[6] In 1566, Fadrique had promised to marry Magdalena de Guzman, lady of Queen Elisabeth of Valois, but resiled from it, costing him arrest and imprisonment in the Castle of La Mota, Medina del Campo, Valladolid.

[7] In April 1568, finding himself in Murcia waiting to embark for Oran, Philip II commuted this punishment to a new destination in Flanders, [8] where his father was at the head of the tercios in his capacity as governor of the Spanish Netherlands.

He was in charge of the Spanish troops that slaughtered the populations of Mechelen,[9] Zutphen and Naarden,[10] as well as during the costly Siege of Haarlem.

[12] His father the Duke did not approve, he was afraid of his son's reputation that was already not good with Philip II of Spain, their King.

Fadrique was again confined to his prison in the Castillo de la Mota, and his father was banished from the court, from where he went into exile to Uceda.