José Osorio
Duke of Sesto
José Osorio y Silva, 9th Duke of Sesto, 16th Duke of Alburquerque, 17th Marquess of Alcañices
(4 April 1825 – 30 December 1909), was a Spanish nobleman, politician and army officer. He was also known by one of his titles, Duke of Sesto, inherited from his father, and by nicknames Pepe Osorio or Pepe Alcañices. He was head and representative of the houses of Alcañices, Alburquerque and los Balbases, causing a personal union of sixteen noble titles and four grandee titles. He is also considered one of the most notable mayors of Madrid, serving from 1857 to 1864. He had inherited strong monarchist convictions as a result of his education and family tradition. During the Glorious Revolution he convinced Isabel II that the only way to re-establish the monarchy was for her to abdicate - he was the first to sign the abdication document and became so involved in the process that the queen told her son "Alfonso, shake hands with Pepe, who has managed to make you king". During the royal family's exile he paid their expenses and put his residence in Deauville at their disposal. He then paved the way for the restoration of the monarchy and the accession of Isabel's son Alfonso XII, on which he spent much of his family fortune. Alfonso XII came to look on him as a second father and throughout Alfonso's life José was his best friend and main advisor. He also acted as mentor to prince Alfonso (the future
Alfonso XIII) and José's wife, the Russian princess Sofía Troubetzkaya, built up support for the restoration socially among the Spanish nobility while José's friend Antonio Cánovas del Castillo consolidated support politically. On Alfonso XII's death in 1885, José was disgraced before his widow Maria Christina of Austria and left the Spanish court. He spent his last years back in politics as well as on business and leisure travel across Europe with his wife. He died aged 84 in his palace of Paseo de Recoletos on the thirty-fifth anniversary of the start of the restoration of the monarchy. He left no children and named his nephew Miguel Osorio y Martos as his heir.
The Civil Guard (Spanish: Guardia Civil) is the oldest law enforcement agency in Spain and is one of two national police forces. As a national gendarmerie force, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the authority of both the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defence. The role of the Ministry of Defence is limited except in times of war when the Ministry has exclusive authority. The corps is colloquially known as the benemérita (reputable). The Guardia Civil was founded as a national police force in 1844 during the reign of Queen Isabel II of Spain by the 2nd Duke of Ahumada and 5th Marquess of Amarillas, an 11th generation descendant of Aztec emperor Moctezuma II. Previously, law enforcement had been the responsibility of the "Holy Brotherhood", an organization of municipal leagues. Corruption was pervasive in the Brotherhood, where officials were constantly subject to local political influence, and the system was largely ineffective outside the major towns and cities. Criminals could often escape justice by simply moving from one district to another. The first Guardia police academy was established in the town of Valdemoro, south of Madrid, in 1855. Graduates were given the Guardia's now famous tricorne or Cavaliers hat as part of their duty dress uniform. The Guardia was initially charged with putting an end to brigandage on the nation's highways, particularly in Andalusia, which had become notorious for numerous robberies and holdups of businessmen, peddlers, travelers, and even foreign tourists. Banditry in this region was so endemic that the Guardia found it difficult to eradicate it completely. As late as 1884, one traveler of the day reported that it still existed in and
around the city of Málaga: The favorite and original method of the Malagueño highwayman is to creep up quietly behind his victim, muffle his head and arms in a cloak, and then relieve him of his valuables. Should he resist, he is instantly disembowelled with the dexterous thrust of a knife wears a profusion of amulets and charms...all of undoubted efficacy against the dagger of an adversary or the rifle of a Civil Guard. The Guardia Civil was also given the political task of restoring and maintaining land ownership and servitude among the peasantry of Spain by the King, who desired to stop the spread of anti-monarchist movements inspired by the French Revolution. The end of the First Carlist War combined with the unequal distribution of land that resulted from prime minister Juan Álvarez Mendizábal's first Desamortización (1836–1837) had left the Spanish landscape scarred by the destruction of civil war and social unrest, and the government was forced to take drastic action to suppress spontaneous revolts by a restive peasantry. Based on the model of light infantry used by Napoléon in his European campaigns, the Guardia Civil was transformed into a military force of high mobility that could be deployed irrespective of inhospitable conditions, able to patrol and pacify large areas of the countryside. Its members, called 'guardias', maintain to this day a basic patrol unit formed by two agents, usually called a "pareja" (a pair), in which one of the 'guardias' will initiate the intervention while the second 'guardia' serves as a backup to the first.
The House of Osorio is an old and influential Spanish noble family, which originated from the Kingdom of Castile. They descend from count Osorio Martínez, a prominent nobleman in the first half of the 12th century who was member of the Flagínez family and husband to a granddaughter of king Alfonso VI of León. It was from his grandson, Osorio González, that the family derived its patronymic surname. His son Rodrigo Osorio is relatively obscure, but had two sons who accompanying king Ferdinand III of Castile on his conquest of Seville, receiving lands there, and who used Osorio as a surname: Rodrigo Rodríguez Osorio and Álvar Rodríguez Osorio. The son of Rodrigo Rodríguez, also named Álvar Rodríguez Osorio, rose to prominence in the service of king Sancho IV of Castile. He had three sons, Juan Álvarez Osorio, a court official and ancestor of the later noble family, Gonzalo Osorio, Bishop of Mondoñedo (d. 1326), and Álvar Núñez Osorio, Count of Trastámara, Lemos and Sarria, and mayordomo mayor before being executed by king Alfonso XI in 1329. Later descendants would be Grandees of Spain and would hold numerous titles, including Marquess of Astorga and Duke of Alburquerque. Duke of Alburquerque (Spanish: Duque de Alburquerque) is a
hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee and granted in 1464 by Henry IV to Beltrán de la Cueva, his "royal favourite" and grand master of the Order of Santiago. It makes reference to the town of Alburquerque in Badajoz, Spain.
Awards: Sash and insignia of the Distinguished Order of the Golden Fleece, Collar and star Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III, Stars of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic, the Real Maestranza de Caballería de Sevilla and the Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa.
