Juan de Escobedo

Juan de Escobedo (1530 in Colindres, Cantabria – March 31, 1578 in Madrid), Spanish politician, secretary of John of Austria (Don Juan de Austria), and chiefly notable as having been the victim of one of the mysteries of the 16th century, began life in the household of Ruy Gómez de Silva, prince of Eboli, the most trusted minister of the early years of the reign of Philip II.

[1] By the will of the prince he was endowed for life with the post of Regidor, or legal representative of the king in the municipality of Madrid.

He was also associated with Antonio Pérez as one of the secretaries who acted as the agents of the king in all dealings with the various governing boards which formed the Spanish administration.

When Don John of Austria, after the battle of Lepanto in 1571, began to launch on a policy of self-seeking adventure, Escobedo was appointed as his secretary with the intention that he should act as a check on these follies.

After two clumsy attempts had been made to poison him at Pérez's table, he was killed by bravos on the night of Easter Monday, 1578.