# The New International Encyclopædia/John of Austria

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​JOHN OF AUSTRIA (1545–78). A Spanish general, commonly known as Don John (Juan) of Austria. He was the illegitimate son of the Emperor Charles V. by Barbara Blomberg, the daughter of a citizen of Ratisbon, and was born February 24, 1545. He was not at first acknowledged by his father, who nevertheless provided for his bringing up. In 1550 he was taken to Spain, and until 1559 remained under the care of Don Luis de Quijada at the latter’s Castle of Villagarcia, near Valladolid. In his will Charles V. recognized him as his son, and intrusted him to the care of his successor, Philip II., who in 1559 granted him the rank of a prince of the House of Austria, and an establishment at Madrid. He was educated together with the Infante Don Carlos, in whose tragic fate Don John had some share. In 1568 he was given the command of a squadron which operated against the Barbary pirates, and in the following year was intrusted with the task of suppressing the Morisco rebellion in Andalusia. Though far from cruel by nature, Don John carried out his instructions relentlessly, displaying great military skill in the campaign. By November, 1570, all of the Moriscos had either been killed or made their submission. Upon the formation of the ​Holy League by Spain, the Pope, and Venice against the Turks in 1571, Don John was given the supreme command of a fleet of more than 200 galleys, with which he won a splendid victory over the superior forces of the Turks, at Lepanto, October 7, 1571, killing or taking more than 30,000 of the enemy, and releasing more than 12,000 Christian galley-slaves. His ambition to establish an independent kingdom for himself in Greece was frustrated by the opposition of the Spanish King. In October, 1573, he took Tunis from the Turks, hoping to make himself ruler of the city; but here, too, his plans shattered against the jealous refusal of Philip II. In 1576 he was appointed Governor of the Netherlands, to succeed Don Luis de Requesens. The Pacification of Ghent, signed in the same year, had united all of the provinces, except Luxemburg, against Spanish misrule, and Don John was forced to make the journey to the north disguised as a slave in the train of Ottavio Gonzaga. From Luxemburg he carried on negotiations with the Estates, and was able to enter Brussels (May, 1577) only after he had issued his Perpetual Edict, reaffirming the immunities granted the Protestants by the Pacification of Ghent, and promising in addition the removal of the hated Spanish soldiery from the country. William of Orange, however, continued in his policy of opposition, out of distrust in the promises of the Spanish party, although Don John seems to have carried out the terms of the Edict in sending the Spanish soldiers out of the country, and delivering a number of castles into the hands of Flemish commanders. In December, 1577, Don John was deposed by the Estates, and William, as Protector of Brabant, took the field against him. With the aid of a Spanish army, brought to the Netherlands by Alexander Farnese, his old schoolmate, Don John won the victory of Gembloux, January 31, 1578; but, for lack of support, was unable to prosecute the campaign. Philip II., who saw in Don John’s success a possible danger to himself, delayed in sending him reënforcements, and this enabled the party of Orange to make headway against the Governor. At this time he is said to have entertained the wild scheme of invading England, rescuing Mary, Queen of Scots, and making himself King of Scotland, if not of the entire island. He died suddenly at his camp near Namur, October 1, 1578, his death being attributed to poison administered by order of Philip II. For such a conjecture, however, there is no basis of fact. Consult: Stirling-Maxwell, Don Juan of Austria (London, 1883); Montplainchamp, Histoire de Don Jean d’Autriche (Amsterdam, 1690); Motley, The United Netherlands.