Son of: Emperor Karl V & Barbara Blomberg.
" . . . Don Juan of the House of Austria (was) born in Regensburg, Bavaria in either 1545 or 47, but raised in Flanders and Spain, found out about his nobility only when he was 12 years old. Charles V, the last great 'Holy Roman' Emperor, had enjoyed the attentions of the beautiful Barbara Blomberg, a burgher's daughter who would dress up as a soldier as she was smuggled past his guards to tend to his gout and other illnesses. Her beauty was famous even when she was in middle age in Flemish Ghent where Charles had settled her; and the handsome features of the boy called 'Jeromin' (='my hero') his blond hair, blue eyes, and distinctive Hapsburg lover lip, sported the best from both his parents. Yet, after some years as an infant in the imperial court, his father enigmatically had his servants turn Jeromin over to his favorite musician, who took him to Spain without knowing who the boy really was. Some years later, Charles' Chamberlain, Don Luis Quixada, traveled through the northern Spanish town where the boy was located, found that the musician had died, and the boy then known as 'Jose' was destitute, roaming the streets among the waifs of the village, a 'jaques' street punk scrounging for his meals, like the young Roland from the myths. Identifying Don Juan by his Hapsburg features, Quixada took the boy home to his barren wife, Doña Magdalena, and they raised him as their foster-son." (The Dark Side of Shakespeare: 98)
" . . . In 1575-76, Dom Juan was Prince of the Realm (de facto heir apparent) with a huge personal income from properties left him in Naples, and Sicily, with theoretical precedence over the Viceroys; and he was Captain-General of the Sea, with command of the Spanish fleet at Messina (97), and over many prospects throughout the Mediterranean. He was every young man's hero and every young woman's dream! Later, from April 1576 until his death in 1578, Don Juan was appointed as Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (most of Belgium, Luxembourg, and what was left of Holland), controlling over 20,000 troops (98-99, 106-290; this was an age when Charles V's Imperial Army invading France numbered not much more than 25,000 troops). . . ." (The Dark Side of Shakespeare: 115)
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| Don John of Austria @Wikipedia |
"The grace of Don John's person and the charm of his countenance and manner were highly praised by his friends and not denied by his foes. Those coveted gifts, so important to a ruler, were noted in him when he rode in his boyhood to swear allegiance to Don Carlos in the Cathedral of Toledo; and Belgian patriots were still warning their countrymen not to be taken in by them as he lay dying on the heights of Bouges. The Venetian envoy Lippomano described him, as we have already seen, in 1575, as of 'middle stature, well made, of a most beautiful countenance, and of admirable grace, as wearing little beard, large pale moustaches, and his hair long and turned upwards, which becomes him greatly, and as dressing so sumptuously and delicately that it is a marvel to see."^ De Tassis, one of his State Council, records that "nature had endowed him with a cast of countenance so gay and pleasing that there was hardly any one whose good-will and love he did not immediately win'". (Don John of Austria: 342)
" . . . At this time of his life, Don John was six-and-twenty, in the full bloom of youth and manly strength. Lippomano, a Neapolitan, describes him as 'a person of a most beautiful presence and of wonderful grace; with but little beard and large mustachios. His complexion is fair, and he weareth his hair long and turned back over his shoulders, the which is a great ornament unto him. He dresses sumptuously, and with such care and neatness, that it is as sight to see.' 'Moreover,' adds Lippomano, 'he is active and well-made, and succeedeth beyond measure in all manly exercises. No one rode, no one wielded the sword better than the young hero, who, moreover, had all the popular qualities fitted to ingratiate him with women and soldiers---he was gracious, affable, and open-handed. . . ." (The Living Age, Volume 16: 337)
"Don Juan impressed all contemporaries. Energetic and handsome, with a touch of beard. long moustaches and long flowing blond hair, always elegantly dressed, he quite simply glittered. 'He is agile, incomparable in riding, jousting and tourneys. . . He is learned, judicious, eloquent, gifted . . . splendid' . . . Though busy in love, he never neglected affairs of state. His correspondence was enhanced by his elegant handwriting, almost feminine in its perfection. . . Dashing in love, spirited in war, Don Juan was adventurous to the point of irresponsibility." (The Dark Side of Shakespeare: 119)
" . . . In Belgium Don Juan interacted with Marguerite de Valois and likely had even more mistresses! And the ones mentioned here were just the most notable ones. He may have fathered as many as a doxen bastard children (Colonna, 462-3)." (The Dark Side of Shakespeare: 143)
Character or persona.
