Barbara Blomberg

Deceased Person

1527 – 1597

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Who was Barbara Blomberg?

Barbara Blomberg was the mother of Don John of Austria.

Blomberg was born in Regensburg, the eldest daughter of Wolfgang Plumberger or Blomberg, a burgher, and of his wife Sibilla Lohman. A singer, in 1546 she was for a short time the mistress of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who was in Regensburg for the meeting of the Imperial Diet. 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.

Shortly afterwards Blomberg married Hieronymus Kegel, an imperial official. In 1551 she moved to Brussels 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, she was granted a pension by King Philip II of Spain.

In November 1576 Blomberg met her son John of Austria for the only time since his birth. Subsequently she went into a Dominican convent in Castile, 70 km south of Valladolid. After John 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.

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Born
1527
Regensburg
Spouses
Children
Died
Dec 18, 1597
Spain

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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