Pedro Fajardo, 5th Marquis of Los Vélez

Who was Pedro Fajardo, 5th Marquis of Los Vélez?

.

Pedro Fajardo de Zúñiga y Requesens was a Spanish soldier and aristocrat notable for his command of Spanish forces during the Catalan Revolt after 1640. He was Viceroy of Valencia, 1631–1635, Viceroy of Navarre, 1638–1640, Viceroy of Catalonia, 1640–1642, Spanish Ambassador to Rome, and Viceroy of Sicily, 1644-1647.

He was 5th Marqués de los Vélez from 1631, and Grandee of Spain. He was born in Mula, region of Murcia, a great-grandson of Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens and the son of Luis Fajardo Requesens y Zúñiga, Marqués de los Vélez, the preceding Viceroy of Valencia, 1628–1631, deceased 1631, 4th Marqués de los Vélez.

He joined the Spanish army and rose up the ranks to General. He was Viceroy of Valencia, 1631–1636, Viceroy of Navarre, 1638–1640. In 1641 when the Catalan Revolt broke out, he led a Spanish force into Catalonia which aimed to capture Barcelona and crush the revolt. He was defeated at the Battle of Montjuïc in 1641, and forced to withdraw along the coast to Tarragona which proved a devastating defeat to Spanish morale. He was dismissed and replaced as Viceroy of Catalonia by Pedro Antonio de Aragón, 1642–1644. Afterwards he was also a Viceroy of Sicily, 1644 - 1647.