Spinola, AMBROSIO, MARQUIS OF

Spinola, AMBROSIO, MARQUIS OF, one of the greatest captains of his time, was born at Genoa in 1571. With his younger brother Frederick, already a soldier of fortune under Philip III. of Spain, he raised in 1602 a force of 9000 men, whom he maintained, like the old condottieri, at his own expense. In the same year he entered the Netherlands, serving at first under Mendoza. His first exploit was the reduction of Ostend, which the Archduke Albert had been besieging for more than two years. This spread his reputation over Europe, and led to his being placed at the head of the whole Spanish and Italian troops in the Netherlands. Now began a long struggle with Prince Maurice of Nassau, in which neither could gain any decided advantage over the other. The destruction of the Spanish fleet near Gibraltar induced the court of Madrid to conclude in 1609 an armistice for twelve years. At its termination the war began anew, and Spinola found himself once more pitched against his great opponent, who, however, died before the walls of Breda of a marsh-fever caught during his attempts to raise the siege. The town opened its gates in the May of 1623, after having sustained a siege of ten months. This was Spinola's last achievement, his health now obliging him to resign the command. He had spent his whole fortune in the maintenance of his troops, but his pecuniary claims were shamefully neglected by the Spanish government, and his acute vexation at this hastened his death, which took place in Piedmont, 25th September 1630.