Luis de Benavides Carrillo, Marquis of Caracena

[3][4] Born in Valencia,[1] a member of a noble Spanish family, he made a career in the army during the many battles in Italy and Flanders between 1629 and 1659.

[6] After the defeat of John of Austria the Younger in the Battle of the Dunes (1658), Caracena was appointed to succeed him.

[7] Despite this fact, governing wasn't easy for Caracena, since by then various wars had pushed Spain to the brink of bankruptcy.

In 1664 he returned to Spain to assume command of the war against Portugal, which was going poorly after a series of military setbacks, most recently after the defeat in 1663 in the Battle of Ameixial, near Estremoz of the same John of Austria the Younger.

Caracena's command of the Spanish forces in Portugal was brief; he was decisively defeated by António Luís de Meneses at the Battle of Montes Claros in 1665.