Cristobal de Mondragon y Mercado (1514-1596) was a Spanish general during the Dutch Revolt.
Biography[]
Cristobal de Mondragon y Mercado was born in Medina del Campo, Spain in 1514, and he enlisted in the Spanish Army in 1532 during the reign of Emperor Charles V. Mondragon served in campaigns in Italy, Tunisia, Provence, Germany, and Flanders, and he masterminded an attack across a river at the Battle of Muhlberg on 24 April 1547 during the Schmalkaldic War, winning the battle. In April 1559, he became Governor of Damvillers and colonel of the tercios, serving under Sancho d'Avila during the first few battles of the Dutch Revolt. In 1574, he lost the city of Middelburg to William the Silent, but he won at Gembloux in 1578 and at Maastricht in 1579. In 1587, he became Governor of the Citadel of Antwerp, and his last campaign was in 1595, when he was 81 years old; he raised Maurice of Nassau's siege of Groenlo, and he mortally wounded Philip of Nassau at the Lippe. Mondragon died of old age in Antwerp in 1596.