View source for Antonio Ponce de León, 11th Duke of Arcos

{{Short description|Spanish peer and army officer (1726–1780)}}
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{{family name hatnote|Ponce de León|Spínola|lang=Spanish}}
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[[File:XI Duque de Arcos (R. Michel, MRABASF E-598) 01.jpg|thumb|1783 marble bust of the 12th Duke of Arcos, [[Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando]]]]
'''Antonio Ponce de León y Spínola, 11th Duke of Arcos''', [[Grandee|GE]] (3 October 1726{{spaced ndash}}13 December 1780) was a Spanish [[Spanish nobility|peer]] and army officer. The last male representative of the [[House of Ponce de León]], he was known for his extensive wealth.<ref>[http://dbe.rah.es/biografias/14214/antonio-ponce-de-leon-y-spinola-de-la-cerda Alfonso de Ceballos-Escalera y Gila "Antonio Ponce de León y Spínola de la Cerda" in ''Diccionario de la Real Academia de la Historia'' (DBE)]</ref> For a period of time, he was the sole largest employer in Western Europe, having over 3,000 servants working for him at one point.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DW6eUG1F8W0C&dq=duke+of+arcos+1780&pg=PA32 William H. Prescott, ''History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic, etc.'', Vol. 1, R. Bentley (1849), p. 32]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=98BgAAAAMAAJ&dq=duke+of+arcos+1780&pg=PA358 Kenelm H. Digby, ''Mores Catholici'', Vol. V-VI, P. O'Shea (1889), p. 358]</ref>
== Biography ==
Born 3 October 1726 in [[Madrid]], he was the youngest son of Joaquín Ponce de León y Lancaster, 7th [[Duke of Arcos]] and 10th [[Duke of Maqueda]] (amongst other titles) and Ana María Spínola y de la Cerda. Ponce de León was a direct descendant of several junior branches of European royal dynasties: his paternal grandmother, María Guadalupe de Láncaster, 9th Duchess of Maqueda, was a [[House of Lancaster|Lancaster]], while his mother was the daughter of [[Felipe Antonio Spinola, 4th Marquis of Los Balbases|Felipe Antonio Spínola y Colonna, 4th Marquess of Balbases]], of the [[House of Spinola]] and [[Colonna family|Colonna]], and Isabel María de la Cerda y Aragón, daughter of the [[Juan Francisco de la Cerda, 8th Duke of Medinaceli|8th Duke of Medinaceli]] and of Catalina de Aragón, of the [[Crown of Aragon|House of Aragon]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DEkUAAAAYAAJ&dq=antonio+ponce+de+leon+spinola&pg=PA547 Julián de Pinedo y Salazar, ''Historia de la insigne Orden del Toyson de Oro, dedicada al Rey Nuestro SeÆnor, xefe soberano, y gran maestre de ellà'', Vol. 1, Imprenta Real (1787), p. 547]</ref>
After serving as an army officer in [[Italy]], he returned to Spain in 1752 and was appointed supernumerary captain of the Spanish Royal Company of Corps Guards. In December 1763, all three of his older brothers had died in battle with no succession, and so Antonio became the 11th Duke of Arcos, the 18th [[Duke of Nájera]], 14th Duke of Maqueda, 15th Marquess of Elche, 15th Marquess of Zahara, 11th Count of Casares and 13th Count of Bailén amongst other titles. The following year, [[Charles III of Spain|Charles III]] awarded him the [[Order of the Golden Fleece]]. In 1772 he was appointed [[Captain General]] of the ''[[Spanish Army|Royal Spanish Armies]]'', despite continuing to command the Corps Guards.
On 1 January 1778, he married Mariana de Silva-Bazán y Sarmiento, mother of the famous [[María Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba]], with whom he had no descendants.
With his death on 13 December 1780, the first-born male line of the [[House of Ponce de León]] became extinct, and the [[Duke of Arcos|House of Arcos]] was incorporated into the [[Duke of Benavente|House of Benavente]], and later to the [[Duke of Osuna|House of Osuna]].
==See also==
*[[List of dukes in the peerage of Spain]]
*[[Mariano Téllez-Girón, 12th Duke of Osuna|Mariano Téllez-Girón]]
*[[Vicente Osorio de Moscoso, 13th Count of Altamira|Vicente Pío Osorio de Moscoso]]
== References ==
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{{s-bef|before=Francisco Ponce de León}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Duke of Arcos]]|years=1763–1780}}
{{s-aft|after=[[María Josefa Pimentel, Duchess of Osuna|María Josefa Pimentel]]}}
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[[Category:1726 births]]
[[Category:1780 deaths]]
[[Category:Dukes of Arcos]]
[[Category:Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain]]
[[Category:Dukes of Nájera]]