Duke of Alba the House of Álvarez de Toledo (extinct in 1755), the House of Silva (extinct in 1802), and the House of FitzJames, which descends from an illegitimate son of King James II of England. Famous dukes include Don Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, governor of the Spanish Netherlands (references to "Alba" (Alva in Dutch), particularly in the context of Dutch history, are usually about him), and Doña María del Pilar de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba, a muse of the painter Francisco Goya. Various dukes have married into the families of Christopher Columbus and Cosimo de Medici, as
María del Rosario de Silva, Duchess of Alba María del Rosario de Silva, Duchess of Alba Doña María del Rosario de Silva y Gurtubay, Duchess of Alba de Tormes, "suo jure" 9th Marquise of San Vicente del Barco, Grandee of Spain (Madrid, Spain; 4 April 1900 – 11 January 1934) was a Spanish aristocrat and socialite. Single heiress of all the titles of her father, Alfonso de Silva, 16th Duke of Híjar, and of the fortune of her mother, María del Rosario Gurtubay, the young Marquise was one of the beauties of her time. She married in London, on 7 October 1920, to Jacobo Fitz-James Stuart, 17th Duke