Alessandro Farnese (redirected from Alexander Farnese)

Paul III

 orig. Alessandro Farnese

(born Feb. 29, 1468, Canino, Papal States—died Nov. 10, 1549, Rome) Pope (1534–49). The son of a noble Tuscan family, he was made a cardinal-deacon in 1493 and served as bishop in Parma and Ostia before being named dean of the College of Cardinals by Pope Leo X. Ordained a priest in 1519, he was unanimously elected pope in 1534. Though loose in morals in earlier years (he had three sons and a daughter), he became an efficient promoter of reform, convening the Council of Trent in 1545 and initiating the Counter-Reformation. He also supported the newly founded Jesuits and was a patron of the arts, the last in the tradition of the Renaissance popes.

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Farnese, Alessandro 

Born Aug. 27, 1545, in Rome; died Dec. 3, 1592, in Arras. Military commander and official of the Spanish monarchy. Vicegerent in the Netherlands for the Spanish king from 1578 (officially, from 1581). Duke of Parma and Piacenza. Son of Ottavio Farnese, duke of Parma and Piacenza, and Margaret of Parma.

During the struggle of the Spanish monarchy to put down the Dutch bourgeois revolution, Farnese succeeded in recapturing the Walloon provinces for Spain, concluding a treaty with the Union of Arras in May 1579. After a series of victories over the revolutionary forces, he was able to seize most of the southern Netherlands. In the early 1590’s, Farnese was defeated by the troops of Maurice of Nassau. On orders from Phillip II of Spain, Farnese invaded France, forcing Henry of Navarre to lift the siege of Paris in 1590 and the siege of Rouen in 1592.