Don John of Austria, the illegitimate son of the Emperor Charles V. (for an account of whose life we purpose to lay under contribution several curious documents lately published at Madrid) was born in 1545. His parentage on the mother's side is not quite so certain. BrantÔme, Moreri, and others, after mentioning the Countess Barbe de Blomberghe as Don John's putative mother, assert that, although Charles's mistress, she certainly was not mother to Don John, whose parentage, they hint, should be laid at the door of some far nobler dame. But Ranke, and the best informed modern historians, affirm that Barbe de Blomberghe was really Don John's mother. This lady belonged to a noble family of Flanders, and was a celebrated beauty of her day. After his love for her was extinct, Charles V. gave Barbe de Blomberghe, with a large dowry, in marriage, to a certain Seigneur Rechem, who held considerable possessions in the province of Luxemburg, and lived constantly at Antwerp.

Don John's early life was passed in the farm-house of a rich peasant in the vicinity of Liege, where the young lad was subjected to all manner of privations, and early inured to hard labour and coarse fare,—a fitting preparation for his future career. BrantÔme mentions it as a fact much to Don John's credit, that, in spite of this humble education as a peasant, he showed no trace of vulgarity in after life, but, on the contrary, that he had excellent and noble manners in the field and in drawing-rooms. The emperor, Charles V., sent for the lad, when he grew up, to come to Spain, rewarded the honest peasant for his trouble, and announced to Don John the secret of his birth. Although the Emperor loved the boy as the son of his old age, he gave him nothing during his lifetime, of which the ardent young prince much complained, saying that "the Emperor, having acknowledged him as his son, should have given him the means of living befitting his rank and birth." At his death, Charles left Don John nothing but a strong recommendation to his successor Philip II. The only wish which escaped the dying monarch was, that Don John should be educated for the church.

Meanwhile, Don John, who was but one year younger than Don Carlos, was brought up with Philip's ill-starred son: and at this period of his life a circumstance occurred which greatly influenced Don John's future destiny. The boy revealed to Philip II. some hare-brained folly of his son Don Carlos. This conduct gave the Spanish monarch so high an opinion of his young brother's integrity and honour, that he determined not to follow out Charles V.'s intentions, but to educate Don John for the military, instead of the ecclesiastical profession. This was not done, however, without strong opposition from some of Philip's royal council. The conduct of Don John, however pleasing to Philip II., drew upon the young prince the bitter animosity of Don Carlos who, ever after, treated his companion with marked indignity: his hatred one day went to the length of twitting Don John with his illegitimacy. Don Carlos called him a bastard, hijo de puta. "Yes," said Don John, "I am a bastard; but my father is a better man than yours:" whereupon the two lads came to blows.

Passing over much of his early life, we come to the year 1569, when Don John was sent against the Moors of Grenada. In this expedition he developed considerable military talents, and gave such evidence of personal courage, that the old captains and veteran soldiers who remembered the early campaigns of his father, Charles V., called out with one accord, "Ah! this is a true son of the Emperor." Ea! es verdadero hijo, del Emperador. Don John returned from this campaign covered with glory, and with the reputation of being one of the best captains of the age.

Meanwhile, the infidels were making rapid progress in another part of the globe. The taking of Cyprus by the Turks alarmed all Europe to such a degree, that a league was formed between the Pope, the Venetians, and the Spanish monarch, in order to put a stop to any further inroads in this quarter; a fleet was manned, soldiers were levied, to stem the threatened invasion of Christendom. Don John, whose reputation was now exceedingly great, was selected for the command of the allied forces. It had previously been offered to the Duke of Anjou. 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 a sight to see." "Moreover," adds Lippomano, "he is active and well-made, and succeedeth beyond measure in all manly exercises."[31] 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. Even at this early age, Don John lamented that he had not already won by his own right handsome independent kingdom of his own. To the attainment of this object he looked confidently to the league or to the Venetians; and the great victory of Lepanto, which he gained at the head of the allied fleets,—to which period in the life of our hero we have now arrived,—seemed to justify his expectations; in this, however, he was doomed to be disappointed.

The battle of Lepanto was fought on the 7th October, 1571. On the side of the allies were about two hundred large galleys, six smaller ones, and twenty-two other vessels; of these, eighty-one galleys and thirty frigates belonged to Spain, the rest to his holiness the Pope, and to the Venetians. The armament on board consisted of about twenty-one thousand fighting men, of whom eleven or twelve thousand were Spaniards, the rest Italians and Germans. Don John, like a good general, had carefully seen that the galleys were well-provided with ammunition: each galley, in addition to its regular crew and armament, had one hundred and fifty extra soldiers on board. The Turkish fleet consisted of two hundred and twenty-five large galleys, and seventy other smaller vessels, on board of which were, in all, about twenty-five thousand fighting men. The Turks came sailing down the wind, full upon the allied fleet, with a confidence acquired by the frequency of their victories over the Spanish vessels, which they had been in the habit of seizing and carrying as prizes into Argel and other ports. The Turks, moreover, had the advantage of the sun in their backs, and consequently it poured its hot rays full in the face of the Christian host. Don John of Austria was at first in some trouble, as Don Alvaro de Bazan, the Marquis de Santa Cruz, commanding the Neapolitan squadron, was by some means detained behind, as well as Don Juan de Cardona, who had gone with eight galleys to reconnoitre a distant port. Don John, however, despatched a few quick-sailing frigates in search of them, the moment the Turkish fleet hove in sight. Meanwhile, Don John and the crew of his vessel, as well as the crews and soldiers of all those galleys which were near him, raised crucifixes and standards, knelt down on the decks of their vessels, and made humble supplication to the Almighty to give them the victory. Don John, with a soldier's heart, had a strong dash of the priest in his composition. Absolution was likewise given, during this interval of peace, to all who might so soon render up their souls to God, by Fray Juan Machuca, Alonso Serrano, Juan de Huarca, and other Franciscan and Capuchin friars and Jesuits who accompanied the expedition. Luckily, at this moment the wind lulled, and the Turkish squadron was forced to come slowly on with their oars. This happy incident gave Don John plenty of time to arrange his order of battle.

