Consalvo II de Cordoba

Man at arms and educated patron, among the top figures in the management of the Mediterranean dominions of the Spanish Crown

Grandson of Consalvo de Cordoba, Grand Captain of the viceroyalty of Naples under Ferdinand the Catholic, in addition to his name, he inherited vast fiefdoms in the southern Italian provinces from his maternal grandfather, while thanks to his paternal lineage he became a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Valiant leader and munificent patron of a large family, over time he was forced to sell part of his properties for their maintenance. He started serving the Spanish court from the age of fourteen at the time of Charles V. Following the emperor, he took part in important military campaigns, such as those of Tunis and Algiers, against the Turks, serving Philip II as a lieutenant in the War of the Alpujarras against the Moors and in the battles of Lepanto and Tunis. 

Representative of the Crown for the management of the most complex political and diplomatic issues, he held prestigious positions, including becoming Governor of Milan. 

His humanistic education, probably completed at the Studio di Granada, made him a cultured patron of the most refined humanists of his time, including Paolo Giovio, who dedicated a biographical treatise on the Great Captain to him.