On 7 October 1571, the combined Christian
fleet—with ships from Genoa, Savoy, and the Knights
of Malta, as well as Spain and Venice—met the Otto-
man Turkish fleet off Lepanto in the Gulf of Corinth in
Greece. Two hundred oared galleys faced 220 Turkish
galleys, and while the apparent difference in numbers
was small, the armor of the 28,000 soldiers on board
the Christian fleet and the guns carried by some of their
smaller vessels played an important part.
In an encounter that depended on close ship-to-
ship battles and men fighting at close range with mus-
kets and bows and arrows, the casualties were appalling.
Nevertheless, the tactics set down by Don John to main-
tain the closest possible formation of his galleons and
his measures to ensure his fleet could not be outflanked
by the more maneuverable Turkish galleys earned him
an overwhelming victory. The Turks lost all but 50 of
their ships as well as 35,000 men, while some 15,000
Christian galley slaves were released. The last major sea
battle fought between oar-powered galleys, Lepanto saw
Turkish domination of the eastern Mediterranean de-
stroyed forever.
Due to dissent among the allies, the victory was
not followed up as it should have been, but it roused
Don John’s military ambitions further. He knew that,
being illegitimate, he would never achieve a place among
the ruling families of Europe, and he began to entertain
ideas of winning a kingdom for himself. He planned to
take over the area of Greece south of Lepanto known as
the Morea, then occupied by the Ottomans, and from
there move north up the Adriatic and establish himself
in today’s Bosnia. This plan was nullified by the Vene-
tians, who withdrew from the Christian alliance and
made a treaty with the Ottoman sultan. Don John then
led an expedition in 1573 to take Tunis, a city on the
north African coast that he hoped to hold as ruler, but it
was soon recaptured. He sought assistance from his half
brother, Philip II of Spain, but the latter, while happy to
utilize John’s military leadership, refused to support his
attempts to win a kingdom for himself.
In 1576, Philip appointed John governor-general
of the Spanish Netherlands (also called the Provinces).
These territories, today’s Belgium and the Netherlands,
had long rebelled against Habsburg rule, and although
the religious divisions among them were great, they were
at one in their hatred of Spain. William of Orange (“Wil-
liam the Silent,” 1533–84) had become their recognized
leader, and when Don John took up his appointment,
he found the Provinces united in opposition. He negoti-
ated without success for months, trying to satisfy the
Provinces’ demands for a measure of self-rule, including
employment of Netherlanders in government service,
but was eventually forced to sign a treaty meeting many
of their demands on 12 February 1577. On 1 May that
same year, he made his official entry into Brussels but
soon found that he was governor-general only in name
and that William of Orange exercised real authority. In
July, Don John moved south to Namur, in the Catholic
section of the Provinces, where he hoped to gain more
support. The prompt response of William of Orange
was to enter Brussels himself and exercise his authority
openly there.
The situation came to a head with the arrival of
large numbers of troops from Spain, under the com-
mand of Alexander Farnese. With these reinforce-
ments, Don John attacked the Provinces’ army on 31
January 1578 at Gembloux, 20 miles south of Brussels.
The Provincial army under Antony de Goignies fought
bravely, but the skill of Alexander Farnese led to a deci-
sive victory for the Spanish forces. Shortage of money
and supplies meant that Don John was unable to follow
up his victory, and he spent the summer appealing in
vain to Philip II in Spain. His health gave way under
an attack of fever, and he died on 1 October 1578 at
the age of 33.
Like charles martel and John iii sobieski,
John of Austria is remembered today for a single bat-
tle—but a battle that was a decisive victory against an
enemy threatening the whole of Europe. Lepanto had
shown the mighty Ottoman empire could be defeated,
and Don John earned his place in military history.References: Yeo, Margaret, Don John of Austria (New
York: Sheed & Ward, Inc., 1934); Petrie, Sir Charles, Don
John of Austria (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1967);
“Don John of Austria,” in Command: From Alexander
the Great to Zhukov—The Greatest Commanders of World
History, edited by James Lucas (London: Bloomsbury
Publishing, 1988), 42–43; Bruce, George, “Lepanto,” in
Collins Dictionary of Wars (Glasgow, Scotland: Harper-
Collins Publishers, 1995), 140; Coloma, Luis, The Story
of Don John of Austria, Told by Padre Luis Colomba and
Translated by Lady Moreton (London: John Lane, 1912);
Slocombe, George, Don Juan of Austria, the Victor of Lep-
anto (1547–1578) (London: I. Nicholson and Watson,
Limited, 1935).John oF AuStRiA