Luis de Requesens y Zúñiga
Don Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens ( born August 25, 1528 Barcelona, † March 5, 1576 in Brussels) came from the Catalan nobility and was a son of Juan de Zúñiga y Avellaneda ( 1490-1546 ) and Estefania de Requesens i Rois de Liori (? -Barcelona 1549), Baroness de Castellvell i de Molins de Rei. Juan de Zúñiga y Avellaneda was the steward and tutor to the later Spanish King Philip II Luís de Zúñiga y Requesens later led to his parents' wishes of his mother's surname.
1546 Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens entered the Order of Santiago. From 1547 to 1549 Requesens be held on in Germany and the Netherlands in the wake of Charles V. 1552, he commanded as Captain-General of the Mediterranean fleet at the Santiago Order. Since 1561 Requesens was ambassador in Rome and influenced the policy of France Pope Pius IV in 1568 was Requesens adviser to Philip II 's half-brother Juan de Austria. Together they struck from 1569 to 1571, the revolts of the Moriscos in Granada down. On October 7, 1571 Requesens took as lieutenant general under Juan de Austrias command at the Battle of Lepanto in part. In December 1571 Requesens was appointed Viceroy of Milan. His reign was marked by the sharp clashes with Carlo Borromeo, the then Archbishop of Milan.
Governor of the Netherlands
Philip II of Spain appointed Requesens on October 17, 1573 governor of the Netherlands. The Spanish king recognized the failure of the cruel policy of the former governor of Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba and hoped that Requesens a moderate policy in the Netherlands. A month after his appointment met Requesens one in the Netherlands and tried to communicate with the insurgents. All insurgents who are willing to return to the Catholic faith should remain amnesty and impunity. The Provincial States of Holland and Zeeland met in Rotterdam and refused Requesens offer. Instead, the Provincial Council demanded the withdrawal of Spanish troops from the Netherlands. Requesens refused. After Requesens demanded by the Netherlands 2,000,000 guilders annual taxes, the fronts hardened again.
1574 were 86,000 men in the Netherlands Spanish troops. Philip II took 1,200,000 florins for the monthly maintenance. These costs exceeded the income of Spain including the American colonies considerably.
On January 29, 1574, the Spaniards lost against the rebellious Sea Beggars the Battle of Middelburg. On April 14, 1574 Requesens won a victory over the oranische army on the Mook Heath. William of Orange brothers Henry and Louis of Nassau fell in this battle.
Due to absence of military pay, the Spanish, Walloon and German mercenaries in the army began Requesens on April 20, 1574 to mutiny. The mutineers attracted plundering and raping to Antwerp. Requesens could not prevent the excesses of the mercenaries. To pay the outstanding wages, he negotiated with the city councils of Antwerp. Antwerp had to pay 500,000 guilders to the Spaniards. Because these funds were not liquid, the mercenaries were given instead of money, silk and precious cloth. Requesens pardoned the mutineers. On May 30, 1574 Thanks a church service followed by dining and drinking sessions took place for reconciliation. The bill paid, the Antwerp citizens. During the celebration, the Sea Beggars raided the port of Antwerp and destroyed a part of the Spanish fleet anchored there.
In September 1574, the Turks conquered Tunis, the Spaniards now had to fight on two battlefields. On October 3, 1574 Seegeusen liberated Leiden, the Spaniards suffered a lossy defeat. Philip II Requesens authorized to conduct peace negotiations with the States-General. On March 3, 1575 Peace negotiations began in Breda. Spain demanded the return of the Netherlands to the Catholic faith. Catholics refund of the during the governorship of Alba (1566-1573) was promised property confiscated. Protestants should emigrate in the next six months, further should be granted them a period of eight to ten years to sell its holdings in the Netherlands. But on July 13, 1575, negotiations were terminated without result.
During the year 1575 a short-term approach by Spain to England took place. The English Queen Elizabeth I was the English ports for the Dutch rebels lock. Requesens therefore had to drive out the Catholic refugees in England from the Netherlands. These English emigrants found a new home in Reims.
On September 1, 1575 Philip II declared national bankruptcy in Spain. Nevertheless Requesens began on 28 September 1575 the siege of Zierikzee. He also left the cities and Schouwen Duiveland occupy. Requesens recognized the hopeless situation of Spain in the Netherlands. To his brother Juan de Zúñiga he wrote in November 1575 with foreboding:
" Have the Stock Exchange of Antwerp offset such a blow that no one is kept more in their creditworthy The bankruptcy. I can not raise a penny, yet see an opportunity, as the king money could send here. Unless a miracle happens, the entire military apparatus is rapidly falling apart, that I will most likely have no time to sit down thereof. "
Requesens beginning in March 1576 was recalled to Brussels because of a mutiny in the Spanish Army. On the way, he fell ill with a violent fever, the consequences of which he later died a little on March 5, 1576 in Brussels.
The State took over the business of government provisionally until the arrival of the new Governor of the Netherlands. The defenders of Zierikzee had to capitulate on 29 June 1576 their city was sacked immediately after the capture by the Spaniards. The State Council lost control of his troops. The Spanish army, which remained without a guide and pay now, lost all discipline and pulled as "Spanish fury " plundered by the Netherlands. On September 4, 1576 an anti- Spanish uprising took place in Brussels from 4 to November 6, 1576 Antwerp was plundered again by the Spaniards. On November 5, 1576, the new governor Juan de Austria arrived in the Netherlands and immediately took office.