolted in UsefulNotes/TheEightyYearsWar, that he gained the renown he would be later known for. Initially, he only arrived there to bring reinforcements to his childhood friend John of Austria, but when John died shortly after, Farnese, who had scored a role in the Battle of Gemloux, inherited his place, becoming Captain General of the Army of Flanders.

Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro (27 August 1545 – 3 December 1592), best known by the RedBaron of ''El Rayo de la Guerra'' ("The Lightning of the War"), was an Italian nobleman and general of the Spanish Empire, grandson to UsefulNotes/CharlesV and favorite nephew to Philip II. He is regarded by military history as possibly [[TheStrategist the finest land general of his age]], credited with taking more than 30 cities and re-conquering the array of rebel provinces in the Netherlands that would become the modern UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}}, although he might resound more to modern readers as a likely inspiration for some elements of Creator/KentaroMiura's not less legendary manga ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''.

A bona fide product of the European courts, Farnese was brought among the royal princes as a hostage before marrying the infanta Maria de Portugal. Alumni of the University of Alcalá, he participated as an officer in the UsefulNotes/BattleOfLepanto, where he first proved his worth, helping to hold the multi-national fleet together, aboarding enemy ships like an OneManArmy, and managing to personally capture the Muslim treasure ship. The subsequent peace with the Ottoman Empire disappointed him; it's said he used to entertain himself by going out at night and acting as a [[VigilanteMan masked vigilante]] against the local thugs of Parma. However, it would be later, when the imperial provinces in Netherlands revolted in UsefulNotes/TheEightyYearsWar, that he gained the renown he would be later known for. Initially, he only arrived there to bring reinforcements to his childhood friend John of Austria, but when John died shortly after, Farnese, who had scored a role in the Battle of Gemloux, inherited his place, becoming Captain General of the Army of Flanders.

Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro (August 27, 1545 – December 3, 1592), best known by the RedBaron of ''El Rayo de la Guerra'' ("The Lightning of the War"), was an Italian nobleman and general of the Spanish Empire, grandson to UsefulNotes/CharlesV and favorite nephew to Philip II. He is regarded by military history as possibly [[TheStrategist the finest land general of his age]], credited with re-conquering the array of rebel provinces in the Netherlands that would become the modern UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}}, although he might resound more to modern readers as a likely inspiration for some elements of Creator/KentaroMiura's not less legendary manga ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''.

Farnese worked not only as a military man, but also a diplomat, exploiting the factionalism of Catholics and Protestants to gain allies and single out his enemies in the Netherlands. After skillfully attracting the southern rebel provinces to the Spanish cause again by the 1579 Treaty of Arras, he initiated a methodical campaign against the still rebellious Brabant and Flanders, which he accomplished after conquering a city after another in a series of sieges. An OfficerAndAGentleman, he made sure to always offer generous terms for surrender to ease things (although war was still war and lootings happened whenever he wasn't looking). In an exceptionally difficult case, he captured the port city of Antwerp in 1584 by a grueling siege complete with a bridge of boats. His predilection for complex siege tactics, which he had learned from his father and their military engineer Francesco de Marchi, earned him the joke that he made his soldiers work more with spades than pikes.

When the England of UsefulNotes/ElizabethI [[UsefulNotes/AngloSpanishWar15851604 joined the war]] in 1585 and disembarked troops in the Netherlands, Farnese, now officially Duke of Parma by the death of his father, duly defeated them. Plans to invade England were proposed, with Farnese calculating he might be able to conquer them with his 30,000-man elite ''Tercio de Flandes'' and a daring hop, but Philip and his adviser Álvaro de Baztán, Marchis of Santa Cruz, opted to throw in a massive armada for extra naval supremacy. However, the resultant plan would be monumental fiasco, stopped in its tracks by miscommunication, the incompetence of the admiral, and unadulterated bad luck. The defeat soiled Farnese's relationships with the court, where jealous noblemen slandered him as a traitor, and he would have to endure next an unexpected failure to conquer Bergen op Zoom and an army mutiny. Farnese's plan to reagroup and come for the second round was then cancelled by the appearance of yet another enemy, Henry IV of France.

Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro (August 27, 1545 – December 3, 1592), best known by the RedBaron of ''El Rayo de la Guerra'' ("The Lightning of the War"), was an Italian nobleman and general of the Spanish Empire, grandson to UsefulNotes/CharlesV and favorite nephew to Philip II. He is regarded by military history as possibly the finest land general of his age, credited with re-conquering the array of rebel provinces in the Netherland that would become the modern Belgium, although he might resound more to modern readers as a likely inspiration for some elements of Creator/KentaroMiura's not less legendary manga ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''.

A bona fide product of the European courts, Farnese was brought among the royal princes as a hostage before marrying the infanta Maria de Portugal. Alumni of the University of Alcalá, he participated as an officer in the UsefulNotes/BattleOfLepanto, where he first proved his worth, helping to hold the multi-national fleet together, aboarding enemy ships like an OneManArmy, and managing to personally capture the Muslim treasure ship. The subsequent peace with the Ottoman Empire disappointed him; it's said he used to entertain himself by going out at night and acting as a masked vigilante against the local thugs in Parma. However, it would be later, when the imperial provinces in Netherlands revolted in the UsefulNotes/EightyYearsWar, that he gained the renown he would be known for. Initially, he only arrived there to bring reinforcements to his childhood friend John of Austria, but when John died shortly after, Farnese, who had scored a role in the Battle of Gemloux, inherited his place, becoming Captain General of the Army of Flanders.

Farnese worked not only as a military man, but also a diplomat, exploiting the factionalism of Catholics and Protestants to gain allies and single out his enemies in the Netherlands. After skillfully attracting the southern rebel provinces to the Spanish cause again by the 1579 Treaty of Arras, he initiated a methodical campaign against the still rebellious Brabant and Flanders, which he accomplished after conquering a city after another in a series of sieges. An OfficerAndGentleman, he made sure to always offer generous terms for surrender to ease things (although war was still war and lootings happened whenever he wasn't looking). In an exceptionally difficult case, he captured the port city of Antwerp in 1584 by a grueling siege complete with a bridge of boats. His predilection for complex siege tactics, which he had learned from his father and their military engineer Francesco de Marchi, earned him the joke that he made his soldiers work more with spades than pikes.

When the England of UsefulNotes/ElizabethI joined the war in 1585 and disembarked troops in the Netherlands, Farnese, now officially Duke of Parma by the death of his father, duly defeated them. Plans to invade England were proposed, with Farnese calculating he might be able to conquer them with his 30,000-man elite ''Tercio de Flandes'' and a daring hop, but Philip and his adviser Álvaro de Baztán, Marchis of Santa Cruz, opted to throw in a massive armada for extra naval supremacy. However, the resultant plan would be monumental fiasco, stopped in its tracks by miscommunication, the incompetence of the admiral, and unadulterated bad luck. The defeat soiled Farnese's relationships with the court, where jealous noblemen slandered him as a traitor, and he would have to endure next an unexpected failure to conquer Bergen op Zoom and an army mutiny. Farnese's plan to reagroup and come for the second round was then cancelled by the appearance of yet another enemy, Henry IV of France.

The French campaign would be the end of the Duke of Parma, overworked and mistreated a bit too much by the Spanish court. Although his DynamicEntry in France was successful, kicking Henry away from the walls of Paris and Rouen, Farnese found himself trapped for a change in the city of Caudebec. He managed to nail an improbable escape with most of his army, but a musquet wound in the shoulder caused him to fall ill, and he would die shortly after, without knowing he had been finally removed from his job by Philip for what they considered a disappointing performance.