 The only and posthumous son of Henry, Duke of Villena and his second wife Beatriz de Pimentel, he succeeded his father as Count of Empúries and , when his uncle Alfonso V of Aragon , who had served as Regent, died in 1458.In 1469 his countship of Segorbe was elevated to a dukedom.Upon his cousin's accession to throne of Aragon in 1479, King Ferdinand II of Aragon appointed him as Viceroy of Catalonia.