It was mid-day on the 7th October 1571 before the two armadas came together, and Don John fired a gun as a signal to his fleet to commence the attack. By this time, most fortunately, the Marquis de Santa Cruz, with the Neapolitan galleys, had arrived. Don John ordered all the brigantines and other light and fast-sailing vessels to retire from the scene of action, so that no one might think of escaping, but should fight to the last. When the armadas approached each other, Don John ordered the trumpets to sound the charge, and exhorted his people to prepare for action. On nearing the Turkish fleet, Don John was able to recognise the galley of the Turkish admiral, Basa Hali, (Ali Pasha) by its ensign and sacred standard. Don John ordered his own vessel to bear down upon the Turk, who reserved his fire until the Spanish vessel was within half a boat's length, when he fired three shots; the first carried away some of the bulwarks of the vessel, killing several of the galley-slaves at their oars; the second passed over the caboose or kitchen on board Don John's vessel, which was occupied by soldiers armed with arquebuses; while the third shot went over the heads of several soldiers who were intrenched in one of the boats on deck. Don John, who had likewise reserved his fire, now poured in a volley, which did infinite mischief to the Turk; and the two galleys ran into one another with a mighty crash, and got hopelessly entangled. The battle now became general, and raged furiously on both sides. No less than eleven other vessels were engaged in the immediate vicinity of Don John and Ali Pasha, and all the several crews fought hand to hand. The Turkish admiral was supported by seven other Turkish galleys, while Don John was assisted by five large vessels of his own side, of which one was the Roman galley, La Grifona, commanded by Marco Antonio Colonna, and the others were Venetian or Spanish. For one whole hour the fighting continued without either party apparently getting the best of it. Twice did the Spaniards carry the decks of the Turkish admiral's vessel, and twice were they driven back with tremendous slaughter. Once they had almost reached the Turkish flag-staff. The caboose of Don John's vessel, filled with picked men under Don Pedro Zapata, did infinite service; one man alone fired forty rounds of cartridge. At the end of an hour and a half's hard fighting, victory inclined to the side of the Spaniards. The Pasha and above five hundred of his men were killed, his sons made prisoners, his standard pulled down, and the Cross planted in its stead. About the same time the other galleys near Don John's vessel likewise forced their way through the Turkish squadron. Don John now ordered victory to be loudly proclaimed, and had time to look about him, so as to bring assistance where it was most needed.

On his return from his reconnoitering cruise, Don Juan de Cardona, admiral of the Sicilian forces, had fallen in with some fifteen Turkish galleys, which he kept employed until Don John of Austria bore down triumphantly to his assistance, and captured the infidels. Of five hundred Spaniards who were with Don Juan de Cardona, not fifty escaped without a wound of some sort. It was in this same battle of Lepanto that Miguel Cervantes lost his arm, and most of our readers will recollect how the brave soldier tells the story of his own life in the fortieth chapter of Don Quixote de la Mancha. The Marquis de Santa Cruz fought most bravely, and twice narrowly escaped death—two shots from an arquebuse glanced off from his armour of proof. In this battle the Turks lost 117 galleys and some other smaller vessels; 117 cannon, 17 mortars and 256 smaller guns, and 3,486 slaves; all which booty was divided among the Spaniards, the Venetians, and the Pope. The sacred standard of Mecca, of which Luis Marmol has written a glowing description, was sent, together with the news of this great victory, to Philip II., and reached the Escurial in November 1571. This standard was about as large as a sheet; the white ground was covered with writing in the Arabic character, and most of the letters were gilt. It was burnt in the great fire which destroyed the monastery of the Escurial in 1671, just one hundred years after it had graced those walls.

When the news of this great victory reached Philip II., he was attending vespers at the church of the Escurial. A loud "Te Deum laudamus" was immediately sung with the whole strength of the choir, and the following day a solemn procession took place "in gratiarum actione," at which the austere monarch assisted. We cannot do better than quote a short letter, written to Philip's trusty and confidential secretary, Antonio Perez, by one Francisco Murillo, who was engaged in the battle of Lepanto; the letter is dated the 9th October 1571, two days after the victory.

