Álvaro de Bazán y Guzmán, 1st Marquis of Santa Cruz (12 December 1526 – 9 February 1588), was a Spanish admiral and landlord. He took part in the seizure of the rock of Vélez de la Gomera (1564), the relief to the besieged during the Great Siege of Malta (1565), the quelling of the Alpujarras Rebellion (1569), the Battle of Lepanto (1571), the conquest of Tunis (1573), the incorporation of Portugal to the Hispanic monarchy (1580), and the conquest of Terceira (1582). He was never defeated, a remarkable achievement in a fifty-year-long career. His personal galley was known as La Loba ('The She-Wolf'), after her golden figurehead. He was a grandee of Spain. Biography Álvaro de Bazán y Guzmán was born in Granada on 12 December 1526, son to Álvaro de Bazán y Manuel "the Elder" and Ana de Guzmán. Just like his father and grandfather, he was a member of the Order of Santiago, having joined the order as a knight when he was a toddler, in 1529. Under the purview of his relationship with the order, he was granted encomiendas in Villamayor (1568) and in Alhambra and La Solana (1572). His grandfather, Álvaro de Bazán, took part in the conquest of Granada in 1492. Bazán's father took part together with Giovanni Andrea Doria and others marines in the recapture of Tunis in 1535, and was distinguished in the service of Charles V, by whom he was made general of the galleys, or commander-in-chief of the Spanish naval forces in the Mediterranean. The future admiral followed his father into the navy in his youth and was employed in the high command of the Spanish officers at a very early age. At the age of eight, he was appointed "Military Governor and captain of the fortress and city of Gibraltar". His 'command' was via his father, who was in command of the galleys of Spain. It has been speculated that this unusual appointment was intended to show Charles V's confidence, but the commander of the galleys did not share that confidence. Bazán the Elder suggested to no effect that Gibraltar's Line Wall Curtain be extended to the southern tip of the rock. In 1564, he aided in the capture of Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, and commanded the division of galleys employed to blockade Tetuan, and to suppress the piracy carried on from that port. The service is said