| John of Austria | |
|---|---|
 Don Juan de Austria, oil in canvas of 2nd half of the 16th century, probably byJuan Pantoja de la Cruz, in theMuseo del Prado, Madrid | |
| Governor of the Spanish Netherlands | |
| In office | 1576–1578 |
| Predecessor | Luis de Requesens y Zúñiga |
| Successor | Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma |
| Monarch | Philip II of Spain |
| Born | 24 February 1547 Regensburg,Holy Roman Empire |
| Died | 1 October 1578(1578-10-01) (aged 31) Bouge, nearNamur,Spanish Netherlands |
| Burial | 24 May 1579 |
| Issue | See detail |
| House | Habsburg |
| Father | Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Mother | Barbara Blomberg |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
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| Branch/service | |
| Years of service | 1568–1578 |
| Rank |
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| Commands |
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| Battles/wars | |
John of Austria (German:Johann von Österreich,Spanish:Juan de Austria, often called "Don Juan" in English but he is not the fictional rake); 24 February 1547 – 1 October 1578) was theillegitimate son ofCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Charles V recognized him in acodicil to his will. John became a military leader in the service of his half-brother,King Philip II of Spain, Charles V's heir, and was addressed as aDon. He is best known for his role as the admiral of theHoly League fleet at theBattle of Lepanto and asGovernor of the Spanish Netherlands.
John of Austria was born inRegensburg, Upper Palatinate. His mother wasBarbara Blomberg, the daughter of aburgher, and his father wasCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor, who had been widowed since 1539.[citation needed]
In the summer of 1554, he was taken to the castle of Luis de Quijada inVillagarcía de Campos, Valladolid. Magdalena de Ulloa, de Quijada's wife, took charge of his education, assisted by Latin teacher Guillén Prieto, chaplain García de Morales, and Juan Galarza, a squire.[1]
Charles V wrote acodicil, dated 6 June 1554, in which he recognized: "For since I was in Germany, after being widowed, I had a natural child of one unmarried woman, named Geronimo".[2] In the summer of 1558, Charles ordered de Quijada, de Ulloa, and John to relocate to the village ofCuacos de Yuste. Charles resided nearby at theMonastery of Yuste, and until his own death in September of that year, he saw his son several times. In his last will of 1558, he officially recognized John as his son; he also arranged for John to enter the clergy and pursue an ecclesiastical career.[3]: 22
Charles's only survivinglegitimate son and heir,Philip II of Spain, was then outside of Spain. Rumors had spread about John's paternity, which de Quijada denied, and he wrote to Charles asking for instructions. Charles replied with a note written by his personal secretary Eraso, in which he recommended to wait for Philip's return to Spain.Joanna, Dowager Princess of Portugal andregent during the absence of her brother Philip, asked to see the child. She met him in Valladolid in May 1559, coinciding with anauto-da-fé then taking place.
Philip II returned fromBrussels in 1559, aware of his father's will. Once he had settled in Valladolid, he summoned de Quijada to bring John to a hunt. The first meeting between Philip and John took place on 28 September in the Monastery of Santa María de La Santa Espina.[4] When the king appeared, de Quijada told John to dismount as a sign of respect. When John did so, Philip asked him if he knew the identity of his father; he did not, so Philip explained that they had the same father and thus were brothers. Philip insisted that, although John was a member of theHouse of Habsburg, he was not to be addressed as "Your Highness", the form reserved for royals and sovereign princes.
John was known as "Don Juan de Austria", and his manner of address was "Your Excellency", the title used for aSpanish grandee. He did not live in a palace, but maintained a separate household with de Quijada as the head. Philip allowed John to have the income allocated to him by Charles. In public ceremonies, John stood, walked, or rode ahead of the grandees, but behind the royal family.[3][5]
John completed his education at the University of Alcalá de Henares (now theComplutense University of Madrid), where he attended with his two nephews:Prince Carlos, son and heir of Philip II, andAlessandro Farnese, the son of Charles V's other acknowledged illegitimate child,Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Parma. All three were taught by Honorato Hugo, the disciple of scholarJuan Luis Vives. While at the university, Carlos sustained a skull fracture, resulting in personality changes.
In 1562, the royal house assigned John 15,000ducats, the same amount allocated to his half-sister Joanna, Dowager Princess of Portugal, with whom John had a close relationship.
