born Feb. 24, 1547, Regensburg
died Oct. 1, 1578, Bouges, near Namur, Spanish Netherlands
Illegitimate son of Emperor Charles V and half brother of Philip II .
After Charles's death, Philip gave him the name Don Juan de Austria (1559). He served as a Spanish military commander, and in 1571 he was appointed head of naval forces of the Holy League against the Ottoman Turks, achieving victory in the Battle of Lepanto . In 1576 he was appointed governor-general of the Netherlands, then in open revolt against Spanish authority. When his attempts at diplomacy failed, he resumed the war.