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John the Mad
John the Mad
	Portrait of John III, c.1573
King of Spain (more…)
Reign	9 January 1572 - 26 October 1612
Predecessor	Philip II
Successor	Philip III
Regent	Joanna of Austria; Maria of Austria;
King of England & Ireland
Reign	22 October 1561 - 2 March 1570
Coronation	12 December 1558
Predecessor	Mary I
Successor	Elizabeth I
Co-Monarch	Elizabeth Tudor
Holy Roman Empress
Reign	12 October 1576 - 20 January 1612
Predecessor	Maria of Spain
Successor	Anna Elisabeth of Valois
More...
Born	18 July 1555; Palace of Alhambra
Died	16 March 1628 (aged 72); Palace of El Escorial
Burial	El Escorial
Spouse	; Rudolf II (m. 1571; died 1612)
Issue; among others...	Maximilian III, Holy Roman Emperor; Charles, King Consort of France; Philip III of Spain; Henry, King Consort of England & Scotland; Isabella, Queen of Navarre; Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria;
House	Habsburg-Tudor
Father	Philip II of Spain
Mother	Mary I
Religion	Roman Catholicism

John III (Spanish: Juano III; 18 July 1555 - 16 March 1628) was King of Spain (1572 - 1612), King of England & Ireland (1561 - 1570) as John II, King of Naples and Sicily (both from 1572), and Holy Roman Empress by marriage to Rudolf II (m.1571 - 1612). He was the 1st of a short list of male Holy Roman Empresses. He was also Duke of Milan from 1572 and Duke of Burgundy also from 1572. It should also be known that upon his fathers death the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands declared independence despite his aunt and regent Joanna's attempts to stop this.

As the feminine second son of King Philip II of Spain and Queen Mary I of England, John wasn't expected to inherit anything, he was originally planned to be wed to Henry, Duke of Anjou or Francis, Duke of Alencon but these potential matches were called off when John's elder brother died in 1557 and John was made heir to both the Spanish Empire, England, Ireland and (disputed) France. His father Philip had wanted young John to grow up in Spain with him and Mary consented as her eldest and masculine son was living in England with her and only visited Spain in the winter months. Upon his brothers death he was betrothed to his cousin Rudolf, Archduke of Austria so the Habsburg Dynasty would continue in Spain.

John was named after his great grandmother Joanna the Mad who had died the March that year. He would later gain a common nickname with his great grandmother but his John was nowhere near mad, the nickname was just given as a tribute to Joanna.

Growing up in the Alhambra, John was raised a staunch Catholic and was taught by his father to hate the Ottoman Empire and the Protestant Reformation although he disliked protestants he showed kindness and respect towards his protestant aunt Elizabeth Tudor who was also his English regent from 1561 until the English parliament declared her Queen in 1570 when she was 27 and John was 15. Despite his dislike of Protestants and desire to keep Spain firmly Catholic, John was not fond of sending Protestants to the inquisition and desperately tried to avoid it. As John grew older and became more and more involved with Politics and Religion, he also grew more oppressive of Protestants and other "heretics"

Upon his husband's ascension to the Imperial Throne, John became the first out of a very short list of male Holy Roman Empresses. The Prince-Electors has pressed that if he be given the title Holy Roman Emperor then he would be equal to his husband so they decided that he may use the feminine version of the title.

He was very attached to his husband Rudolf and usually left all the politics of Spain to Rudolf when he was visiting Spain, they had 14 children together, 8 of whom survived to adulthood.

Early Life: 1555 - 1572

Birth

John was a member of the newly formed House of Habsburg-Tudor and son of Mary I of England and Philip II of Spain. His grandparents were Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal on his father's side and Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon on his mother's side giving him one of the most prestige bloodlines in all of Europe. He was born on 18 July 1555 in the Alhambra Palace while his mother was visiting Spain. His elder brother Henry was in England at the time and was only around 1 year of age at the time. It was decided John should stay in Spain and not return to England with his mother.