"Illustrious Sir,—Te Deum laudamus, te Deum confitemur! God and his illustrious Mother have been pleased to give us the victory over the Turkish fleet, and His omnipotence hath been most clearly made known, inasmuch as this proud and great armada hath been broken and conquered. We fought valiantly some two or three hours; many of our galleys were engaged with two, three, or four of the enemy's vessels. The number of the Turkish vessels, as far as I could learn, amounted to about 270, rather more than less; in the which they had stowed as many men at arms as they could collect in all Greece, both cavalry and infantry, the best they could find; and they were directed to come in search of us—for such were the orders from Constantinople. Some of the vessels of the armada, and some foot-soldiers, having been despatched on the approach of Don John of Austria, to consult with the Turk as to what was to be done, the Seignior ordered the Turkish fleet to seek until it found us. Nor had they much trouble therein: for the very same morning on which they left the port with this intent, namely, on Sunday the 7th October, the day of St Mark, Pope and Confessor, the two fleets came in sight of each other, near some islands called Le Corcholare, (?) whither they were coming with the same intent as ourselves, namely, to anchor. When we made this mutual discovery, nothing was to be done save to prepare for action. The Turks were amazed at the smallness of our number, and thought that we should fly; but they were speedily undeceived, and very much to their cost; for, in the short space of time I have mentioned, not a vessel of theirs but was taken, sunk, or burnt, or had fled. Many escaped by running their smaller vessels ashore, and Uchali,[32] with a part of his galliots, escaped. The Admiral Pasha died fighting, but his two young sons were taken. Many other notorious corsairs were likewise taken or killed. I cannot exactly say the number of vessels taken or destroyed; but I think for certain they are above two hundred; and the best is that, of our squadron, no captain-general or person of any importance is missing or even wounded; of the others I only know of Captain Francisco de Cordoba, the nephew of the Marquis of Santa Cruz, who was killed by an arquebuse-shot; of other folk but few are killed or wounded. It is the work of God and not of man. You will be pleased to hear that not one of our vessels but has another in tow, which it has taken, and that we all did well. The galley in which I was did the least of all; we fought the Turk who was opposed to us, attacked the infidels' vessel by the poop, throwing into it shot, stones, and fire until it surrendered; and we captured two flags which hung at the stern. Some soldiers got good booty in clothes. After this we secured some others, and drove so many ashore that it is a shame to tell; and in all our vessel we had not so much as six wounded, and not one killed. Many of our galley-slaves who were released fought like lions, and restored to liberty an infinite number of Christian captives who were in the Turkish fleet; among these were more than 2,000 Spaniards, and many women and children whom the Turks had seized in Cephalonia and other parts. Had not the season been so far advanced, we might have gone safely as far as Constantinople; at any rate we might have taken all Greece and the Morea; but it is already winter, and, moreover, we have not sufficient provisions aboard.

"Don Bernardino de Cardenas died of a spent ball from an arquebuse, which struck him on the breast; although the ball did not enter the flesh, Don Bernardino fell and never rose again. The Count de Bianco, and a few other gentle folks, likewise fell fighting valiantly. Captain Juan Rubio is safe and sound, after performing marvels with his crew; for he fought with three large galleys at once, and made them all yield; but neither he nor I have got a single maravedi. It would have been no bad thing to have stumbled across a good purse full of ducats. But you, sir, will remember your servants; we have no hope from any one after you but in God, who we pray may keep you and your house in that health and in that increase of wealth which we, your servants, do desire. From Le Corchorale, this 9th October 1571. Illustrious sir, I kiss your hands. I entreat you to send a servant with this, on the first opportunity, to my brother the canon. I take this liberty as the affair is of importance."[33]

Two years after the battle of Lepanto, Don John of Austria gained fresh laurels at Tunis and Biserta: and these victories seem to have confirmed him in his ambitious projects of obtaining an independent kingdom. Juan Soto, a man of much experience in military matters, who, at the time of the expedition to Grenada, had been placed about his person as secretary by Ruy Gomez de Silva, Prince of Eboli, and who had served with Don John all through the Moorish and Italian campaign, appears to have much encouraged Don John in these ambitious aspirations. By allusions to the former pomp and splendour of ancient Carthage, Juan Soto inspired Don John with the idea of erecting Tunis into an independent kingdom; the Pope even was induced to recommend this scheme to Philip II.'s favourable consideration. But the monarch had no wish to lose so able a general as Don John, to whom he looked for the extension of the Spanish monarchy; still less could he think of establishing a rival and independent kingdom at Tunis. A despatch was therefore forwarded to Don John, in which all the reasons for the dismantling of Tunis were urgently put. But Don John disobeyed orders, and fortified the town, in the vain hope of erecting Tunis into the capital of his future kingdom. Shortly afterwards, the town fell again into the hands of the Turks. Juan Soto was shrewdly suspected at head-quarters of advising this act of disobedience to royal orders. It was therefore deemed expedient to remove the scheming and dangerous secretary; but some prudence was necessary lest Don John might see through the suspicions of the Spanish court. Juan Soto was accordingly rewarded by promotion, and made Proveedor-general of the armada. Juan Escovedo, a creature of Philip II., who, as we shall subsequently see, became far more dangerous than his predecessor in office, was placed about Don John as his secretary. Soto, however, was too useful to Don John to be so easily parted with, and we still find him acting, in conjunction with Escovedo, in the capacity of secretary, as late as 1577. Philip II. soon discovered to his cost that the change of secretaries brought no change of policy; nay, Escovedo proved a more willing tool, and inspired Don John with far loftier schemes of ambition than Soto, his predecessor in office, had ever conceived.