" . . . Of the lady of ladies who enjoyed his affections and influenced his movements little is known. His amours were conducted with discretion and decorum, and do not appear to have provoked the jealousy or the enmity of fathers and husbands amongst the Neapolitan nobility, although one of the reasons assigned for the coolness between him and the Viceroy Granvelle was that the Cardinal was envious of the successes of the young soldier 'the fields of Venus and Mars. . . ." (Maxwell, 1883: 20)
Don Juan de Austria's natural offspring.
"Don John of Austria left behind him two natural daughters---Juana, by Diana di Falanga, a lady of condition at Sorrento; and Anna, by Maria de Mendoza, a lady of noble family in Spain. Juana was brought up by her aunt Margaret, Duchess of Parma, and some time after her father's death was sent for education to the nunnery of Sta. Clara at Naples. She remained in that convent for about twenty years, until she became the wife of a Sicilian nobleman, Prince Butera, of the House of Carafa. Anna was left in the kindly care of her father's foster-mother, the good Dona Magdalena de Ulloa, with whom she remained for seven years. She was then placed in a convent of Augustinian sisters at Madrigal, whence she was afterwards removed by the King's order to the great Benedictine nunnery of Las Huelgas near Burgos. Of that royal convent she became perpetual Abbess, and there she passed the remainder of her life. Neither of these children was mentioned by Don John on his deathbed, and it was not until after his death that the existence of Anna was known to the Prince of Parma." (Don John of Austria: 340)[Bio2:Heritage History] [Bio2:Heritage History-2] [Gen1:euweb]
"Don John of Austria left behind him two natural daughters...Anna, by Maria de Mendoza, a lady of noble family in Spain... Anna was left in the kindly care of her father's foster-mother, the good Dona Magdalena de Ulloa, with whom she remained for seven years. She was then placed in a convent of Augustinian sisters at Madrigal, whence she was afterwards removed by the King's order to the great Benedictine nunnery of Las Huelgas near Burgos. Of that royal convent she became perpetual Abbess, and there she passed the remainder of her life. Neither of these children was mentioned by Don John on his deathbed, and it was not until after his death that the existence of Anna was known to the Prince of Parma." (Maxwell: 340)
His lovers were:
1) Ana de Toledo.
Don Juan had other mistresses and flirtations, such as Doña Ana de Toledo, the wife of the Mayor of Naples (Hernando, 172), by whom one source had it that he had a daughter named Margarita. . . ." (The Dark Side of Shakespeare: 143)
2) Diana Falangola (1556-?)
Lover in 1572.
Italian aristocrat.
Italian aristocrat.
Daughter of Scipione Falangola, Senor de Fagnano.
Natural offspring:
Juana de Austria.
"...The name of one only of his female favourites has been preserved---that of Diana di Falanga, a girl of Sorrento, by whom he had a natural daughter." (Maxwell, 1883, p. 20)
"Another was Diana Falanga (or 'Falangola' in modern histories), supposedly a noblewoman of Sorrento, mother of his daughter Juana de Austria (1573-1630; not be confused with his half-sister, the regent Juana de Austria who celebrated his being found before she became Queen of Portugal). The younger Juana was raised in the care of Don Juan's other half-sister, Margarita, Duchess of Parma, and in 1603 married Francesco Branciforte, Prince of Pietrapersia (d.1622) in Sicily, and was mother to Don Juan's only known grandchild, Margherita Branciforte (1604-59) wife of Federigo Colonna (1601-41) with no offspring beyond an infant son Antonio (1620-23). Inexplicably, I've also seen Juana's husband listed as the Prince of Butera, Count of Mazarino." (The Dark Side of Shakespeare: 143)
" . . . [A] daughter was also born to Don Juan named Juana of Austria to Diana Falangola. The official date of birth of that daughter was September 1573, however the actual birth date was likely a number of months earlier. . . ." (How to Read Shakespeare Like a Royal: 263)
"It is interesting that a rival to Don Juan in love of both Diana Falanga and Ana de Toledo was the Viceroy of Naples, Cardinal Granvella (Hernando, 170, 172). Likely, Diana Falanga was not a noblewoman at all and her real name was not 'Falanga' (or 'Falangola'). Hernando 170-71 reported Don Juan first saw her at a running of the bull in Naples, and competed with many noblemen for her affections, with the Cardinal and he eventually sharing her as they transferred her father to a post more than a day's travel to the west of Naples as Governor of Pozzuoli...." (Hess: 143)
4) Maria de Mendoza (1545-1570)
Lover in 1567
Lady-in-waiting to Juana de Austria, Princess of Portugal
Daughter of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, Principe de Melito & 1st Duque de Francavilla.