Education, Betrothal, & Heir to the Throne

His father saw to it that he had some of the finest tutors and a great education. His tutors included the illustrious Lorenzo de' Solanas, nobleman Ferdinand d'Albret and the Italian Giovanni de Vinci-Garitos. John was a lively child and loved to dance and adored his older brother Carlos, Prince of Asturias, his father Philip had some of the finest dancing instructors from all over Europe to teach him. When John began to be able to vaguely write, he sent letters to his mother in England but he didn't send many as when he was just four years old his mother died and he was devastated as just a year earlier his elder brother Henry died and he was now heir to all of the Spanish Empire and England. Upon his brothers death in 1557, Philip and Mary had arranged for him to marry his cousin Rudolf, Archduke of Austria to keep Spain inside the Habsburg circle. In 1559, he received the oath of allegiance as the heir to the throne of Spain but was not invested as Prince of Wales or Duke of Cornwall as he was a feminine son.

Life at the Alhambra & English Regency

John enjoyed a nice life at the Alhambra in his early life, he enjoyed the warm Spanish sun and a range of other luxuries that contributed to his lavish tastes later on in life. He was fascinated with History and the New World and desired to visit one day, a goal he would later not achieve.

John became King of England in 1558 upon his mother's death and his father became co-regent with John's aunt Elizabeth Tudor who was a Protestant but Philip managed to overlook it. Philip and young John attended Mary, Queen of Scot's marriage to Francis, Dauphin of France. His presence was not welcome by Henry II of France as he was one of the people in the way preventing his now daughter in law from taking the crown of England.

Marriage & Ascension to the Spanish Throne.

During the 1560s John received a great education in Politics and learned how to be an effective ruler to his people, on his 10th birthday his father gifted him an elephant all the way from India and treasures from the New World. Philip saw his son often during this era and it is said that they are very close, by this time, John had still never been to England despite being King of it and the people were growing more and more unhappy with their child, foreign King and sought to replace him with his English aunt Elizabeth, who was a Protestant but was still the better option over a foreigner.

Marriage

John married the 19 year old Rudolf, Archduke of Austria and immediately liked him, he was kind to John and the two didn't share many common interests but they had large respect for each other and often confided in eachother. That same year they had a son, whom they named Maximilian, the future Holy Roman Emperor. Philip of Spain doted on his grandson during the short time he got to meet him and often gave him gifts and was seen with him many times.

Ascension to the Throne of Spain

He succeeded his father as King of Spain in 1572 upon his death, John became Juano III of Spain or Juano the Mad after his ancestor Joanna the mad. He was heartbroken over his fathers death. He was 16 years old when he became King of Spain and the Empire. For two years his aunts Maria & Joanna regented for him until he came to full power. At the beginning of his reign he had absolute power but mainly just took the advice of his council.

Reign: 1572 - 1612

Early Rule (1572 - 1580)

In early 1572, at the age of 16 years old, Infante John of Spain became Juano III of Spain also known as "Juano the Mad". During the first few years of his rule John was quite docile in politics. He had previously lost the English throne to his aunt Elizabeth and was trying to cling onto his Spanish throne and his solution was allowing the parliament or his husband to rule on his behalf. Although he was seen as an Absolute Monarch he was more of a constitutional monarch as he just did what parliament told him. His first act as monarch however was to enact the "Acta de Sucesión de 1572" which insured his eldest son Maximilian would not inherit the throne unless they're were absolutely no male heirs left to take the Spanish throne so the Habsburg Empire wouldn't reunite under one monarch again.

For the three years of his rule his aunts Maria and Joanna acted as his regents while he lived in the Holy Roman Empire with his husband before returning to Spain in 1575 with a new one year old Spanish heir named Philip. While he was in the Holy Roman Empire he spent most of his time trying to gain popularity in his husbands future empire while also going through two more pregnancies. John was head over heels in love with Rudolf and it is reported that John was often in a duller mood when he wasn't with Rudolf and John soon became very attached to Rudolf. One writer even wrote that John consulted Rudolf "on every single movement.".

John's awaited return to Spain in 1575 was met with a positive response, most were extremely happy their King and now future King had returned to Spain to rule them once more. Now that Juano was all by himself with only one of his three children he began to step into power officially. He continued the Spanish Inquisition like his ancestors despite his disliking of it however the inquisition made him more popular with the Catholics in Spain.

John still mostly answered to parliament but in 1576 he began to want his English Crown back or at least the Seventeen Provinces as was his birth right, he asked parliament for advice and they were on board with a war with the Seventeen Provinces but not okay with a war with England. And so the plan to take back the Spanish Netherlands began to be constructed.