In the year 1576 Philip II. thought fit to take Don John of Austria from the scenes of his triumph in the Mediterranean, and to remove him from his dreams of independent kingdoms at Tunis into the midst of European intrigues. Don John was sent to take command of the forces in the Low Countries, where the ferocious and iron rule of the Duke of Alva, and of his successor, Don Luis de Requesens, the commendador mayor of Castile, had plunged the Flemings deeper into rebellion, and had obliterated the little loyalty to the crown of Spain which still lingered in the Low Countries. Don John was selected for this post from his likeness to his father, the late Emperor Charles V., whose memory the Flemings still cherished, and from his connexion with the country, his supposed mother belonging to one of the best families in Flanders. For these reasons, this appointment was held likely to be popular, and to lead to good results. Don John was ordered to proceed without delay to his new government; and his secretary, Escovedo, came to Madrid to procure money and other matters necessary for his master's new office.

While Escovedo was in Madrid, apparently engaged in these details, Antonio Perez, Philip's confidential secretary, accidentally discovered from the Pope's nuncio, who asked him if there was about the court such a person as one Escovedo,[34] that Don John's ambitious views were by no means extinguished. As his brother's policy would not permit him to found a new empire at Tunis, the Pope, the Guises, and Don John had planned an expedition for the conquest of England. Mary, queen of Scots, was to be released from prison; Elizabeth dethroned; England brought back to the bosom of the Catholic church under the guidance of Mary, queen of Scots, and her new husband, Don John of Austria—for this marriage formed part of the project. Here was a scheme to captivate an ambitious, chivalrous young prince! The nuncio in answer told Perez that, in a despatch which he had received from Rome, he was instructed to interest Philip II. in this expedition, and to request the Spanish monarch to aid Don John in this meditated attempt upon England. This was not quite new to Perez; some vague surmises had already been excited against the doings of Escovedo and Don John, by hints thrown out by Don Juan de Zuniga, the Spanish minister in Rome, whose suspicions had been excited by the frequent communications between Escovedo, the Pope, and the Guises. Antonio Perez, now that he held the threads of the plot in his hand, instantly informed Philip of the whole project. At this inauspicious moment Don John himself, against Philip's peremptory orders to proceed direct to the Netherlands, reached Barcelona, with two fast-sailing galleys, and hurried on to Madrid, where he found his brother Philip fully apprised of his scheme. But such was Don John's manly air, such the influence which his straight-forward conduct exercised over the suspicious nature of Philip II., that the Spanish monarch yielded a reluctant assent to his brother's plans of aggrandisement, and promised to allow him to make use of the Spanish veterans in aid of his expedition against England, after he had pacified the Low Countries. Perez says that Philip consented to this scheme with the view of encouraging Don John of Austria to use greater diligence in Flanders. Full, therefore, of his new government and of his own ambitious projects, Don John left Spain; and on the 17th October 1576, we find the following letter from him to his friend and adviser Don Garcia de Toledo, Marquis of Villa Franca, whose reputation as a general was founded upon the capture from the Moors of the impregnable fortress of El PeÑon de Velez.

"....Concerning my own journey I desire to say as much as the time will allow me, leaving to others to tell you more at length how I shall go. I journey to Flanders in disguise through France, and, next to God, the disguise will save me. I go, not a little contented to be able to do you some service;—(Don John had busied himself much in procuring for Don Garcia the promise of a grandeeship of the first class);—"desiring to encounter perils, and by no means fatiguing myself with these new labours which I have undertaken. Money is short, and my present necessities great. In the end God hath to take up this his cause in every way, and to aid me individually with a miracle. You must let me know where I shall receive your letters, and I will advise you, God willing, of my safe arrival: and I beseech you to tell me alway of your health, and to advertise me, as is your habit, of your opinion as to my doings; and to make use of me in all ways as a sincere friend, and as such I congratulate you on the marriage of Don Pedro, and on the state in which the SeÑora DoÑa Elvira is; and may it all turn out as you may best desire. From the Pardo, the 17th Oct., 1576. At your service, Don Juan."[35]

We gather the particulars of his journey through France from BrantÔme, who says that "Don John without any great suite, and in order to go with greater certainty, rode post with six companions only; having with him SeÑor Don Otavio Gonzagua as his confidant, and a French postilion, whom he found in Spain, as his guide; the latter was, moreover, an excellent companion, and knew every road, lane, and bye-path in France. This man led Don John across France in most dangerous and unquiet times: in Guyenne they were on the eve of a war, which indeed broke out some three months after. Don John arrived in Paris, and got off his horse at the hotel of the Spanish Ambassador in the street of St Anthoine."[36] That same night he seems to have gone to a great ball at the Louvre, where he was much struck with the beauty of the Queen of Navarre, before whom he stood like one entranced. The following day, Don John, still full of Marguerite of Navarre, saw the palace and the other sights of Paris, and started again on his journey,—no one having an idea, till he was gone, that he had been in Paris at all. He travelled again in disguise, and on horseback, to the Duchy of Luxemburg, and thence to Flanders, where he found that Antwerp had just been taken and sacked. Shortly after his arrival peace was concluded; one of the first conditions of which was the departure of all Spanish troops by land. We shall see that they were forced to go to Italy instead of by sea to England, and were said to be so charged with booty that they could scarce walk. We find Don John writing in the following terms to Don Garcia de Toledo, on the 21st February, 1577, after peace had been concluded.

