Don Juan de Austria, Don John of Austria (English) was the natural son of the emperor Charles V
by Barbara Blomberg, the daughter of an opulent citizen of Regensburg. He was
born in that free imperial city on the 24th of February 1545, the anniversary
of his father's birth and coronation and of the battle of Pavia, and was at
first confided under the name of Geronimo to foster parents of humble birth,
living at a village near Madrid; but in 1554 he was transferred to the charge
of Madalena da Ulloa, the wife of Don Luis de Quijada, and was brought up in
ignorance of his parentage at Quijada's castle of Villagarcia not far from
Valladolid. Charles V in a codicil of his will recognized Geronimo as his son,
and recommended him to the care of his successor.
In September 1559 Philip II of Spain publicly recognized the boy as a
member of the royal family, and he was known at court as Don Juan de Austria.
For three years he was educated at Alcalfi, and had as school companions his
nephews, the infante Don Carlos and Alessandro Farnese, prince of Parma. With
Don Carlos his relations were especially friendly. It had been Philip's
intention that Don John should become a monk, but he showed a strong
inclination for a soldier's career and the king yielded. In 1568 Don John was
appointed to the command of a squadron of 33 galleys, and his first operations
were against the Algerian pirates. His next services were (1569-70) against the
rebel Moriscos in Granada. In 1571 a nobler field of action was opened to him.
The conquest of Cyprus by the Turks had led the Christian powers of the
Mediterranean to fear for the safety of the Adriatic. A league between Spain
and Venice was effected by the efforts of Pope Pius V to resist the Turkish
advance to the west, and Don John was named admiral in chief of the combined
fleets. At the head of 208 galleys, 6 galleasses and a number of smaller craft,
Don John encountered the Turkish fleet at Lepanto on the 7th of October 1571,
and gained a complete victory. Only forty Turkish vessels effected their
escape, and it was computed that 35,000 of their men were slain or captured
while 15,000 Christian galley slaves were released. Unfortunately, through
divisions and jealousies between the allies, the fruits of one of the most
decisive naval victories in history were to a great extent lost.
This great triumph aroused Don John's ambition and filled his
imagination with schemes of personal aggrandizement. He thought of erecting
first a principality in Albania and the Morea, and then a kingdom in Tunis. But
the conclusion by Venice of a separate peace with the sultan put an end to the
league, and though Don John captured Tunis in 1573, it was again speedily lost.
The schemes of Don John found no support in Philip II, who refused to entertain
them, and even withheld from his half-brother the title of infante of Spain.
At last, however, Don Juan was appointed (1576) governor-general of the
Netherlands, in succession to Luis de Requesens. The administration of the
latter had not been successful, the revolt headed by the Prince of Orange had
spread, and at the time of Don John's nomination the Pacification of Ghent
appeared to have united the whole of the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands,
in determined opposition to Spanish rule and the policy of Philip II. The magic
of Don John's name, and the great qualities of which he had given proof, were
to recover what had been lost. He was, however, now brought into contact with
an adversary of a very different calibre from himself. This was William of
Orange, whose influence was now supreme throughout the Netherlands.
The Pacification of Ghent, which was really a treaty between Holland and
Zeeland and the other provinces for the defense of their common interests
against Spanish rule, had been followed by an agreement between the southern
provinces, known as the Union of Brussels, which, though maintaining the
Catholic religion and the king's authority, aimed at the expulsion of the
Spanish soldiery and officials from the Netherlands. Confronted by the refusal
of the States General to accept him as governor, unless he assented to the
conditions of the Pacification of Ghent, swore to maintain the rights and
privileges of the provinces, and to employ only Netherlanders in his service,
Don John, after some months of fruitless negotiations, saw himself compelled to
give way. At Huey on the 12th of February 1577 he signed a treaty, known as the
"Perpetual Edict", in which he complied with these terms. On the 1st
of May he made his entry into Brussels, but he found himself governor-general
only in name, and the Prince of Orange master of the situation. In July he
suddenly betook himself to Namur and withdrew his concessions. William of
Orange forthwith took up his residence at Brussels, and gave his support to the
archduke Matthias, afterwards emperor, whom the Sstates-General accepted as
their sovereign.
Meanwhile Philip had sent large reinforcements to Don John under the
leadership of his cousin Alexander Farnese. At the head of a powerful force Don
John now suddenly attacked the rebel army at Gemblours, where, chiefly by the
skill and daring of Farnese, a complete victory was gained on the 31st of
January 1578. He could not, however, follow up his success for lack of funds,
and was compelled to remain inactive all the summer, chafing with impatience at
the cold indifference with which his appeals for the sinews of war were treated
by Philip. His health gave way, he was attacked with fever, and on the 1st of
October 1578, at the early age of 33, Don John died, heartbroken at the failure
of all his soaring ambitions, and at the repeated proofs that he had received
of the king his brother's mistrust.
Don John of Austria Born: 24-Feb-1547
Birthplace: Regensburg, Germany
Died: 1-Oct-1578
Location of death: Bouges, Belgium
Cause of death: Fever
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