Juan of Austria

Juan of Austria ( Spanish: Juana de Austria ; June 24, 1535 , Madrid - September 7, 1573 , Escorial ) - Spanish infante , daughter of Emperor Charles V. She founded the Monastery of Barefoot Princesses in Madrid, where she was buried.

The importance of the personality of Juana is due to her genealogy, she was a granddaughter, daughter, mother and sister of kings. Juan was born in the royal palace in Madrid, her parents were Charles V and Isabella of Portugal . On the paternal side, her grandmother and grandfather were Philip I and Juan I of Castile , and on the maternal side, the king of Portugal, Manuel and Maria of Aragon . She was also the sister of the King of Spain, Philip II, and replaced him on the Spanish throne during his trips to England, where he married Mary I , from 1554 to 1556 and from 1556 to 1559.

Juana was named after her grandmother, Juana the Mad. When she was four years old, she was fostered by Leonore de Mascarenas, and by the age of eight she could read Latin and play music. On January 11, 1552, at the age of 16, she was married to her cousin, heir to the Portuguese throne, Juan Manuel , who was fifteen at that time. This marriage was crucial for both countries of the Iberian Peninsula. Based on it, the Spanish king Philip obtained the legal right to claim the Portuguese throne, which he later used, becoming King Philippe I. of Portugal in 1580. At the end of November 1552, Juan arrived at the Lusitanian court.

This marriage was short due to the premature death of Juan from tuberculosis on January 2, 1554 . Juana was already pregnant at that time and on January 20 of the same year she gave birth to a son, the future king Sebastian I. At the insistence of her father, who was about to abdicate, she left Lisbon on May 17, 1554 , entrusting the upbringing of her newborn mother-in-law, Catherine of Austria (who was also her aunt).