"Most illustrious sir,—Not to tire you with a long letter, I will refer you to my secretary, Juan de Soto, who will inform you of the state in which things are here, and by the grace of God they are better than could be expected, as every thing was, when I came, as bad as possible. To God be rendered thanks, in that he hath given me patience to suffer what it appeared impossible for any human creature to bear, before this blind people could be brought out of their passion, which kept their minds so hardened against their own peace and quiet. But since his Divine Majesty has permitted things to come to this pass, I trust that with time the whole machine will come round to its proper place. The moment any thing of consequence occurs I will let you know; and I entreat of you to inform me of the state of your health, of which I have heard nothing since I reached Luxemburg, which is now more than three months and a half. I know not how to account for this, as I do not hear that the passes are closed.... Some of the conditions of this peace are hard, most hard; but necessary to save religion and to ensure obedience. Time will do something, and already much has been done by the grace of God. At your service, Don Juan."[37]

But now, when Don John fully expected to reap the benefit of peace, and to employ his Spanish veterans in the conquest of England, he saw all his hopes frustrated. The states of Flanders steadily refused to allow the Spanish troops to be embarked on board ally vessels in their harbours, lest they should be used against Zealand and Holland, but demanded, in a peremptory tone, that the troops should be instantly despatched by land, according to the treaty. Moreover, Philip resisted the pressing appeal of the Pope's nuncio to interfere in this matter. Thus was England saved from the horrors of an invasion,—curious that for once in their lives Elizabeth of England and Philip of Spain should have had similar interests at heart![38]

Don John's ambitious spirit still drove him to seek some means of acquiring an independent kingdom, either in the East, in England, France, or Spain. Much to Philip's disquiet, Don John now held constant communication with the Guises; emissaries went to, and came frequently from, Rome, without Don John ever acquainting his suspicious brother with his intrigues. Escovedo was exceedingly busy, and Perez was employed by Philip II. to worm out the secret, which he did by the most dishonourable artifices. He entered into a secret correspondence with Escovedo, and, after blaming Don John's secretary for writing to the Pope without Philip's knowledge, Perez assured Escovedo that their correspondence should be kept profoundly secret from the king. All this time the wily secretary of state showed all the letters and despatches to Philip, who frequently amended the drafts of the minutes with his own hand. Nay, to obviate suspicion, Perez occasionally put in some abuse of the monarch.[39] Don John, in moments of disappointment, wrote to Perez—For the sake of his life, of his honour, of his soul, he must quit Flanders—he would leave his post when people least expected it—although this crime might be punished with blood.[40] He talked of entering France "at the head of a band of adventurers, consisting of 6000 infantry and 2000 horse."[41] Moreover, Don John was frequently heard to say, "Escovedo and money—money and Escovedo." The latter became exceedingly bold, and said that, after conquering England, it would be easy to gain Spain: that with the ports of Santander and the PeÑa de Mogron, a footing might be gained in Castile. But what brought matters to a crisis was the demand made by Escovedo, who was now in Spain, to be instantly appointed governor of the PeÑa de Mogron. Philip, seeing in this demand confirmation strong of his worst suspicions, thought Escovedo too dangerous a person to be allowed to live, and Perez was ordered to despatch this intriguing emissary. Poison was administered in vain; at last Escovedo was stabbed in the streets of Madrid by one Insausti, on the 31st March 1577. But for the whole of this most curious chapter in the history of Antonio Perez, whose airs of authority had made him detested,—for a full comprehension of Don John's ambitious views,—of the part which Escovedo played in this drama,—of his murder by the command of Philip, and the manner in which the guilty accessary, Antonio Perez, was made the scape-goat of the whole transaction, and offered up as a sacrifice to the long-cherished hatred of Escovedo's family, and of his rival Mateo Vasquez—of the insurrection in Arragon, and other matters connected with this transaction,—we must refer our readers to Mons. Mignet's interesting work on Philip II. and Antonio Perez, where they will find the whole story handled with admirable precision by a master of his art.[42]

The murder of Escovedo must have opened Don John's eyes, and shown him that Philip would never allow him to acquire a separate and independent kingdom. Don John's ambitious spirit seems now to have preyed upon itself, and his constitution to have suffered from this internal struggle: he had frequent fits of melancholy, accompanied by attacks of low fever; and occasionally expressed an earnest desire to leave a career for which he daily felt an increasing dislike, and to be allowed to retire into some monastery. This feeling was much aggravated by the failure of the negotiation in the Netherlands, and by the prospect of a long and lingering war, in which none of those bold dashes and brilliant adventures, which formed so great an attraction to one of Don John's chivalrous and enthusiastic nature, were to be expected. At length, after several small successes, after a victory at Namur, Don John was seized with the putrid fever, of which he died on the 1st October 1578, in the 33d year of his age, and with him perished all his ambitious designs. On opening the body, Don John's heart was found much diseased, and his skin was as if it had been burnt; many attributed his death to poison. His last dying request was to be buried in the Escurial, near the bones of his father, the Emperor Charles V. We cannot better close this slight sketch of one so early snatched from a career of glory, than by quoting an interesting and detailed account of his last hours, written by his confessor, an eye-witness of his death.

