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*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA *** Produced by Josep Cols Canals, readbueno and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)
THE STORY OF
 
DON JOHN
 
OF AUSTRIA

Photo Anderson.

Don John of Austria.

Flemish School in Prado Gallery, Madrid.

THE STORY OF
 
DON JOHN
 
OF AUSTRIA
TOLD BY PADRE LUIS COLOMA, S.J. OF THE REAL ACADEMIA ESPAÑOLA TRANSLATED BY LADY MORETON
LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY TORONTO: BELL & COCKBURN. MCMXII
WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LTD. PRINTERS, PLYMOUTH
PREFACE

In one of the addresses delivered at the time of Padre Coloma's admission to the Real Academia Española there is a reference to Jeromín, as this Story of Don John of Austria is called in Spanish, which says that it awakes great interest in the reader by inaugurating a new type of book, half novel and half history. This seems too true a description of it not to be quoted here.

In his preface the author states that he does not propose to delve into any deep problems, or to put forward unknown facts about personages already judged at the bar of history. All the same, I think that much in this book will be fresh to English readers, notably, perhaps, the fact that an "auto da fe" consisted in hearing the sentences pronounced on the prisoners of the Inquisition, not in witnessing their execution, and that in most cases the condemned were garrotted before being burnt.

Many of the illustrations will also be new to most people. Through the kindness of the Duke of Berwick and Alba the two pictures of the "Gran Duque" in his palace at Madrid are reproduced with their history. I am indebted to Colonel Coloma for the picture of Antonio Pérez and the one of Luis Quijada, photographed specially for this book. Señor de Osma was good enough to send me the autograph of Don John's mother, which proves her to have been a woman of at least some education. From him, too, comes a most interesting specimen of Don John's writing—the postscript to the dispatch announcing the battle of Lepanto.

Of the more familiar illustrations it can surely weary no one to be reminded of how Jeromín pictured his father to himself, or how Philip II, "Reyna Ysovel," Prince Carlos, and others appeared to the blue eyes of the hero of Lepanto.

I disclaim all responsibility for the views, historical or otherwise, expressed in this book, but if I have failed to reproduce a vivid picture of life in old Spain, it is solely the fault of my prentice hand.

As on the walls of some tapestried chamber the author displays the Story of Don John of Austria from his engaging childhood to his saintly death. The light as it shines on this Prince Charming, also falls on those great ones of his time who were his friends or foes, and on the multitude of their servants and followers, lingering most lovingly on beautiful Doña Magdalena de Ulloa, as it glints on the golden texture of her unselfish life. In the woof of the background the author has woven many homely touches, which seem to make the figures live again, and, shaking off the dust of more than three centuries, to leave the arras as in some Pavillon d'Armide.

Has the turning of the hangings broken the spell? As I cannot but remember that Cervantes, shrewdest of observers, has said that translating from one language to another is "like one looking on the wrong side of Flemish tapestry; although the figures are seen they are full of threads which blur them, and the smoothness and bloom of the surface are not seen; not for this" he, however, adds encouragingly, "do I wish to say that this exercise of translating is not praiseworthy, because a man may spend his time in other and worse ways." Ojalá! that any possible reader of this book may not have cause to doubt the truth of this last axiom.

My best thanks are due to Padre Coloma for his courtesy in allowing me to translate this work, to Colonel Coloma for the trouble he has taken for its welfare, to Señor de Osma for all his kindness, to Doctor de Alcázar y Polanco and Mr. Medd, and last, but not least, to my husband for all his help.

A. M. M.
CONTENTS     PAGE   BOOK I 3   BOOK II 105   BOOK III 233   BOOK IV 315
ILLUSTRATIONS

Don John of Austria

Frontispiece

Sir William Stirling Maxwell describes this picture as "perhaps the most satisfactory existing portrait on canvas as he appeared in his prime. It is not impossible that it may be the work of Stradamus." "He wears a small rapier, the Order of the Fleece and a steel cuirass, slightly enriched with gold, with sleeves of chain armour, a band of red velvet being on the right arm and a pair of trunk breeches of some dark parti-coloured stuff, over which is a casing of crimson perpendicular bars (resembling velvet). That this outer covering or cage is detached from the lining is made evident by his dagger hanging between the lining and the cage. His hose and shoes are of light crimson, approaching to pink ... a helmet with a blue plume."

Flemish School. In the Prado Gallery, Madrid.

Philip II as a Young Man

12

Born 1527. Died 1598.

Son of the Emperor Charles V and Isabel of Portugal.

Married 1. Maria of Portugal. 2. Mary Tudor, Queen of England. 3. Elizabeth of Valois (Isabel of the Peace). 4. Anne of Austria (his niece).

Portrait by Titian (1477-1576) is in the Prado Gallery, Madrid.

Luis Quijada, Lord of Villagarcia

37

Died 1570.

Specially photographed for this book from a picture in the possession of the Conde de Santa Coloma.

