league, and though Don John captured Tunis in 1573, it was again speedily lost. The schemes of Don John found no support in Philip II., who refused to entertain them, and even withheld from his half-brother the title of infante of Spain. At last, however, he was appointed (1576) governor-general of the Netherlands, in succession to Luis de Requesens. The administration of the latter had not been successful, the revolt headed by the prince of Orange had spread, and at the time of Don John’s nomination the Pacification of Ghent appeared to have united the whole of the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands in determined opposition to Spanish rule and the policy of Philip II. The magic of Don John’s name, and the great qualities of which he had given proof, were to recover what had been lost. He was, however, now brought into contact with an adversary of a very different calibre from himself. This was William of Orange, whose influence was now supreme throughout the Netherlands. The Pacification of Ghent, which was really a treaty between Holland and Zeeland and the other provinces for the defence of their common interests against Spanish oppression, had been followed by an agreement between the southern provinces, known as the Union of Brussels, which, though maintaining the Catholic religion and the king’s authority, aimed at the expulsion of the Spanish soldiery and officials from the Netherlands. Confronted by the refusal of the states general to accept him as governor unless he assented to the conditions of the Pacification of Ghent, swore to maintain the rights and privileges of the provinces, and to employ only Netherlanders in his service, Don John, after some months of fruitless negotiations, saw himself compelled to give way. At Huey on the 12th of February 1577 he signed a treaty, known as the “Perpetual Edict,” in which he complied with these terms. On the 1st of May he made his entry into Brussels, but he found himself governor-general only in name, and the prince of Orange master of the situation. In July he suddenly betook himself 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 the leadership of his cousin Alexander Farnese. At the head of a powerful force Don John now suddenly attacked the patriot army at Gemblours, where, chiefly by the skill and daring of Farnese, a complete victory was gained on the 31st of January 1578. He could not, however, follow up his success for lack of funds, and was compelled to remain inactive all the summer, chafing with impatience at the cold indifference with which his appeals for the sinews of war were treated by Philip. His health gave way, he was attacked with fever, and on the 1st of October 1578, at the early age of 33, Don John died, heartbroken at the failure of all his soaring ambitions, and at the repeated proofs that he had received of the king his brother’s jealousy and neglect.
See Sir W. Stirling Maxwell, Don John of Austria 1547–1575 (1883) and the bibliography under Philip II. of Spain.
JOHN, DON (1629–1679), of Austria, the younger, recognized
as the natural son of Philip IV., king of Spain, his mother,
Maria Calderon, or Calderona, being an actress. Scandal
accused her of a prodigality of favours which must have rendered
the paternity of Don John very dubious. He was, however,
recognized by the king, received a princely education at Ocaña,
and was amply endowed with commanderies in the military
orders, and other forms of income. Don John was sent in 1647
to Naples—then in the throes of the popular rising first led by
Masaniello—with a squadron and a military force, to support
the viceroy. The restoration of royal authority was due rather
to the exhaustion of the insurgents and the follies of their French
leader, the duke of Guise, than to the forces of Don John. He
was next sent as viceroy to Sicily, whence he was recalled in 1651
to complete the pacification of Catalonia, which had been in
revolt since 1640. The excesses of the French, whom the Catalans
had called in, had produced a reaction, and Don John had not
much more to do than to preside over the final siege of Barcelona
and the convention which terminated the revolt in October 1652.
On both occasions he had played the peacemaker, and this
sympathetic part, combined with his own pleasant manners
and handsome person with bright eyes and abundant raven-black
hair—a complete contrast to the fair complexions of the
Habsburgs—made him a popular favourite. In 1656 he was
sent to command in Flanders, in combination with the prince of
Condé, then in revolt against his own sovereign. At the storming
of the French camp at Valenciennes in 1656, Don John displayed
brilliant personal courage at the head of a cavalry charge.
When, however, he took a part in the leadership of the army at
the Dunes in the battle fought against Turenne and the British
forces sent over by Cromwell in 1658, he was completely beaten,
in spite of the efforts of Condé, whose advice he neglected, and
of the hard fighting of English Royalist exiles. During 1661 and
1662 he commanded against the Portuguese in Estremadura.
The Spanish troops were ill-appointed, irregularly paid and untrustworthy,
but they were superior in numbers and some
successes were gained. If Don John had not suffered from the
indolence which Clarendon, who knew him, considered his chief
defect, the Portuguese would have been hard pressed. The
greater part of the south of Portugal was overrun, but in 1663
the Portuguese were reinforced by a body of English troops,
and were put under the command of the Huguenot Schomberg.
By him Don John was completely beaten at Estremos. Even
now he might not have lost the confidence of his father, if
Queen Mariana, mother of the sickly infante Carlos, the only
surviving legitimate son of the king, had not regarded the bastard
with distrust and dislike. Don John was removed from command
and sent to his commandery at Consuegra. After the death of
Philip IV. in 1665 Don John became the recognized leader of
the opposition to the government of Philip’s widow, the queen
regent. She and her favourite, the German Jesuit Nithard,
seized and put to death one of his most trusted servants, Don
José Malladas. Don John, in return, put himself at the head of
a rising of Aragon and Catalonia, which led to the expulsion of
Nithard on the 25th of February 1669. Don John was, however,
forced to content himself with the viceroyalty of Aragon. In
1677, the queen mother having aroused universal opposition by
her shameless favour for Fernando de Valenzuela, Don John
was able to drive her from court, and establish himself as prime
minister. Great hopes were entertained of his administration,
but it proved disappointing and short. Don John died on the
17th of September 1679.
The career of Don John can be followed in J. C. Dunlop’s Memoirs of Spain 1621–1700 (Edin. 1834).
JOHN OF BEVERLEY, ST (d. 721), English bishop, is said
to have been born of noble parents at Harpham, in the east riding
of Yorkshire. He received his education at Canterbury under
Archbishop Theodore, the statement that he was educated at
Oxford being of course untrue. He was for a time a member of
the Whitby community, under St Hilda, and in 687 he was consecrated
bishop of Hexham and in 705 was promoted to the bishopric
of York. He resigned the latter see in 718, and retired to a
monastery which he had founded at Beverley, where he died on
the 7th of May 721. He was canonized in 1037, and his feast
is celebrated annually in the Roman Church on the 7th of May.
Many miracles of healing are ascribed to John, whose pupils were
numerous and devoted to him. He was celebrated for his
scholarship as well as for his virtues.
The following works are ascribed to John by J. Bale: Pro Luca exponendo (an exposition of Luke); Homiliae in Evangelia; Epistolae ad Herebaldum, Audenam, et Bertinum; and Epistolae ad Hyldam abbatissam. See life by Folcard, based on Bede, in Acta SS. Bolland.; and J. Raine’s Fasti eboracenses (1863).
JOHN OF THE CROSS, ST (1542–1591), Spanish mystic, was born at Ontiveros (Old Castile) on the 24th of June 1542. He became a professed Carmelite in 1564, and was ordained priest at Salamanca in 1567. He met with much opposition in his efforts to introduce the reforms proposed by St Theresa, and was more than once imprisoned. His real name was Juan de Yepez y Álvarez; in religion he was known as Juan de San Matias till 1568, when he adopted the name of Juan de la Cruz.
