John of Austria

Born in Regensburg in 1547 to Charles V and a burgher's daughter, John was raised in Spain and legitimized in his father's will. After Charles died, half-brother Philip II acknowledged him as a Habsburg, gave him a title and income, and in 1568 handed him his first military command. He fought corsairs in North Africa and crushed the Morisco rebellion in Granada. When the Holy League formed against the Ottomans in 1571, Philip named John admiral of its combined fleet. That October, off Lepanto in the Gulf of Patras, his ships delivered a major defeat to the Ottoman navy. In 1576 Philip sent him north as governor-general of the Spanish Netherlands to continue the war against Dutch rebels. Two years later, at 31, he died of fever and was buried at El Escorial.