"To his most Christian Majesty.

"Your Majesty will have heard, by letters from the Prince of Parma and from Prince Octavio Farnese, the trouble which it hath pleased God to bring upon us by the death of SeÑor Don John of Austria: and to accomplish that which he hath so many times commanded me to do, during his life, as well as somewhat to relieve the grief which I know will seize upon your Majesty's royal heart, I will relate the prayer which Don John desired me to make to your Majesty in his name, and with all humility, for the repose of his soul, the which I believe, and do dare to affirm, is now in the enjoyment of that crown of glory which all who sacrifice their life for the law and the gospels in the service of their king, are wont to receive as their reward. And no one went through greater or indeed equal labours and troubles than did this most Christian and obedient gentleman.

"All the time, most powerful Sir, that his highness Don John was in the castle of Namur,—or, at any rate, most of the time,—he passed in making his peace with God, and in ordering his worldly affairs. He manifested unto me many times his strong wishes therein, entreating me to beseech God, by the merits and zeal of the invincible Emperor, his father and master, to employ his person in the defence of the Catholic faith, and to allow him to die before he should do, or suffer any thing to be done, which should offend God even in the smallest matter. He even said more: that he never could think of your Majesty, his father and master, without ardently desiring to assist in the defence and spread of the holy Catholic faith, and in enforcing obedience to your Majesty, who, he hath told me an infinite number of times, was his master, his father, his brother, and his whole wealth on this earth.

"Two days before the victory of Gemblours, Don John sent for me and told me that, although he did not then intend to engage the enemy, still, considering the many chances of war, he desired to make a general confession from the time when he could first remember to have had the use of his reason. This was the more easy for his highness, from the frequency with which he hath attended the holy offices of the church since he hath been in these parts: as rarely a month passed that he hath not communicated and confessed twice,—nay sometimes thrice. Thus on that night, after having made a clean breast, and disposing of his affairs as if he were truly about to render an account unto God at that moment,—as in fact he did in the spirit—his highness, with an appearance of deep feeling and great humility said, as he walked up and down the room, 'Reverend Father—in order that you may, once for all, know my last will and testament, and my wish in other matters besides those of which I have lately discoursed while I was at your feet, and that you may never put to me any other questions, for I have nothing further to say—I beg you will observe these three matters:—1st, My soul I commend unto God, and to my father.—2d, As to what regardeth my body, I well know how little it availeth where it lie until the day of judgment: but I wish you, in my name, to entreat his Majesty the king, my master,—looking to what the Emperor my father requested of his Majesty, as well as to the way in which I have served him,—to grant me this favour—that my bones may rest somewhere near those of my father. In this guise my services will be amply satisfied and recompensed.—3d, As to these old rags which I have here, I know not how to dispose of them; but as I am the Emperor's son, and the Emperor recommended me as such to his Majesty, and as I die in his Majesty's house, and in his service, let him, like a true father and master, dispose of my possessions—not only as if they belonged to his son, but to his servant and slave; and I would do the same were the whole world mine.'

"Don John entreated me most fervently to beg your Majesty, in consideration of this his expressed wish, to pardon him if at any time in Italy or elsewhere he hath used your Majesty's moneys more than was fitting. He said very many other things to the same effect, the which, although I remember me of them, I will not write, in order not to wring your royal heart any further; and thus in that same night he repented him of his sins with as much fervency as if the last hour of his life had actually come, desiring to have some opportunity to receive the most holy sacrament on the following morning: this, however, was not possible until two days after that most famous and miraculous victory. The Saturday before the day of Pentecost, while we were before Philippeville,—acting upon the leave which his highness had formerly given me, I did entreat him almost with reproaches not to place a life, so useful to the church and to his brethren, in such frequent and imminent danger, nor to take upon himself labours to which his bodily strength was unequal, whatever his wishes and courage were. His highness replied; 'Reverend father, this life and much besides I owe to God, and to the king my master, to whom, as I have oftentimes said and now repeat, I leave my bones and all I possess, should I die here in his territories.'

"On the first of August—for I pass over many details in order not to weary your Majesty; the night before his highness (who is in heaven) bestirred himself against the enemy before Malines, he made a general confession of his sins, placing himself in the hands of God, preparatory to receiving the most holy sacrament on the following day; confessing again afterwards, and saying that that was a good testament when a man commended his soul to God, his body to the company which he loved best, namely that of his father and master, and his property in the hands of him who knew better than he how to take the burden of it. And, in truth, his highness only used it in your Majesty's service.

