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{{Short description|Spanish general and political figure (1629–1679)}}
{{Other people|John of Austria}}
{{Expand Spanish|topic=bio|Juan José de Austria|date=October 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Juanjosedeaustria.jpg
| office = [[Prime Minister of Spain|Chief Minister of Spain]]
| term_start = 1677
| term_end = 17 September 1679
| monarch = [[Charles II of Spain|Charles II]]
| office1 = {{nowrap|[[Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands]]}}
| term_start1 = 1656
| term_end1 = 1659
| predecessor1 = [[Leopold Wilhelm of Austria]]
| successor1 = [[Luis de Benavides Carrillo, Marquis of Caracena]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|1629|4|7|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Madrid]], [[Habsburg Spain]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1679|9|17|1629|4|7|df=y}}
| death_place = Madrid, Habsburg Spain
| parents = [[Philip IV of Spain]]<br>[[María Calderón]]
}}

'''John Joseph of Austria''' or '''John of Austria (the Younger)''' ({{langx|es|Don Juan José de Austria}}; 7 April 1629 – 17 September 1679) was a Spanish [[general]] and [[Politician|political figure]]. He was the only illegitimate son of [[Philip IV of Spain]] to be acknowledged by the King and trained for military command and political administration.

[[Don (honorific)|Don]] John advanced the causes of the Spanish Crown militarily and diplomatically during the century's crisis, recovering control of [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]], [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]] and [[Principality of Catalonia|Catalonia]] from local revolts, although failing to advance from only initial victories against France and England in his stint as governor of the [[Spanish Netherlands]] from 1656 to 1659. He then failed to quell the revolt of [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portugal]], which separated from Spain forever.

After his military career, he returned to the court, where his opposition his father's widow, Queen [[Mariana of Austria]], led to a 1677 palace coup through which he exiled Mariana and took control of the monarchy over his young half-brother [[Charles II of Spain]]. Don John worked to secure Charles II's international position against the ambitions of [[Louis XIV|Louis XIV of France]], although his labour was left unfinished with his death in 1679.

==Early life==
[[File:Coat of Arms of John Joseph of Austria (1629-1679).svg|thumb|Coat of arms of John of Austria the Younger]]
His mother was [[María Calderón|María "La Calderona" Calderón]], a popular actress, who was forced into a convent shortly after his birth.<ref>Madame D'Aulnoy (1930). ''Travels Into Spain.'' Oxford: OxfordCurzon, reprint of 1691.</ref> He was raised in [[León, Spain|León]] by a woman of modest circumstances who likely did not know his parentage, though he received "a careful education" at [[Ocaña, Spain|Ocaña]] ([[Kingdom of Toledo (Crown of Castile)|Kingdom of Toledo]]).<ref>Rodriguez, Ignacio Ruiz. 2007. ''Don Juan Jose de Austria en la monarquia hispanica: Entre La Politica, El Poder Y La Intriga.'' Madrid: Dykinson.</ref><ref>An example of how [[Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares]] managed to keep the King's illegitimate children secret is recounted in the chapter titled "A Sprig of the House of Austria," in Hume's collection of essays [https://books.google.com/books?id=9NQCAAAAYAAJ ''The Year After the Armada''] (1896).</ref> In 1642, the King recognized him officially as his son, creating him a prince (Serenity) and John began his life's career as a military representative of his father's interests.

==Military career==
Don John was sent in 1647 to [[Naples]], then in the throes of the [[Neapolitan Revolt of 1647|popular rising]] first led by [[Masaniello]], with a naval squadron and a military force, to support the viceroy.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1 |wstitle=John, Don (of Austria, The Younger)|display=John, Don|volume=15 |page=447}}</ref> He ordered his land and sea forces to blockade the rebel held city while [[Rodrigo Ponce de León, 4th Duke of Arcos]] inserted agents. Don John waited until the exhaustion of the insurgents and the follies of their French leader, [[Henry II, Duke of Guise]] allowed him to move in and crush the remains of the revolt and drive out the, by then, despised French.
[[Image:Juanjosedeaustriaribera.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''The young Don John as general of the Spanish army'' by [[Jusepe de Ribera]]]]
He was next sent as viceroy to [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]], whence he was recalled in 1651 to complete the pacification of the [[Principality of Catalonia]], which had been in [[Reapers' War|revolt since 1640]]. On the way to Catalonia to assume his position, he [[Capture of the galleon Lion Couronné|captured the French galleon ''Lion Couronné'']], with a squadron of galleys he had under his command. The high-handedness of the French, whom the Catalans had called in to help their revolt, had produced a reaction, and many switched their loyalties back to the Spanish King. By the time Don John assumed command, most of Catalonia had been recovered and he had not much more to do than to preside over the final [[Siege of Barcelona (1651)|siege of Barcelona]] and the convention which terminated the revolt in October 1652.<ref name="EB1911"/>

