Juan de la Cerda, 4th Duke of Medinaceli, (c. 1514 – 1575), Grandee of Spain, was a Spanish nobleman.
He was the son of Don Juan de la Cerda, 2nd Duke of Medinaceli, by second wife María de Silva. In 1552 Juan de la Cerda inherited the titles from his older half-brother Gastón de la Cerda y Portugal.
Both half brothers, the 3rd, Gaston, and the 4th Duke, Juan II, are widely reported in many places and articles as being born "out of marriage" from different women and being "legitimated" males by the Crown as legal successors to their father, the second duke Juan I, also, apparently, a legitimated bastard, however.
In 1557, King Philip II of Spain appointed him Viceroy of Sicily, a position he held until 1564. During that time he besieged with a fleet the North-African harbor of Tripoli, now in Libya, dealing with Dragut, a Turkish privateer and Ottoman admiral. The force, including ships from Spain, Genoa, Tuscany, the Knights of Malta and the Papal States, was however nearly destroyed in the Battle of Djerba.
In 1567 he was appointed Viceroy of Navarre supposedly staying there till 1572, but it seems that towards the end of 1570, he became head of the household of Queen Anna of Austria, position he held until his death in 1575. There are no hints about him having anything, militarywise, to do in Flanders at all around that time, unless unaware people is referring to his appointment, while a Viceroy of Navarre, as a head of the expedition to the North of Spain harbors from there, Flanders, with bride to be Anna of Austria towards the middle of 1570, when she came to marry her uncle Philip II of Spain.
She came with her brother, Albert, Cardinal in Rome, later Goveror Consort of Flanders when he married Isabel Clara Eugenia, daughter of Philip II of Spain and therefore step daughter of new Queen Consort Anne and another brother described as Wenzel, all the three children of Holy Roman Emperor Consort wife Maria of Spain.
On 7 April 1541, at Ocaña, Juan de la Cerda married Joana Manuel, daughter of Sancho de Noronha, 2nd Count of Faro with whom he had seven children.
By Joana Manuel de Portugal:
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Juan de Vega |
Viceroy of Sicily 1557-1564 |
Succeeded by The Marquis of Villafranca |
| Preceded by José de Guevara, Lord of Escalante |
Viceroy of Navarre 1567-1572 |
Succeeded by Vespasiano Gonzaga, Prince of Sabbioneta |
| Preceded by |
Governor of the Netherlands 1573-1574 |
Succeeded by |
| Spanish nobility | ||
| Preceded by Gastón de la Cerda |
Duke of Medinaceli 1552-1575 |
Succeeded by Juan de la Cerda |