"Finally, the second day on which he sickened, he said that although the physicians declared his malady not to be dangerous, he did, nevertheless, feel himself exceeding ill and worn. But what gave him infinite pleasure was to see that he was so poor that nothing on earth could prevent him from speedily being with God, more especially having his Lord and father in heaven, and on earth your Majesty as his lord and brother. And he was most confident that, if his affairs were left in your Majesty's hands, they would have that end and success which was proper. This same day he did ask me many questions touching the virtue of martyrdom, desiring to have some share of its merits, giving signs of his having many times entreated God for martyrdom.

"The following day, the 25th September, he confessed like one chosen of God, telling me that he knew his days to be numbered, and that his only regret was the little he had done for the service of God and of your Majesty; but that he trusted in God and in the Virgin Mary, that they would take this death as for their glory, for that of the Catholic Church, and of your Majesty, and for God's service; and that he wished to make the world understand that, as during life he had not been devoted to the church, as had originally been his father's wish, in death he wished to be so, in as much as depended upon him. He besought his brother and master to remember him of his servants, to whom he owed much for being good and faithful to God, to himself, and to your Majesty: and very many of them were poor, having served him by land and by sea; many of them, moreover, had been taken away from their homes, and he had not a maravedi wherewith to pay them their salaries, which had been owing to them for some time. Your Majesty was also to remember his highness's mother, whom he regarded and loved as a mother, and a young brother, whom he knew to be such. He likewise mentioned other persons, whose names in due time I will make known unto your Majesty. His highness concluded by saying, 'since on earth I do not possess an acre I might call my own, is it not just, Reverend father, that I should desire some space in heaven?' His highness then desired that Otavio de Gonzagua should have the command, on account of the good will which he saw in him to your Majesty's affairs, as well as to his highness. His highness ended by saying that, if he were not deserving of having his bones placed beside those of his lord and father, he desired to be buried at the church of our Lady of Monserrat, whom all his life through he held in particular affection.

"On the morning of Friday, the 26th September, on my going to see him, Don John complained to me that the physicians had used force to compel him to drink a potion: this annoyed him much, as he thought it would interfere with his receiving the holy sacrament. On my telling Don John it was of no importance, he requested me to inquire of the physicians if he ran any risk should he put off communicating for another day, or if he left it even until the following Sunday, when he thought to gain the jubilee. The physicians told him that his illness was not so dangerous but what he might put off receiving the holy sacrament till then, or even later; and therefore, on Sunday, the 28th, he reconciled, himself with God, with such fervour, that it much pained me to see the pain in which he was, knowing that it would add to his malady. And while I was performing mass in his room, he requested to be allowed to touch the face of his God with an air of incredible devotion, saying 'Bring unto me, most Reverend father, the visage of my God;' and while he thus uttered words of such Christian import, he received the most holy sacrament. And on being asked if it were his pleasure to receive extreme unction, he requested it with much earnestness as a very precious gift and much to be desired.

"The mass over, Don John named the Prince of Parma as his successor, until your Majesty should be pleased to appoint some one else. Two hours afterwards delirium came on, and nothing that he said was clear save when he talked of God. The names of Jesus and of our Lady were mentioned; and when he was told to take or to do this in their name, he did it with much obedience and willingness.

"Don John passed Monday and Tuesday in great trouble and pain, and he wandered in his mind, which ran upon ordering intrenchments to be thrown up, or cavalry and ammunition to be sent here and there, saying alway, in answer to every question, that thus it concerned the service of your Majesty.

"This same Tuesday night, I inquired of him whether he wished to have the sacrament of extreme unction administered, and he answered as if he were suffering no pain whatever,—'Yea, father! Jesus! quick, Reverend father!' and he received it with an appearance of praying, although we could not distinguish what he said, as he did not speak clearly.

"Early in the morning of Wednesday, the 1st October, which was the day of his death, and about one hour and a half before his decease, I asked him if he wished to hear mass, and he made a sign with his head in the affirmative. When the corpus was raised, they who were standing at his bed-side advised him of it; and although his eyes were shut, and we thought that his senses were wandering, his highness immediately clasped his hands together, and hastily tore off from his head some plasters and a cap, the better to adore with his heart that God and Saviour whom he could not see with his eyes. The rest of the time, until his decease, which took place at about one o'clock in the day, we passed in helping him to call upon the name of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary; and all who were present were filled with grief,—although, on the other hand, they were rejoiced to see such manifest tokens of the glory to which he was fast attaining: and thus he departed from our hands without a sigh, like a bird on its way to heaven.

