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a high standard of probity and dignity. He
was convinced that Spain, for all its ills, had
a distinctive cultural identity and capacity
for regeneration. In this sense he was
unwilling to yield to the self-flagellation
popular with the G
ENERATION
OF
'98.
Clarín was the author of a number of
admired short stories, but his later novels
were perhaps not truly up to his own high
critical standards. Those standards and the
judgments that he levied on contempo-
rary writers are what preserve his name
and fame.
who resisted the political and religious
dominance of Spain. Alba was given com-
mand of the Spanish forces in these prov-
inces in 1567 and subsequently was
designated as regent of the area. Exercising
total control, he pursued a policy of repres-
sion, instituting a special court (the so-
called Council of Blood) that decreed the
execution of many prominent Netherland-
ers. Further harsh measures, far from quell-
ing resistance, drove the territory into
full-scale rebellion, and by 1573 Alba was
recalled to Spain and replaced by an admin-
istrator who was ordered to pursue a more
conciliatory policy. Blamed by some mem-
bers of the king's entourage for the worsen-
ing of the situation, Alba was not further
employed until 1580, when the extinction
of the ruling dynasty of Portugal precipi-
tated a crisis in the Iberian Peninsula. Alba
was called out of retirement to command
the troops, who invaded the smaller coun-
try, defeated partisans of a native pretender
to the throne, and captured L
ISBON
.
Although Philip II was thus able to annex
the Portuguese empire to his realms, the
characteristically uncompromising tactics of
Alba as he enforced Spanish control created
an initial antagonism that persisted among
the Portuguese during the 60 years of Span-
ish overlordship.
The duke of Alba was undoubtedly a
military commander of great skill and deter-
mination, but he totally lacked the ability to
curb his battlefield ferocity when charged
with overseeing an occupied country. His
brutal tactics in the Netherlands have
remained the object of execration for cen-
turies, and throughout Europe his name
has been a by-word for a bloodthirstiness
that has often been attributed to all
Spaniards.
Alba, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo,
duque de (duque de Alva)
(1508-1582)
Spanish soldier and statesman
Descendant of a noble Castilian family that
had provided many warriors and counsel-
ors to the Spanish Crown, the third duke of
Alba followed a military career that led him
to his greatest victory in 1547 when he
defeated the German Protestant forces at
the Battle of Mühlberg. As the culmination
of nearly 30 years' struggle by Spain to put
down the Reformation, this victory repre-
sented a triumph for Alba's master, King
C
HARLES
I (Holy Roman Emperor Charles
V), and was suitably rewarded. Alba was
also victorious in the 1550s over France and
her Italian allies in the final stages of the
I
TALIAN
W
ARS
, which had been waged by
Spain since 1494. Although this victory like
that in Germany, was ultimately undercut
by later political developments, Alba
retained his status as Spain's most distin-
guished general.
During the 1560s, under the new king,
P
HILIP
II, Spain became embroiled in a new
conflict with the people of the Netherlands
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