In 1565, Farnese leftAlcalá de Henares to reside in Brussels, where his mother governed theSpanish Netherlands. He marriedMaria of Portugal while in Brussels.[3][5]
John actively participated in court ceremonies, including at the baptisms of his nieces,Isabella Clara Eugenia andCatherine Michaela. He was assigned to carry the infants to thebaptismal font.
In 1565, theOttoman Empire attackedMalta. To defend the island, a fleet was gathered at the port ofBarcelona. John asked Philip for permission to join the navy, but was denied; he then left the court and travelled to Barcelona, but was unable to reach the fleet in time. John continued his attempts to join the fleet ofGarcía Álvarez de Toledo y Osorio until a letter from Philip caused him to give up.[citation needed]
Prince Carlos confided in John and told him of his plans to flee Spain and travel towards theSpanish Netherlands from Italy. He needed John's help to acquire agalley that would ferry him to Italy. In exchange for his assistance, the prince promised John control of theKingdom of Naples. John said that he would give Carlos an answer, and went toEl Escorial to report him to the king.[citation needed]
John returned to the Mediterranean to take charge of the fleet. After meeting with his advisers inCartagena on 2 June 1568, he went out to sea to fight thecorsairs for a period of three months. He sailed to North Africa, landing atOran andMelilla.[citation needed]
A decree dated 1 January 1567 forced theMoriscos who lived in theKingdom of Granada, particularly in theAlpujarras region, to abandon their customs, language, clothing, and religious practices. By the end of 1568, almost 200 towns revolted against the decree.
Philip deposedIñigo López de Mendoza, 3rd Marquis of Mondejar, and appointed John the supreme commander of the royal forces. He choseLuis de Requesens to serve as one of John's advisers.
On 13 April 1569 John arrived in Granada, where he built his forces. Luis de Requesens and Álvaro de Bazán patrolled the coast with their galleys, limiting aid and reinforcements from Barbary.
The deportation policy aggravated the situation. John asked Philip for permission to go on the offensive. The king granted his request and John left Granada at the head of a large and well-supplied army. After clearing rebels from nearby Granada, he marched east throughGuadix, where veteran troops from Italy joined him, increasing his number of troops to 12,000.
At the end of 1569 he managed to pacifyGüéjar, and in late January 1570 he laid siege to the stronghold ofGalera, which was located some 150 km from the Alpujarras, on the Granada Altiplano, another center of Moorish revolt. The siege of Galera stalled because the inhabitants retreated into a fortified Alcazaba or fortress on a hill in the center of Galera, so John ordered a general assault, making use of artillery and strategically set mines. On 10 February 1570, he entered the village, and had it levelled to the ground withsalt ploughed into its soil. Between 400 and 4,500 inhabitants were killed, and 2,000–4,500 more were sold into slavery.[6][7]
When he marched on the fortress ofSerón, John was shot in the head, and his foster father Luis de Quijada was wounded. De Quijada died of his injuries a week later, on 25 February, inCaniles. John took the town ofTerque, which dominated the middle valley of theAlmería River.
In May 1570, John negotiated a peace with El Habaquí. In the summer and fall of 1570, the last campaigns to subdue the rebels were carried out. In February 1571, Philip signed a decree expelling all Moriscos from the Kingdom of Granada. John's letters described their forced exile as the greatest "human misery" that can be portrayed.[citation needed]
TheWar of Cyprus became the focus of Spanish attention afterPope Pius V sent an envoy to urge Philip to join him andVenice in aHoly League against the Turks. Philip II agreed, and negotiations opened in Rome. Among Philip's terms was the appointment of John as commander-in-chief of the Holy League armada. He agreed thatCyprus should be protected, but also wished to recover control ofTunis, where the Turks had overthrown Philip's Muslimclient ruler. Tunis posed an immediate threat toSicily, one of Philip's kingdoms. He also had in mind the eventual conquest ofAlgiers, whose corsairs posed a constant nuisance to Spain. Charles V hadtried and failed to take it in 1541.[3]
While John finished the pacification of Granada, negotiations continued in Rome. In the summer of 1570, Philip sailed for Cyprus under the pope's admiralMarcantonio Colonna. In charge of Philip's contingent was the GenoeseGian Andrea Doria, a great-nephew ofAndrea Doria. On reaching the Turkish coast in September, Colonna and the Venetians wished to continue towards Cyprus while Doria argued that it was too late. Then, news arrived thatNicosia, the capital of Cyprus, had fallen, and only the port ofFamagusta remained. Sickness hit the Venetian fleet and a consensus grew that it was best to return to port, which they did. Animosities between the Christian allies became more open while the Turks continued their siege of Famagusta.[8]: 122
The Venetians repaired their galley fleet and readied six armedgalleasses. The pope hired twelve galleys from the Grand Duke ofTuscany. The dukes ofSavoy andParma also provided galleys, and Alexander Farnese sailed in one of them. When the League was formally signed in May, John was designatedcommander-in-chief and given instructions by Philip. He travelled with the Spanish squadron from Barcelona in July, and the Holy League armada set sail fromMessina in mid-September.[8]: 133
John found the Turkish fleet atLepanto in theGulf of Corinth. After some debate amongst themselves, The Turks chose to fight. They had the larger fleet, nearly 300 vessels to John's 207 galleys and six galleasses.