John's invasion of the Spanish Netherlands was a massive success and he was celebrated all over Spain for it. On top of that his husband Rudolf was now Holy Roman Emperor upon the death of his father. Both Rudolf and John visited the new territory but were not welcome and so the visit was short but they managed to produce another child another feminine son whom they called Henry,

In 1579 Rudolf II betrothed his son Maximilian to Marie Elisabeth of Valois and had proposed a marriage between Philip, Prince of Asturias and Eduarte of Portugal which soon came to pass. It was also around this time that John began to drift away from Catholicism which would later cause his downfall.

Late Reign (1580 - 1591)

By 1580, Elizabeth I of England, who was approaching 50 was being pressed to marry ASAP to protect her from Mary Stuart, Former Queen of Scots & France and John most of all. Instead Elizabeth thought it was wiser to try make peace first, John wanted a Catholic on the throne and if it wasn't going to be John then it has to be Mary Stuart and so John refused to ally with Elizabeth which urged her to seek a marriage to protect herself, she still never married.

Spain entered a short era of peace that lasted until 1587 upon the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots which enraged John and lead to tension between Spain and England but nothing really happened in the period of time.

In 1589, Rudolf went into seclusion after going back and forth between Spain & the Holy Roman Empire for the past decade as he was now believed to be going mad. He handed most of the power over to his young son, Rudolf later went into seclusion in Spain with his husband in 1591 when John was semi-deposed.

John began to be worried about the rumours circulating around court that he was an atheist and a heretic as they could be major damage to his person and he began to be really anxious. He became terrified that he would be deposed or murdered and constantly tried to calm down the rumours but to no avail as in 1591, after a decently lengthed, successful ruled his son had him stripped of power but kept him as King. His son who was only but 16 ordered him to seclude himself like his husband. It was decided by the two brothers Philip and Maximilian that their parents would be secluded together in the Alhambra where they were supposedly moderately happy. Philip visited his parents and often ensured they were happy with everything they needed. Juano was still allowed to give advice to his son for the first few years and made few appearances at court.

Seclusion (1591 - 1612)

John lived in the Alhambra Palace with his husband Rudolf in on and off Seclusion away from Politics up until Rudolf's death in 1612. It is said that John and Rudolf spent most of their time in bed with one another and produced a healthy child who grew up in seclusion with them. John's favourite activities included embroidering and swimming while Rudolf preferred to read or sleep all day. Rudolf didn't spend all his time at the Alhambra and regularly returned to Prague to rule but came all the way back to Spain during his self-imposed isolations.

John had attempted to regain power a few times in seclusion but continuously failed and eventually just gave in and admitted defeat. In 1612, Rudolf II died after being stripped completely of power 9 months earlier leaving John utterly depressed. John was never completely happy again after that and moved back to the Alhambra with his youngest child where he lived out the rest of his life gaining a larger say in politics and then dying in 1628. John abdicated his throne upon his husbands death so his son became King in name and in power.

Death: 1628

John died in the Palace of El Escorial in Madrid after a long life of 72 years. His son Maximilian was by his side when he died and reportedly held his hand as he died. With his father dead, Philip III began to press his claims to England much further and would eventually go to war with England. John left all of his fortunes to his son Maximilian which helped greatly increase the wealth of the Holy Roman Empire. John's death was met with much grief in Spain and his children wore mourning colours for various amounts of time

He was buried at the El Escorial Palace not long after his death and remains there today, his life and reign greatly influenced Spain and the rest of Europe as he soon became ancestor to most of Europe's royalty.

Issue

John and his husband Rudolf had 14 children together 8 of whom lived to adulthood and had issue. John loved his children very much and saw to it that they had good marriages to secure alliances as well as their happiness, he tried his best to see his children whenever he could.

Name	Lifespan	Notes
Maximilian III, Holy Roman Emperor	9 October 1571 - 25 June 1638	de Facto ruler of the HRE: 1589 - 1612 Holy Roman Emperor: 1612 - 1638
Charles of Austria, King Consort of France	12 November 1572 - 20 August 1589	Married Henry III of France; had issue.
Philip III, King of Spain	17 May 1574 - 2 December 1632