Alfonso d'Avalos d'Aquino, 6th Marquis of Pescara, 2nd Marquis of Vasto (1502 – 31 March 1546), was an Italian condottiero of Aragonese origins, renowned for his service in favour of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain.
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Biography
Born in Ischia, Alfonso was the son of Inigo d'Avalos and Laura Sanseverino. He inherited the Marquis of Pescara from his cousin Francesco Ferdinando I d'Ávalos.
Alfonso fought the French and the Venetians by his side. He fought at the Battle of Pavia in 1525. During the period 1526-1528, he fought under Hugo of Moncada, being captured on 28 April 1528 by the Genoese captain Filippino Doria at the Battle of Capo d'Orso. By July 1535, Alfonso served as Imperial lieutenant during the reconquest of the city of Tunis in North Africa. The failure of the third war against France trying to invade Provence, and the death of the first Governor of the Duchy of Milan, Antonio de Leyva, prompted him in 1538 to accept the nomination as governor, replacing Marino Caracciolo, the second governor, becoming some sort of protector of literary and musical people . Alfonso became a Knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece at a chapter in Tournai in 1531. He served as an ambassador for Emperor Charles V, in 1538, on the succession to the new Doge of the Republic of Venice, Pietro Lando.
Alfonso commanded the Imperial army in Italy during the Italian War of 1542 and was defeated by the French at the Battle of Ceresole. However, in the Battle of Serravalle on 2 June 1544, an aftermath of the Italian War of 1542, he managed to defeat a force of freshly raised Italian mercenaries in French service, commanded by Pietro Strozzi and Giovanni Francesco Orsini, count of Pitigliano.
Personal life
On 26 November 1523, Alfonso married Maria d'Aragona, daughter of Duke Ferdinando di Montalto and Catalina Cardona. They had:
Innico d'Avalos d'Aragona, (1536–1600), cardinal
Francesco Ferdinando d'Ávalos (1537–1571), commander in chief of the Spanish army in Lombardy and Piedmont
Antonia d'Avalos (1538–1567), married Gian Giacomo Trivulzio (d.1557), later married Horace de Lannoy
Cesare d'Avalos (1536–1614), Grand Chancellor of the Kingdom of Naples, married Lucrezia del Tufo, had issue
Giovanni D'Avalos (1536–1586), founder of the Hermitage of Camaldoli, married Maria Orsini
Carlo d'Avalos (1541-1612), Grand Chancellor of the Kingdom of Naples, married Sveva Gesualdo, had issue
Beatrice d'Avalos (1533–1558), married Alfonso de Guevara.
