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L
EPANTO
, he won a decisive victory that
made him a Spanish national hero and an
admired figure throughout Europe. After
serving as governor of Spanish possessions
in Italy he undertook a similar position in
the Netherlands where he had mixed suc-
cess against the Dutch rebels (1576). Vari-
ous rumors arose about John's ambitions,
including the accusations that he was plan-
ning to assume the lead of the Netherlands's
rebellion and that he had concocted a
scheme to marry Mary Queen of Scots and
make himself king of the British Isles. His
sudden death was the object of further
speculation and charges that Philip II had
caused him to be done away with.
ary irregularities. Confined virtually with-
out access to sunlight or exercise, isolated,
and subjected to periodic harsh interroga-
tion, he survived by mental projection of
intense mystical emotion that he expressed
in poetical form. Managing to escape from
his captors in T
OLEDO
in 1578, he found ref-
uge among sympathizers in A
NDALUSIA
,
where he resumed his reforming mission
and became vicar provincial of the order
from 1585 to 1587. The Carmelites were
wracked by further disputes just before his
death, however, and John was obliged to
withdraw completely from the world to
find both security and peace.
A major figure in the movement for
renewal of the religious orders, which was
such a significant part of the Catholic Refor-
mation, St. John is even more notable as a
mystical thinker and writer. After escaping
from the clutches of the reactionaries who
had imprisoned him, he reproduced from
memory the poetry that he had composed
during his confinement to convey his mysti-
cal raptures. These verses, accompanied by
prose commentaries that sought to open the
mystical experience to others, were pub-
lished in a number of volumes, including
Cantico espiritual
(
Spiritual Canticle
),
Llama de
amor viva
(Living flame of love), and
Noche
oscura del alma
(
Dark Night of the Soul
). They
were published posthumously in 1618. For
all their personal intensity and literary com-
plexity these poems remain among the most
admired and influential fruits of Spanish
mysticism. They have become literary as
well as spiritual classics. John was canonized
in 1726. Saint John of the Cross was named
a doctor of the church in 1926 elevating him
to a special status as a magisterial and guid-
ing figure among the intellectual and spiri-
tual mentors of the Catholic Church.
John of the Cross, Saint (Juan de
la Cruz)
(1542-1591)
Spanish religious reformer and mystical
poet
Born Juan de Yepes and admitted as a monk
in the Carmelite order in 1563 under the
name Juan de la Cruz, he was ordained
priest in 1567. Shortly thereafter he met
with T
ERESA
OF
Á
VILA
and was persuaded
by her to aid in the reform of the Carmelite
order. Their plan was for him to undertake
a reform of the monastic communities par-
allel to that which she had initiated among
Carmelite nuns. They aimed at returning
the order to its contemplative and spiritual
base after centuries of gradual abandon-
ment of the austere and spiritual simplicity
of the order's founders. John had initial
success with the plan but eventually
encountered intense opposition to his
reform project similar to that which Teresa
had experienced. He was actually arrested
and imprisoned during 1576 and again in
1577 on charges of doctrinal and disciplin-
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