"This, most powerful sir, was the end of the life of this son and servant of your Majesty, as he was wont to call himself. And, as far as I can see, for thirty and three years he hath performed the wishes of the two fathers whom he had in this life—that is to say, of his lord and father the Emperor, and of your Majesty, seeing that his highness hath informed me that his Majesty the Emperor wished him to be in holy orders, and your Majesty desired him to be a soldier. But his highness, like an obedient son, died as poor as a friar, and in an humble barrack like a soldier; for I promise your Majesty that the room wherein he died was a sort of garret over a stable, that in this he might imitate the poverty of Christ; and without doubt, most Christian Sir, for four or five months before his death, he was constantly occupied in works of charity, piety, and humility. His whole pleasure consisted in visiting the sick—of which there were many in the camp,—and in accompanying the holy sacrament, giving these wretched men charity with his own hand, receiving with the utmost compassion the poorest and most wretched soldiers, until he could procure carts in which to convey them to the hospital; constantly urging me to see that in the hospitals nothing was wanting, and particularly ordering me to see that the sacraments were duly administered to the sick, that none should die without this great comfort. He appointed a separate hospital for those who had contagious disorders, and charged me to see that none of those should die unaneled. And since his Holiness gave him authority to name some one as vicar-general, to have full power in all matters ecclesiastical—whereof I understand his highness hath informed your Majesty by means of the Archbishop of Toledo—he determined to root out of the army all blasphemies, oaths, and evil doings, and in particular the sin of heresy, promising me that he would not favour any one, even if he were especially attached to his person; and he punished those who sinned in this manner in the army with such vigour, that, at the end of three months, the men, especially the Spaniards, were more like monks in a convent than like soldiers in a camp. And this most excellent prince acted in such a manner that, now when the soldiers see him dead, they cannot but believe that he had a spirit of prophecy touching his death. Nay, they do say that it does not appear to them as if his death were after the manner of men, but that he flew like an angel of heaven up to his God.

"Otavio Gonzagua performs, and has performed on his part whatsoever was ordered by the SeÑor Don John, taking advice in all matters of the Prince of Parma, and waiting like all of us to receive the commands of your Majesty, whose royal person may our Lord guard and prosper for many years to come, as is most necessary for the Church.

"From Namur, this 3d October 1578."[43]

Don John died in the fortress commanding the town of Namur; and on the 3d October, his body, placed on a bier, covered with cloth of gold, was conveyed by several gentlemen to the cathedral. Don John was dressed in full armour, the order of the Golden Fleece was placed round his neck, and on his head was a plain cramoisy cap, over which was a crown of cloth of gold, covered with jewels; his fingers likewise were loaded with rings. In this guise the body was carried forth, escorted by all the clergy of the place, by several monks and their bishops. All the assembled crowd shed tears, and made loud lamentation as the cavalcade passed. The bier was placed on a raised platform in the church, and, after the service had been performed, the corpse, was lowered into a vault near the high altar, where it remained until it was carried into Spain in the following year.

Don John's corpse was then cut into three pieces, and placed in three small chests lined with blue velvet, the better to enable it to pass secretly through France. On the 18th March 1579, the cavalcade left Namur, and, passing by Meziers and Paris, arrived at Nantes, where the whole party embarked, and reached Santander on the 6th May. On the 22d the funeral procession arrived at the monastery of Parreces, five leagues from Segovia, where it was met by Busto de Villegas, Bishop of Avila, by Juan Gomez, the Alcalde of the Court, accompanied by some alguazils, by twelve of the royal chaplains, and other people belonging to the court. The three portions of Don John's body were now joined together and placed in a coffin, covered with black velvet; on the outside was sewn a cross of cramoisy velvet, upon which were emblazoned golden nails. The coffin was made to open at the side, in case any desire might be expressed to see the dead body within. The cavalcade swelled as it approached the monastery of the Escurial, where it arrived on the evening of Sunday the 24th May 1579, accompanied by above four hundred men on horseback.

We will now follow an account given by Fray Juan de San GerÒnimo, a monk of the Escurial, of what happened on the occasion. It seems the monks came out to meet the procession:—

"And because," says Fray Juan de San GerÒnimo, "the Reverend Prior was absent at the general chapter, holden this year of 1579 at San BartolemÉ el Real, the Vicar Fray Hernando de Torrecillas performed the offices in his stead, and went forth with the ministers in their full canonicals: all of the which halted at a table, over which was a dais of rich brocade, raised in the midst of the principal cloister, where the gentlemen bearing the pall placed the body. The choristers immediately began to chant the 'Subveniti Sancti Dei;' whereupon they all returned in procession to the church; and these same gentlemen who bore the corpse on their shoulders placed it on the platform which had been raised for it, when the Reverend father vicar read the funeral oration in the presence of the whole convent; the bishop and the pall-bearers being ranged round the raised platform. When this was finished, the Reverend fathers went to the choir to sing a vigil, and the bishop, with his company, adjourned for a while to take rest. The following day, which was the 25th, high mass was sung, the bishop assisting the choristers in the choir. When mass was over, the monks went into the chapel where the corpse was, and sang the responses, accompanied by the organ, while the monks of San Lorenzo answered them in recitative without music."[44]

After this a formal ceremony was gone through. Philip's secretary, Gastelia, read a royal order from his Majesty, directing the friars of the convent of San Lorenzo to receive the body of his dear brother, the most illustrious Don John of Austria. Fray Juan de San GerÒnimo thus concludes his account:—

"And after the reading of the said letter, the followers of Don John let down the corpse into the vault which had been prepared for it underneath the high altar, and placed it among the other corpses of the royal family. This was about eleven o'clock in the day. After this ceremony we all went to dinner."

At which excellent occupation we cannot do better than leave them.