A replica of this picture exists in Seville in the Palace of the Marqués de la Motilla, of which Don Emilio M. de Torres y Gonzalez-Arnao kindly sent a specially taken photograph.

Emperor Charles V. Charles I of Spain, 1500-58.

45

Son of Philip the Handsome, of Burgundy, and Joan the Mad.

Began to reign 1516. Elected Holy Roman Emperor 1519.

Abdicated 1555. Married Isabel of Portugal.

This portrait by Titian represents the Emperor at the battle of Muhlberg (1546), where, an historian says, "he looked a warrior; he rode an Andalusian horse covered with a crimson silk cloth with a gold fringe. His armour was brilliant, the helmet and cuirass garnished with gold. He wore the red sash with golden stripes of the general of the house of Burgundy."

This armour still exists in the Royal Armoury at Madrid, and has been reconstructed according to the portrait with the most life-like results. The picture itself is in the Prado.

Doña Leonor de Mascareñas

81

As governess to Philip II and his son, D. Carlos, she exercised, by reason of her virtues and great discretion, much influence at the Court of the Emperor Charles V, who held her in great esteem. She was also the friend of St. Theresa, and founded the Convent of Our Lady of the Angels in Madrid, to which she retired.

This photograph is from the portrait by Sir Antonio More, belonging to the Marqués de la Vega-Inclán, which until recently remained in the Convent she had founded. The photograph is the first ever taken of the picture, and was kindly sent by Don Emilio M. de Torres y Gonzalez-Arnao.

Infanta Juana of Spain

87

Daughter of the Emperor Charles V and Isabel of Portugal. Married D. Juan, Prince of Portugal, and was mother of the luck-less King Sebastian. As a widow she returned to rule Spain during the years that Philip spent in England as husband of Queen Mary Tudor.

Don Juan Valera says, "Beautiful and passionate as we cannot doubt her to have been, since she inspired so ardent a devotion in the Prince her husband that he preferred to die rather than leave her ... yet she was so austere and shy that she never consented to show her face," and was heavily veiled when she gave audiences. If any doubted whether they were really addressing her, she would lift her covering, and directly her visitor was satisfied, drop it again. Señor Valera quotes this as a proof that none of the descendants of Joan the Mad were entirely free from the taint of insanity.

Portrait by Sir Antonio More (1512-82) is in the Prado Gallery, Madrid.

Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma

109

Died 1592, aged forty-eight.

Son of Margaret, Duchess of Parma, half-sister to Don John, after whose death Alexander Farnese took command of the troops in Flanders. Married the Princess Maria of Portugal.

The portrait in the Museo Nazionale, Naples, is ascribed to F. M. Mazzola (called Parmigiano) (1503-40), but dates would seem to make this impossible.

Don Carlos, Prince of the Asturias

123

Died 1568.

Son of Philip II and Maria of Portugal.

Picture by Sanchez Coello (died 1590) is in Prado Gallery, Madrid.

Elizabeth de Valois. Isabel de la Paz

141

Died 1558, aged twenty-three.

Daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici.

Third wife of Philip II of Spain.

Brantôme writes of her: "Those who saw her thus in a painted portrait admired her, and I will leave you to guess the delight it was to see her face to face with her sweetness and grace."

This picture is alluded to by Sir William Stirling Maxwell in his "Annals of the Artists of Spain"; he says that her eyes and hair are dark and her complexion brilliant, "The head is full of beauty and life; the dress of black velvet, though closed at the throat, is becoming ... a small ruff encircles the neck, and the robe is garnished with a profusion of gold chains and jewellery, all admirably designed and painted. Unless there be some mistake in the date of the painter's birth, this portrait was probably copied from one by his master (Sanchez Coello), as Queen Isabella died in 1568, when Pantoja was only seventeen years of age."

This portrait is by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz (1551 circa 1609), and is in the Prado Gallery, Madrid.

Don Fernando Alvarez de Toledo. 3rd Duque de Alba, called the "Gran Duque," 1507-82

164

Married Maria Enriquez, daughter of the Conde de Alba de Lesten. Captain-General of the Kingdoms of Castille and Aragon, of the Spanish troops in Italy, and of the army in Portugal. Governor of Milan and Viceroy of Naples. Governor of Flanders. Councillor of State and War to Charles V and Philip II, whose tutor he was. He acted as Proxy for the King at Philip II's third and fourth marriages. Recalled from Flanders in 1573, he fell into disgrace with Philip II, and was imprisoned in the Castle of Uceda. He was liberated in order that he might pacify the Portuguese rebellion. In 1580 he won the battles which gained this Kingdom for Spain. He died at Lisbon.

This portrait by Titian represents the Duke at about the age of forty. He wears black armour wrought with gold and a red sash, and the balustrade on which he leans is cushioned with red velvet. It may very possibly have belonged to the Duke himself; it certainly was in the

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