Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva (1508-1582), Spanish general and statesman. Artist: Unknown

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Ferdinand Alvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alva (1508-1582), Spanish general and statesman. As governor of the Netherlands from 1567-1573, he enforced brutal anti-Protestant rule, executing some 18,000 people as heretics. Here he is shown eating a child while, under his feet, are the heads and decapitated bodies of Counts Egmont and Hoorn, two popular Dutch Protestant leaders who were publicly beheaded in Brussels on 5 June 1568.

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Size: 2791px × 3765px
Location: World,Europe,Netherlands
Photo credit: © Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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