Oh, That Don Juan

 

October 7 was the anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto, which took place on October 7, 1571. The fleet of the Holy League, under the command Don Juan of Austria, the illegitimate son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, defeated a larger, more powerful Turkish fleet. The Christians credited the praying of the Rosary for the victory - hence October 7 is now celebrated as the Feast of Our lady of the Rosary. Meanwhile, Don Juan was lauded as a hero.

G. K. Chesterton wrote his most famous, and one of this best. poems about the victory, "Lepanto." In the poem he referred to Don Juan - in the poem, "Don John" repeatedly, calling him "the last knight of Europe." 

"Don John of Austria is going to the war."

Okay, Don Juan was the hero of the battle, and the poem. But what happened to him after the battle.

It's unclear all that he was up to at first, he captured Tunis in 1573, for example, but it was retaken by the Ottoman Empire a year later. In 1576, he was named governor-general of the Spanish Netherlands, part of which were in rebellion against Spanish rule, in part because they had become Protestant and did not want to be controlled by a Catholic ruler. In 1577, Don Juan led the forced that captured Namur, and in 1878 won the Battle of Gembloux, but on July 31, 1578, he was defeated at the battle of Rijmenam. He retreated, and before he could pursue further action, got sick and died October 1, 1578. He was just 31.

In addition to his fighting, Don Juan also engaged in some activities that make him less than a Catholic hero. Prior to the battle he had fathers an illegitimate daughter by one woman, another daughter born in 1573, whose mother was just 17, and a son in 1574 by yet another woman. At the time of his death, he was in a "relationship" with still another woman. Chesterton did not dwell on this part of "Don John's" life.