 From 1554 to 1559, Joanna of Austria, sister of Philip II, served as regent, establishing herself in Valladolid, with the latter becoming the political center of the Hispanic Monarchy by that time.She favoured the Ebolist Party, one of the two leading factions of the Court of Philip II, in competition with the "albistas".The Reformation took some hold in the city appearing some Protestant circles presumably around the leading figure of Augustino de Cazalla, an adviser of Joanna.