John of Austria (GIOVANNI D'AUSTRIA) - Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VI, p. 326

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

GIOVANNI D'AUSTRIA. — Natural son of Carlo V and Barbara Blomberg, b. at Ratisbona, his mother’s city, on 24 February 1545, d. near Namur on 1 October 1578. Educated in Spain and destined for monastic life, he instead revealed pronounced military abilities. After the death of Carlo V, who had acknowledged him as his son, he was received at court by Filippo II, who entrusted him with important enterprises.

He subdued the revolt of the moriscos in Granada (1569); as supreme commander of the Christian fleet, he won the splendid victory of Lepanto against the Turks (7 October 1571); he captured Tunis (1573), which, however, soon fell back into Turkish hands: thus his plan to establish a Christian kingdom there for himself failed. In 1575 he was Filippo II’s lieutenant in Italy. In 1576 he replaced Luigi di Requesens in the government of the Netherlands, where, with the scant aid sent by his brother under the command of Alessandro Farnese, he defeated the insurgents at Gembloux (1578). But, in the midst of the struggle against Guglielmo d'Orange, he suddenly died, perhaps of plague, in the military camp. No evidence exists that he died from poison. He is buried at the Escorial.

BIBL.: W. Havemann, Das Leben des Don Juan, Gotha 1865; W. Stirling Maxwell, Don John of A., 2 vols., London 1883; G. Boglietti, Don G. d'A., Bologna 1894; B. Porreño, Historia del serenismo señor don Juan de A., Madrid 1899; H. F. M. Huybert, Don Juan van Oosterrijk, Utrecht 1913; M. Yeo, Don John of A., London 1934; F. Hartlaub, Don Juan d'A. und die Schlacht bei Lepanto, Berlin 1940; F. Braudel, La Méditerranée et le monde méditerranéen à l'époque de Philippe II, Paris 1949, V. indice. Angelo Ferrari

GIOVANNI D'AUSTRIA. — Natural son of Philip IV of Spain and Maria Calderón, born in Madrid on 7 April 1629. He displayed exceptional military abilities. In 1647 he suppressed the Masaniello-Annese revolt in Naples. He subsequently became viceroy of Sicily. Sent against insurgent Catalonia, he captured Barcelona and Gerona and concluded the agreement that brought the revolt to an end.

Governor of the Netherlands (1656), he was defeated by Turenne at the Battle of the Dunes (14 June 1658). He then commanded the Spanish army against Portugal: he captured several fortified towns, but was finally defeated at Estremoz (8 June 1663). After Philip IV’s death (1665), he led the opposition against the dowager queen and regent, Marianna. He found a formidable adversary at court in the Jesuit Everardo Nidhard, the queen’s confessor and adviser; don G. forced her to exile him. When Charles II came of age, he was removed from court, through the intrigues of the queen mother, and appointed viceroy of Aragon, whence he returned, securing the exile of the Queen and her new adviser, Valenzuela. Charles II made him his first minister (1676): Spain then enjoyed a brief period of tranquillity. He died in Madrid on 17 September 1689. He is buried at the Escorial.

BIBL.: A. Risco, Don Juan de A., Madrid 1918. For further bibliography, B. Sánchez Alonso, Fuentes de la historia española e hispano-americana, 2ª ed., 2 voll., Madrid 1927, V. indice.