Natural offspring:
Ana de Austria.
"Don Juan's 'first' love was Maria de Mendoza (d.1610) in Madrid, mother of his daughter Anna of Austria (1567-1625) who became Abbess of Burgos and was associated with scandals in Philip II's court when Maria entered a convent in 1577 and wrote a letter naming 'Jeromin" (Don Juan in childhood) as her daughter's father, and another in 1594 when conspirators lured Anna into eloping with a pretender to the throne of Portugal." (The Dark Side of Shakespeare: 142)
"Don Juan's 'first' love was Maria de Burgos and was associated with scandals in Philip II'. [Hess: 142)
"In some letters written by Don John from Flanders to his friend Rodrigo de Mendoza there are frequent messages and allusions to " my lady," which appear to refer to a mistress at Madrid. It is possible this lady may have been Maria de Mendoza, the mother of his daughter Anna." (Don John of Austria: 341)
5) Maria Rosa de Ribera
6) Zenobia Sarotosio (1540-?)
Lover in 1648.
Daughter of: Giuseppe de Ribera, the painter Spanogletto.
"...In 1648 his beautiful daughter, Maria Rosa, became the mistress of Don Juan of Austria,and accompanied that prince to Palermo...." (Hawkes: 880)
"...In 1648 his beautiful daughter, Maria Rosa, became the mistress of Don Juan of Austria,and accompanied that prince to Palermo...." (Hawkes: 880)
"The picture of 'Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception,' which Ribera painted for the nuns of St. Isabel, at Madrid, who hung it above their high altar, was said to be the portrait of the artist's eldest daughter, Maria Rosa, who was remarkable for her beauty and grace. It is said that when Don John of Austria visited Naples in 1648, Ribera entertained him in a sumptuous and ostentatious manner; and that the prince, dancing with the painter's daughter at balls, and visiting her under pretence (sic) of admiring her father's pictures, became enamoured of her beauty, and succeeded in inducing her to elope with him to Sicily. Being subsequently deserted by her seducer, she retired to the seclusion of a convent at Palermo. When the sisterhood of St. Isabel heard the story, they employed Claudio Coello to repaint the head of the Virgin, that it might no longer resemble the erring Maria Rosa Ribera." (The Works of Eminent Masters..., Vol. 1: 191)
[Fam1]
Daughter of Vincenzo Sarotosia & Violante Garofano.
"Zenobia, was a highly significant figure of earlier Roman history, and the spectacular Empress Zenobia to be more exact. Zenobia Sarotosia (who was born around the time of Mary Queen of Scots) had an unnamed son (f.1574), i.e., around the time Southampton was born), who was rumored to have been suppressed by Philip II (even as it was rumored that Philip II later suppressed Don Juan). Philip II was the 'next of kin' to be Don Juan and therefore responsible for carrying out unpleasant orders that pertained to the status of Don Juan." (How to Read Shakespeare Like a Royal: 248)
"It is to this period of his life that must be assigned his intrigues with the unhappy Zenobia Sarotosio, who ended by crying over her sin in the convent of St. Mary of Egypt, and with Doña Ana de Toledo, the proud and domineering woman, who, perhaps, would have been the ruin of D. John, had he not by an effort of his strong will, sharpened by a sense of duty, torn himself in time from her evil influence. Luckily these flowery chains did not bind D. John's manly soul; he broke at every step all that impeded his indomitable temper, or what was insisted on by the disquieting voice of remorse." (Story of Don Juan of Austria)
"Don Jan's only son was an infant who was born and died within a few days in 1574 to Zenobia Sarotosia, apparently of Sicilian (or Sardinian?) origin who after her son's death was so 'devastated that she behaved like a Spanish lady and entered into a convent' of Santa Maria Egipciaca...." (Hess, 2002, p. 143)
References.
Story of Don Juan of Austria
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