JOHN, DON of Austria, was the natural son of the emperor Charles V. by Barbara Blomberg, the daughter of an opulent citizen of Regensburg. He was born in Regensburg on Feb. 24, 1545, and at first confided under the name of Ge ronimo to foster parents of humble birth, at a village near Madrid; but in 1554 transferred to the charge of Madalena da Ulloa, the wife of Don Luis de Quijada, and brought up in ignorance of his parentage at Quijada's castle of Villagarcia, near 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. Although first intended for a monk, Don John preferred a military career. In 1568 he commanded a fleet of galleys against Algerian corsairs; in 1569-70 he con ducted operations against the rebel Moriscos in Granada ; and in 1571 commanded the fleet which won the great victory of Lepanto against the Turkish fleet (Oct. 7, 1571).
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. Philip II. refused to support Don John's schemes, and even withheld from him the title of infante of Spain. At last, however,
he was appointed (1576) governor-general of the Netherlands, in succession to Luis de Requesens, in the hope that his prestige and activities would prove sufficient to put down the wide-spread revolt against Spanish rule headed by William of Orange. Con fronted by the refusal of the states general to accept him as gov ernor unless he assented to the conditions of the Pacification of Ghent, swore to maintain the rights and privileges of the prov inces, and to employ only Netherlanders in his service, Don John, after some months of fruitless negotiations, was obliged to give way and sign the "Perpetual Edict" complying with these terms (Huey, Feb. 12, 1577). On May 1 he entered Brussels, but he found himself governor-general only in name, and the prince of Orange master of the situation. In July he suddenly betook him self 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 states general accepted as their sovereign. Meanwhile Philip had sent large reinforcements to Don John under his cousin Alexander Farnese. Don John now attacked and defeated the patriot army at Gemblours (Jan. 31, 1578). Lack of funds prevented him, however, from following up his victory. After a summer of forced inactivity, he was attacked by fever and died on Oct.
I, 1578.
See Sir W. Stirling Maxwell, Don John of Austria (1883) and the bibliography under PHILIP II. OF SPAIN.