Pedro Fajardo, 5th Marquis of Los Vélez

Pedro III Fajardo de Zúñiga y Requesens (1602 – Palermo, Sicily, 3 November 1647) was a Spanish soldier and noble. He was Viceroy of Valencia (1631–1635), Viceroy of Navarre (1638–1640), Viceroy of Catalonia (1640–1642), Spanish Ambassador to Rome, and Viceroy of Sicily (1644–1647).

Biography

He was 5th Marquis of Los Vélez from 1631, and Grandee of Spain. He was born in Mula, region of Murcia, son of Luis II Fajardo, 4th Marquis of Los Vélez, (1576–1631), the preceding Viceroy of Valencia (1628–1631) and a great-grandson of Luis de Zúñiga y Requesens.

He joined the Spanish army and rose up through the ranks to become general. He was Viceroy of Valencia (1631–1636), Viceroy of Navarre (1638–1640). In 1641, when the Catalan Revolt broke out, he led a Spanish force into Catalonia which aimed to capture Barcelona and crush the revolt. Defeated at the Battle of Montjuïc in 1641, and forced to withdraw along the coast to Tarragona, which proved a devastating defeat to Spanish morale, he was dismissed and replaced as Viceroy of Catalonia by Pedro Antonio de Aragón (1642–1644). Afterwards he was appointed Viceroy of Sicily, 1644–1647.

He died in Palermo, Sicily.