guillermo(2ºE)

toc This website have been created by: Guillermo Perez De Arenaza Pozo from The Iberian Peninsula group

=__//Biography: Juan de Austria//__=

Spanish military (Regensburg, Germany, 1545 - Namur, The Netherlands, 1578). illegitimate son of Charles the V, who served at the orders of King Philip II of Spain.

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He was baptized in the Low Countries as Jerome, however when he was three years old he was put after the protection of an old friend of Emperor Charles the V. Then, he was took to Castile where he learned Spanish and its costumes. He did not know who his father was until he was 11 years old, when he was sent to meet him in his retirement in Yuste Monastery (Extremadura) in 1556. Following the wishes of his father, it was King Philip II of Spain who recognized him as a member of the royal family, and from this moment on, he was called Juan of Austria. Consequently he was granted honors and an income of an infant (1559). He finished his education at the University of Alcalá de Henares, but he refused to pursue an ecclesiastical career as his father had planed. The reason for not obeying his father was that he preferred a military career. He married María of Mendoza, with whom he had a girl called María Ana of Austria (1568 – 1629), afterwards, he married Diana Falangola with whom he had another girl called Juana of Austria (1573-1630)
 * Childhood, youth and family.**

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 * Mediterranean fleet command.**

When his military vocation was decided, King Philip II of Spain put him in command of a fleet to fight the Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean (1568), he was only 23 years old. The next year he was sent to Granada where he commanded the suppression of the revolt of the Moriscos (1569). That success allowed him to keep on with his military career; he obtained with 26 years old the supreme command of the fleet of the Holy League which was formed by Spain, Venice and the Papacy against the Turks (1570). Instead of following the advice of his counselors, he decided to fight directly to the Turks. In the battle of Lepanto (1571), the Turk’s fleet was destroyed. The huge success of Lepanto, which ended the Turkish power in the Mediterranean, fostered the ambitions of Juan of Austria. Consequently, King Philip II prudently had to reject their plans of making a great territorial expansion in the Mediterranean. Juan of Austria’s ambition led to the demands to be officially recognized as an infant with treatment of Highness, which were rejected by the king.

General Governor of the Low Countries
Perhaps to end his ambitions, King Philip II sent him as governor to the Netherlands (1576), a very uncontrollable place since the Duke of Alba and Luis of Requeséns had both already failed, unable to stop the Protestant rebellion. Don Juan soon realized that this project was impossible to do; he failed in his attempt to control the revolt of the Netherlands. Little was achieved when he promised to withdraw the Thirds of Flanders and to respect the Flemish liberties if the rebels recognized the Catholic faith and Spanish sovereignty (Perpetual Edict, 1577). Meanwhile Antonio Pérez put him against the King Phillip II and so, the resources Juan needed (soldiers and money) came too slowly. He died of typhus contracted during a military campaign when he was 33 years old.

**Death**
He tragically died at a young age (only 33 years old) from camp fever (typhus) and the governorship of the Netherlands passed to his good friend and cousin, Alexander Farnese.



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