He joined the Spanish army and rose up the ranks to General. He was Viceroy of Valencia, 1631–1636, Viceroy of Navarre, 1638–1640. In 1641 when the Catalan Revolt broke out, he led a Spanish force into Catalonia which aimed to capture Barcelona and crush the revolt. He was defeated at the Battle of Montjuïc in 1641, and forced to withdraw along the coast to Tarragona which proved a devastating defeat to Spanish morale. He was dismissed and replaced as Viceroy of Catalonia by Pedro Antonio de Aragón, 1642–1644. Afterwards he was also a Viceroy of Sicily, 1644 - 1647.