It was known as a fact that the Most Serene Don
John of Austria, natural brother of our good king Don Philip, was coming as commander-in-chief of the allied forces, and rumours were abroad of the vast warlike preparations which were being made, all which stirred my heart and filled me with a longing to take part in the campaign which was expected; and though I had reason to believe, and almost certain promises, that on the first opportunity that presented itself I should be promoted to be captain, I preferred to leave all and betake myself, as I did, to Italy; and it was my good fortune that Don John had just arrived at Genoa, and was going on to Naples to join the Venetian fleet, as he afterwards did at Messina.
Siloe, which has painstakingly replicated manuscripts such as the 16th century Bestiary of
John of Austria and the 10th century Beato Emilianense will soon release 898 exact replicas of the mysterious text.
Very few Australians would know who Don
John of Austria was and why he might be regarded as important enough to have an opera written about him and yet in the nineteenth century he was a well known figure in history.
Those who visited William's famous riding house in Antwerp included Europe's magnates such as Don
John of Austria. As William explained, 'all the Spaniards of his Court, went to my Mannage', and despite the danger of being kicked they must have crowded the floor itself, for William wrote that it 'was often so full, that my Esquier ...
If there is a climactic moment here, it is the battle of Lepanto, in which the Tuscan fleet again fought side-by-side with the Spaniards, led then by Don
John of Austria. Among the dead, says Scetti, were 5,000 Christians and 40,000 Turks.
This navy represented the Christian League, an ad-hoc coalition of Catholic monarchies, ducal kingdoms, and Italian republics under the command of 25-year-old Don
John of Austria. While the Turks made merry, the League soldiers, with quiet fortitude, grimly prepared for battle.
The opera, Don
John of Austria, was performed at the Spitalfields Festival, with Mackerras providing the orchestration (the opera survives only in piano score) and Briger conducting.
(52.) Michel de Montaigne, for instance, uses this battle as an example of why we should not use earthly events as indicators of divine will: was a notable Sea-battle, which was lately gained against the Turkes, under the conduct of Don
John of Austria. But it hath pleased God to make us at other times both see and feele other such, to our no small losse and detriment" (172).