Juan de Cardona y Requesens (1530–1609), Baron of Sant Boi, was a Spanish admiral and politician. He served as a captain of naval squads in Sicily and Naples, as well as member of the Council of State and Viceroy of Navarre.
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Biography
He was the grandson of Antonio de Cardona y Enríquez and Juan Ramón Folch IV de Cardona, effective uniting two of the most notable families in the Kingdom of Aragon. He received a varied Renaissance education, and for a time was a member of the music school of the Escolania de Montserrat. In 1557 he was in charge of communicating the abdication of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in Mallorca, where he swore loyalty to his son Philip II in a ceremony authorized to diverge from the traditional rites. A more conservative ceremony was held in 1564.
He was captain-general of the galleys squad of Naples, participating in the relief of the Great Siege of Malta in 1565. He was part of the Holy League armada in the Battle of Lepanto of 1571, where he faced the squad of Ottoman admiral Occhiali along with the reserve captained by Álvaro de Bazán. Victory was hard-fought, with Cardona being wounded in the leg. During the skirmish at Cerigo Channel the following year, with Marcantonio Colonna temporarily replacing the League's commander John of Austria, Cardona replaced Bazán himself. He later took part in Siege of Navarino, as well as John of Austria's conquest of Tunis.
In 1576 he was captain of the squad of Naples. He was Viceroy of Navarre from 1595 to 1602 and later again from 1603 to 1609, when he was replaced due to an illness. He died shortly after.
Issue
He married Francesca Flordespina Guiso, Baroness of Galtellì in Sardinia, who gave birth to a son, Antoni.