On 7 October 1571, the Turkish fleet emerged into theGulf of Patras and took battle formation. Bringing his fleet through theCurzolaris islets, John deployed his armada into a left wing under Venetian command, a right wing under Doria, a center under himself, and a rear guard under theMarquis of Santa Cruz. In all four formations were galleys from each of the participating states. Two galleasses each were assigned to the wings and center. The battle began around noon.
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The gunfire from the galleasses disrupted the Turkish formations as they pressed to the attack, and the bigger and more numerous guns of the Christian allies did damage as the Turkish right and center closed to board. The allies won the fighting on the decks. Among the wounded was 24-year-oldMiguel de Cervantes, future writer ofDon Quixote. Cervantes later wrote a description of the courage of the Christian combatants.[8]: 150
The Turkish left wing underUluj Ali, thegovernor general of Algiers, tried to outmaneuver Doria's wing, drawing it away from the League center. When a gap appeared between Doria and the center, Uluj Ali turned and aimed at the gap, smashing three galleys of theKnights of Malta on John's right flank. John came around while the Marquis of Santa Cruz hit Uluj Ali with his rear guard. Uluj Ali and approximately half of his wing escaped.
At the end of the battle, the Turkish fleet was destroyed and thousands of Turkish soldiers were killed. The League had over 13,000 casualties and liberated over 10,000 Christian slaves.[9] In the evening, a storm broke and the League had to head for port, while sporadic Greek uprisings were suppressed by the Turks.
During and after the battle of Lepanto, John was addressed in letters and in person with "Highness" and "Prince", in contradiction to the initial protocol and address by Philip. There are no records to indicate if Philip gave Don John these honors.[3][5]
When Luis de Requesens died on 5 March 1576, the Council of State urged the king to appoint a new governor immediately, recommending that it be a member of the royal family. Philip appointed John as governor-general; John entered Brussels on 1 May 1577.[10]
John captured the city of Namur on 24 July 1577. In January 1578 he defeated the Protestants in theBattle of Gembloux. The defeat at Gembloux forcedPrince William of Orange, the leader of the revolt, to leave Brussels. The victory of John also meant the end of theUnion of Brussels, and hastened the disintegration of the unity of the rebel provinces.[11] Six months later John was defeated atRijmenam.
Two months after his defeat at Rijmenam, John of Austria contracted a fever and died on 1 October 1578, at the age of 31. To avoid his body being captured at sea by adversarial Dutch or English forces, it was quartered, returned secretly overland in saddle bags to Madrid, and reassembled for burial once there. John was buried in theEscorial, the only illegitimate Habsburg to be so honored.[12]
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As John of Austria was the illegitimate son of Charles V, the partitions of the armories ofhis father's coat of arms were modified for his own. John's coat of arms consisted of a divided shield; on the dexter (left) side, the arms ofCastile andLeón were placed in a cut and not quartered (repeated in four quarters), as usual; on the sinister (right) side wereAragon and Aragon-Sicily; and on the dividedinescutcheon (center) wereAustria andDuchy of Burgundy.[13]
The coat of arms of John of Austria did not incorporate the blazons ofGranada,Franche-Comté,Brabant,Flanders, andTyrol that appeared in the coat of arms of his father. Encircling the shield is the necklace of theOrder of the Golden Fleece.[13]
The following women are confirmed to have had a relationship with John of Austria:[5]
Amonument to John of Austria was erected inMessina at the initiative of the local senate in 1572, to honor the victor of Lepanto. The statue survived the devastating1908 earthquake; however, it was moved to another location in the city.
A copy of the statue of John in Messina was erected in his birthplace of Regensburg in 1978, the fourth centenary of his death.
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Media related toDon Juan de Austria at Wikimedia Commons| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Governor of the Spanish Netherlands 1576–1578 | Succeeded by |
