Tommaso Caracciolo

Tommaso Caracciolo, Count of Roccarainola (10 March 1572 – 5 December 1631), was among others a Field Marshal who commanded parts of the Spanish forces in the Thirty Years' War.

Early years
His father, Tristano Caracciolo, was the son of  Michele Caracciolo, II. Baron of Castelfranco (Terra di Lavoro) and signore of Lusciano (Terra di Lavoro) and Ponte Albaneto (Capitanata). Michele had the lordship of these lands from 1530 to his death in 1548, having inherited them from his uncle Berardino Caracciolo, created first baron by privilege signed by the King Fernando I of Aragon at Castelnovo of Naples on 20 June 1598.

He seems to have had some military experiences since youthful, being reported (although not proved) his assistance in the siege of Brichesario (1594). On 25 August 1600 he was made a captain by his relative Camillo Caracciolo (1563–1617), Count of Avellino, who entrusted him a tercio. On 5 September he was made a sergeant major of this tercio.

Campaign in Flanders
He took part at the Siege of Ostend.

Campaign in Piemont
He is mentioned as Maestro de campo (Field marshal) along the war in Montferrat (1614–1617).

Time in Sicily
He is ordered to Sicily as a Turkish invasion was supposed. The viceking, Count of Osuna made him captain of war of the Val di Noto (between Catania and Messina).

On 2 January 1619 he got the permit to leave Sicily and came back to Naples where he took part in the expedition of Carlo Spinelli to Bohemia as an adventurer without military order. Later the same Carlo Spinelli refuses to serve under Tommaso Caracciolo in Germany.

Campaign in Bohemia
He commanded parts of the Spanish troops on the way to the Battle of White Mountain north of Prague on 8 November 1620, in which half of the enemy forces were killed or captured. After that the Emperor called him to the post of Master field general in Moravia, on 22 July 1621.

Campaign in Germany
He successfully captured a hill with wallonian musceteers under his command at the Battle of Höchst.

Campaign against French-Savoyan-Forces in Northern Italy
He was defeated by Savoian-French troops near Voltaggio, which he left to meet the enemy, being taken a prisoner by the Duke of Savoia on 9 September 1625, in which hands he remained until on 11 September 1625 Philip IV of Spain paid for his rescue.

Late Years
After passing two years in Milano, he came back to Naples on 3 August 1625, being appointed «Commissario e Supraintendente generale delle fortificazioni» of the Reign, a post that he maintained till his death. By his military services, the king of Spain had appointed him Duke of Roccarainola.

Literature

 * Der tolle Halberstädter Herzog Christian von Braunschweig im pfälzischen Kriege Band 2 1621 - 1622, Hans Wertheim, 1929, ca. 620 pages
 * Italienische Einwanderung und Wirtschaftstätigkeit in rheinischen Städten des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Dr. Johannes Augel, 1971, 482 pages
 * Die Schlacht am Weissen Berge bei Prag: (8, November 1620) im Zusammenhange, Karl Julius Krebs, 1879
 * Die Berichte über die Schlacht auf dem Weissen Berge bei Prag, Anton Gindely, 1877, 179 pages
 * Der Kampf des Hauses Habsburg gegen die Niederlande und Ihre Verbündeten, Milos Kouril, 1976, 309 pages
 * Genoa and the Sea: Policy and Power in an Early Modern Maritime Republic, Thomas Allison Kirk, 2005, 296 pages
 * Die bayerische Unterpfalz im Dreißigjährigen Krieg – Besetzung, Verwaltung und Rekatholisierung der rechtsrheinischen Pfalz durch Bayern 1621 bis 1649, Franz Maier, 1990, 585 pages