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John of Austria (February 24, 1547 - October 1, 1578), also known as Don John of Austria, Don Juan de Austria and Juan de Austria, was an illegitimate son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (Charles I of Spain). "Don" is a Spanish honorific and is not a name or an abbreviation of one. Don Juan was a military leader; his most famous victory was in the naval Battle of Lepanto in 1571.

Born in Regensburg, Germany, the progeny of a liaison between Charles and Barbara Blomberg, a burgher's daughter, Don Juan was raised anonymously in Spain as Gerónimo, nicknamed Jeromín. In obedience to Charles' testament, Philip II of Spain recognised Don Juan as a half-brother, and gave him an income and the title of Infante. Philip intended that Don Juan should enter the Church, but was unable to stem the latter's enthusiasm for a military career. Don Juan's first engagement in 1568 was against Barbary pirates; its success resulted in his appointment as the leader of the Spanish forces ranged against the Morisco rebellions in Granada.

In 1571, at the height of Don Juan's prestige, Philip set him at the head of the navy of the Holy League which was pitted against the Ottoman Empire. Don Juan, by dint of leadership ability and charisma, was able to unite this disparate coalition and inflict a historic defeat upon the Turks in the Battle of Lepanto.

This victory fired Don Juan's ambitions, but Philip was loath to allow his bastard half-brother too prominent a stature in European politics and appointed him Governor of the Spanish Netherlands in 1576, hoping that the office would at once appease his ambitions and limit their scope.

Don Juan resisted the appointment and only accepted it on the understanding that he would be allowed to marry Mary Queen of Scots, then held captive in England, by invading and staging a liberation of England. Then he and Mary would assume the throne of England.

In the beginning of 1578 he won an important victory in the Battle of Gembloux and captured the city of Namur.

But his entanglement in Dutch politics and a deteriorating relationship with Philip frustrated his plans. To make matters worst, he suffered a defeat in the battle of Rijmenam on August 2, 1578. He died of typhus the same year in Bouge, near Namur (in present-day Belgium).

External links

• Don John at Find-A-Grave