On both occasions, he played the peacemaker, and this sympathetic part, combined with his own pleasant manners, engaging personality, and a handsome person with bright eyes made him a popular royal favourite. In 1656, he was sent to command in [[Flanders]], then in revolt against his own sovereign. At the storming of the French camp at [[Battle of Valenciennes (1656)|Battle of Valenciennes]] in 1656, Don Juan Jose displayed great personal courage at the head of a brilliantly executed cavalry charge that caught the French totally by surprise. When, however, he took a part in the leadership of the army at the [[Battle of the Dunes (1658)|Battle of the Dunes]], fought against the French under [[Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne|Turenne]] and the British forces sent by [[Oliver Cromwell]], he was decisively defeated and failed to raise the [[Siege of Dunkirk (1658)|Siege of Dunkirk]], in spite of the efforts of [[Louis, Grand Condé]], whose invaluable advice he neglected, and the stubborn fight put up by his own troops.<ref name="EB1911"/>
[[File:David Teniers III (Attr.) - Triumphal entry of Don John of Austria the Younger.jpg|thumb|''Triumphal entry of Don John into the Southern Netherlands'', attributed to [[David Teniers III]]]]
During 1661 and 1662, he fought [[Portuguese Restoration War|against the Portuguese]] in [[Extremadura]]. The Spanish troops were ill-supplied and irregularly paid and in a rugged, hostile country. Morale was poor and they were untrustworthy but they were superior in numbers and some successes were gained. If Don John had not suffered from the indolence which [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon]] considered his chief defect, the Portuguese might have been hard-pressed. John's forces overran the greater part of southern Portugal, but in 1663, with the Portuguese forces [[English expedition to Portugal (1662–1668)|reinforced by a body of English troops]], and put under the command of the Huguenot [[Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg]], Don John was completely beaten at [[Battle of Estremoz|Ameixial]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

Even so, he might not have lost the confidence of his father, if [[Marie-Anne of Austria|Queen Mariana]], mother of the sickly [[Prince of Asturias]] [[Charles II of Spain|Charles]], the only surviving legitimate son of the King, had not regarded him with distrust and dislike. Don John was removed from command and sent to his estate at [[Consuegra]].

==Opposition to Queen Mariana of Spain==
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 regent. She and her favourite, the German Jesuit [[Juan Everardo Nithard]], seized and put to death one of his most trusted servants, Don Jose Malladas.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Don John, in return, put himself at the head of a rising of [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]] and [[Principality of Catalonia|Catalonia]], which led to the expulsion of Nithard on 25 February 1669. Don John was, however, forced to content himself with the viceroyalty of Aragon. In 1677, the queen mother aroused universal opposition by her favour for [[Fernando de Valenzuela, 1st Marquis of Villasierra|Fernando de Valenzuela]]. Don John was able to drive her from court and establish himself as prime minister. Great hopes were entertained for his administration, but it proved disappointing and short; Don John died, perhaps by poison,<ref>[[Martin Sharp|Hume, Martin Andrew Sharp]]. 1896. ''The year after the Armada: and other historical studies.'' New York: Macmillan, p. 292.</ref> on 17 September 1679.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Popish Plot==
His name featured prominently in the [[Popish Plot]] fabricated by the notorious [[informer]] [[Titus Oates]] in England in 1678. Oates unwisely claimed to have met Don John in Madrid; when questioned closely by [[Charles II of England]], who had met Don John in [[Brussels]] in 1656, it became clear that Oates had no idea what he looked like, confirming the King's suspicion that the Plot was an invention.

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''John of Austria the Younger'''
|2= 2. [[Philip IV of Spain]]
|3= 3. [[María Calderón]]
|4= 4. [[Philip III of Spain]] 
|5= 5. [[Margaret of Austria (1584-1611)|Margaret of Austria]] 
|8= 8. [[Philip II of Spain]] 
|9= 9. [[Anna of Austria (1549-1580)]] 
|10= 10. [[Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria]] 
|11= 11. [[Maria Anna of Bavaria (1551-1608)]] 
}}

==References==
*[[John Colin Dunlop|Dunlop, John C.]] 1834. ''Memoirs of Spain during the Reigns of Philip IV. and Charles II. from 1621 to 1700,'' vol. II. Thomas Clark: Edinburgh.
*Stolicka, Ondrej. Different German Perspectives on Spanish Politics in the 1670s: The Reaction of Vienna and Berlin on the Coup of Juan José de Austria in the Year 1677, JEHM 23(4), 2019, pp.&nbsp;367–385.

==Notes==
<references/>

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:John Joseph, Of Austria}}
[[Category:1629 births]]
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[[Category:17th-century House of Habsburg]]
[[Category:17th-century regents]]
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[[Category:Governors of the Habsburg Netherlands]]
[[Category:Illegitimate children of Portuguese monarchs]]
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