Juan de Vega y Enríquez, 1st Count of Grajal, ''6th Lord of Grajal'', ''Viceroy of Navarre'' (1542), ''Viceroy and Captain General of Sicily'' (1547–1557), ''presidente del Consejo de Castilla'', was an

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...

. He first served as ambassador of Charles V at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he met

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, Society of Jesus, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spain, Spanish Catholic ...

. Esteeming him and Ignatius’ religious order, the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, when Vega was appointed

Viceroy of Sicily This is a list of viceroys of Sicily: Aragonese direct rule 1409–1516 * John of Aragon, Duke of Peñafiel, later king John II of Aragon, 1458–1479, acted 1409–1416. * Domingo Ram y Lanaja, Bishop of Lleida 1416–1419 * Antonio de Cardona ...

he brought Jesuits with him. A Jesuit college was opened at

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

; success was marked, and its rules and methods were afterwards copied in other colleges. After the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

refused to take control of

Mehdia Mahdia ( ar, المهدية ') is a Tunisian coastal city with 62,189 inhabitants, south of Monastir and southeast of Sousse. Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax. It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as ...

in Tunisia, Charles V ordered de Vega to capture the city to deter the muslim piracy. The enterprise known as the

Capture of Mahdia (1550) The capture of Mahdia was an amphibious warfare, amphibious military operation that took place from June to September, 1550, during the Ottoman–Habsburg wars#War in the Mediterranean, struggle between the Ottoman Empire and the Spanish Habsbur ...

was successful, spearheaded on the sea by a Spanish naval expedition under the command of the Genoese condottiero and admiral

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; lij, Drîa Döia ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was a Genoese statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. As the ruler of Genoa, Doria reformed the Repu ...

and the Spaniard

Bernardino de Mendoza Bernardino de Mendoza (c. 1540 – 3 August 1604) was a Spanish military commander, diplomat and writer on military history and politics. Biography Bernardino de Mendoza was born in Guadalajara, Spain around 1540, as the son of Don Alonso Su ...

. After two years, the army of De Vega burnt Mehdia, but retaliated against the Order for not accepting the city, and prohibited exportation of wheat to the island of Malta, which was ruled by the Order. To prevent the population from starving, mills were built on Malta. De Vega died on 20 December 1558. The astronomer

Francesco Maurolico Francesco Maurolico (Latin: ''Franciscus Maurolycus''; Italian: ''Francesco Maurolico''; gr, Φραγκίσκος Μαυρόλυκος, 16 September 1494 - 21/22 July 1575) was a mathematician and astronomer from Sicily. He made contributions t ...

tutored two of Vega's sons, and Vega served as Maurolico's principal patron.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vega, Juan De Viceroys of Navarre Viceroys of Sicily Year of birth unknown 1558 deaths Date of death unknown Spanish diplomats