Juan Bravo

For other people named Juan Bravo, see Juan Bravo (disambiguation).

Monument to Juan Bravo in Segovia.

Juan Bravo de Lagunas y Mendoza (c. 1483, Atienza–24 April 1521, Villalar de los Comuneros) was a Castilian Nobleman and one of the leader's of the rebel Comuneros, the local councils that rebelled against Emperor Charles V in the Castilian "Revolt of the Comuneros". He Lived and worked in north-central Spain.

Biography

Juan Bravo was born around 1483, in the city of Atinza in Spain. His father was Gonzalo Ortega Bravo de Laguna, the director of the fort, and his mother was María de Mendoza, daughter of the Count of Montagudo. Juan Bravo was the nephew of Juan de Ortega Bravo de Laguna, the bishop of the parishes of Ciudad Rodrigo, Calahorra and Coria and was the second cousin of Luisa de Medrano and the first cousin of her mother Magdalena Bravo de Lagunas y Cienfuegos. In 1504, Juan Bravo was already living in the city of Segovia in central Spain, and a year later he married Catalina del Rio, the only daughter of Diego del Rio, a member of the Council of Segovia, and Isabel de Herrera. They had three children: Gonzalo Bravo del Río, Luis Bravo and María de Mendoza

After becoming a widower in 1515, Bravo married María Coronel in his hometown of Segovia in 1519.[1] Maria was the daughter of Inigo López Coronel, a member of the Segovia Council and a rich merchant and the great-granddaughter of the converted Jew Avraham Senor Coronel.[1][2] They had two sons from this marriage, Andrea Bravo de Mendoza and Juan Bravo de Mendoza.[1] Inigo López Coronel bequeathed all his property to his son-in-law Juan Bravo, on the condition that Maria and Juan's children inherit them

Political and Military Career

Juan Bravo began his political career in June 1516, in La Rioja. He was one of the commanders appointed by Cardinal Cisneros, then regent of the kingdom, to establish an armed body that would exclusively serve the crown. The opposition of the high nobility caused the project to be cancelled, and it is said that the failure of the project pushed Bravo to oppose the new king.

In October 1519 Bravo was appointed head of the militias of Segovia. After he learned about the tax to Emperor Charles V and his departure to Germany on May 29, 1520, Bravo led the rebel forces, and they took control of the city of Medina del Campo and other cities during 1520 and 1521. Juan Bravo continued to lead the Segovia militia throughout the Castilian War of the Communities of Castile and managed the defense against the kingdom's soldiers. However, the Royalist forces held the Alcázar of Segovia and remained there until the end of the rebellion.

Bravo was responsible for the contact with the other rebel cities and with the rebels in them. He went to Tordesias to consult with Juana I, the queen and mother of the emperor, (whom the rebels supported) to try to gain her support, but failed.

He took part in the Castilian War of the Communities, and he was a leader of the rebel army which was defeated at the Battle of Villalar. He was captured, and beheaded the day after the battle. There is now a monument to him in Segovia.

References

• Haliczer, Stephen (1981). The Comuneros of Castile: The Forging of a Revolution, 1475-1521. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-08500-7.
• Pérez, Joseph (1998) [1970]. La révolution des "Comunidades" de Castille, 1520-1521 (in Spanish). Bordeaux: Institut d'études ibériques et ibéro-américaines de l'Université de Bordeaux. ISBN 84-323-0285-6.
• Pérez, Joseph (2001). Los Comuneros (in Spanish). Madrid: La Esfera de los Libros, S.L. ISBN 84-9734-003-5.
• Seaver, Henry Latimer (1966) [1928]. The Great Revolt in Castile: A Study of the Comunero Movement of 1520-1521. New York: Octagon Books.