Margaret of Parma, first Regent of the Netherlands after the departure of
Philip from the provinces. He was one of the twins by which the reunion
of Margaret and her youthful husband had been blessed, and the only one
that survived. His great-grandfather, Paul, whose secular name of
Alexander he had received, had placed his hand upon the new-born infant's
head, and prophesied that he would grow up to become a mighty warrior.
The boy, from his earliest years, seemed destined to verify the
prediction. Though apt enough at his studies, he turned with impatience
from his literary tutors to military exercises and the hardiest sports.
The din of arms surrounded his cradle. The trophies of Ottavio,
returning victorious from beyond the Alps, had dazzled the eyes of his
infancy, and when but six years of age he had witnessed the siege of his
native Parma, and its vigorous defence by his martial father. When
Philip was in the Netherlands--in the years immediately succeeding the
abdication of the Emperor--he had received the boy from his parents as a
hostage for their friendship. Although but eleven years of age,
Alexander had begged earnestly to be allowed to serve as a volunteer on
the memorable day of Saint Quentin, and had wept bitterly when the amazed
monarch refused his request.--His education had been, completed at
Alcala, and at Madrid, under the immediate supervision of his royal
uncle, and in the companionship of the Infante Carlos and the brilliant
Don John. The imperial bastard was alone able to surpass, or even to
equal the Italian prince in all martial and manly pursuits. Both were
equally devoted to the chase and to the tournay; both longed impatiently
for the period when the irksome routine of monkish pedantry, and the
fictitious combats which formed their main recreation, should be
exchanged for the substantial delights of war. At the age of twenty he
had been affianced to Maria of Portugal; daughter of Prince Edward,
granddaughter of King Emanuel, and his nuptials with that peerless
princess were; as we have seen, celebrated soon afterwards with much pomp