Barbara Blomberg

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Barbara Blomberg

Barbara Blomberg (1527 - 18 December 1597) was the mother of Don John of Austria

John of Austria

John of Austria , in English traditionally known as Don John of Austria, and in Spanish as Don Juan de Austria, was an illegitimate son of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor....
.

Blomberg was born in Regensburg

Regensburg

Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen River rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube....
, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, the eldest daughter of Wolfgang Plumberger, a burgher

Bourgeoisie

Bourgeoisie is a classification used in analyzing human societies to describe a social class of people. Historically, the bourgeoisie comes from the middle or merchant classes of the Middle Ages, whose status or power came from employment, education, and wealth, as distinguished from those whose power came from being born into an aristocrati...
, and of his wife Sibilla. A singer, in 1546 she was for a short time the mistress of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I of Spain, of the Spanish realms from 1516 until his abdication in 1556....
, who was in Regensburg for the meeting of the Reichstag

Reichstag (institution)

The Reichstag was the parliament of the Holy Roman Empire, the North German Confederation, and of Germany until 1945. The main chamber of the German parliament is now called Bundestag , but the building in which it meets is still called "Reichstag" ....
. On 24 February 1547 Blomberg gave birth to John of Austria who was almost immediately taken from her and sent to be raised in Spain

Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
.

Shortly afterwards Blomberg married Hieronymus Kegel, an imperial official.

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Encyclopedia

Barbara Blomberg (1527 - 18 December 1597) was the mother of Don John of Austria

John of Austria

Regensburg

Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen River rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube....
, Germany

Germany

Bourgeoisie

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Reichstag (institution)

Spain

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium....
with her husband where Kegel was responsible for the equipment of the imperial mercenary army. They had three children.

When Kegel died in 1569, Blomberg and her children were in reduced financial circumstances. At the request of the governor of the Netherlands, the Duke of Alba

Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba

Don Fernando ?lvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba was a Spain general and governor of the Spanish Netherlands , nicknamed "the Iron Duke" by Protestants of the Low Countries because of his harsh rule and cruelty....
, she was granted a pension by King Philip II of Spain

Philip II of Spain

Philip II was King of Spain from 1556 until 1598, List of monarchs of Naples from 1554 until 1598, king consort of England, as husband of Mary I of England, from 1554 to 1558, lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories, such as Duke or Count; and King of Portugal as Philip I...
(her son's half-brother).

In November 1576 Blomberg met her son Juan of Austria for the only time since his birth. Subsequently she went into a Dominican convent in Castile

Castile (historical region)

A former Kingdom of Castile, Castile , gradually merged with its neighbors to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain with the Crown of Aragon and the Crown of Navarre....
, 70 km south of Valladolid

Valladolid

||-||} is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, upon the Pisuerga River and within the Ribera del Duero wine-making region. It is the capital of the Valladolid and of the autonomous communities of Spain of Castile and Leon, therefore is part of the historical region of Castile ....
. After Juan of Austria died in 1578, Philip II allowed her to choose her own residence. She established herself first in the village of Colindres. In 1584 she purchased an estate in the village of Ambrosero in Cantabria

Cantabria

Cantabria is a Spain province and autonomous community with Santander, Cantabria as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Country , on the south by Castile and Le?n , on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea....
.

Blomberg died at the age of seventy at her estate in Ambrosero. She is buried in the Church of San Sebastian at the monastery of Montehano, near Santoña

Santoña

Santo?a is a village in the western coast of the autonomous community of Cantabria, on the north coast of Spain. It is situated by the bay of the same name....
.

In literature

Blomberg has been the subject of a number of novels and plays:

In 1837 Patricio de la Escosura y Morrogh
Patricio de la Escosura

Patricio de la Escosura Morrogh was a Spain politician, journalist, playwright and author associated with the Romanticism....
wrote the Spanish-language play Barbara Blomberg: drama en cuatro actos en verso.

In 1897 Georg Ebers
Georg Ebers

Georg Moritz Ebers , German Egyptologist and novelist, discovered the Egyptian language medical papyrus, of ca 1550 BCE, named for him at Luxor in the winter of 1873–74....
wrote the German-language novel Barbara Blomberg: ein historischer Roman.

In 1934 Alice Goldberger Liebling wrote the English-language play An Emperor's Great Love (Barbara Blomberg).

In 1949 Carl Zuckmayer wrote the German-language play Barbara Blomberg: ein Stück in drei Akten.

In 1953 Heinz Schauwecker wrote the German-language novella Die Sternenstunde der Barbara Blomberg: Novelle um die Geburt des Don Juan d'Austria.

In 1999 Teresa Alvarez wrote the Spanish-language novel La pasión última de Carlos V.

Bibliography

Panzer, Marita A. Barbara Blomberg, 1527-1597: Bürgerstochter und Kaisergeliebte. Regensburg: F. Pustet, 1995. ISBN 3791714775.

Böckl, Manfred. Die Geliebte des Kaisers: Kaiser Karl V. und Barbara Blomberg. Augsburg: Weltbild, 2004.

Herre, Paul. Barbara Blomberg, die Geliebte Kaiser Karls V. und Mutter Don Juans de Austria: ein Kurtbild des 16. Jahrhunderts. Leipzig: Quelle & Meyer, 1909.