He also got rid of all her loyal servants. siblings: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Click on the book cover to find out more! All eight of his great-grandparents were descendants of Joanna and Philip I of Castile. Joanna married Philippe I 'le Beau' de Habsbourg on month day 1496, at … She was suspended by a rope while weights were attached to her feet. Groomed for Greatness . Marriage and accession. She took her oath as heiress in 1502, and was given the title of Princess of Asturias. Joanna (6 November 1479 – 12 April 1555), known historically as Joanna the Mad (Spanish: Juana la Loca), was Queen of Castile from 1504, and of Aragon from 1516. Spouse/Ex-: Anne of Bohemia and Hungary (m. 1521–1547) father: Philip I of Castile. Had he lived he would have united the three crowns of the Iberian Peninsula. At the time of her birth, she was second in line to the throne after her older half-brother Henry IV of Castile. She was not the only monarch in history to suffer from madness, but her story was really tragic. She may have been the ruling monarch but had no real influence on the political or administrative decisions of her kingdom. On April 12, 1555, Joanna of Castile (1479-1555), the last surviving child of Catholic monarchs Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, died at the age of 75, well past the life expectancy of the time. He was known as “The Handsome” because of his steel grey–blue eyes and fair hair. It was a successful marriage with Joanna giving birth to six children between 1498 and 1507. Her only living siblings were Maria of Aragon and Catherine of Aragon, three and six years younger than Joanna. His death was followed shortly by his sister - and next heiress to the Castilian throne - Isabella, after giving birth to a son in August 1498 who was named Miguel. Leaving Flanders on 10 January 1506, their ships were wrecked on the English coast and the couple were guests of Henry, Prince of Wales, later Henry VIII and Joanna’s sister Catherine of Aragon at Windsor Castle. Ferdinand II profited from the situation and took her power again, confining her at the royal palace in Tordesillas. As powerful and formidable monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella would make certain all five of their surviving children would marry well and further Spanish interests. King Henry VIII of England: Did he have trouble trusting people? By the time she was a teenager, she was able to read, write and speak Castilian, Catalan, French, Latin and several Spanish dialects. However, over 45 of those years were spent in isolated imprisonment for her alleged mental insanity. All rights reserved. children: Archduchess Anna of Austria, Archduchess Barbara of Austria, Archduchess Eleanor of Austria, archduchess helena, Archduchess Magdalena of Austria, archduchess margaret, Catherine of Austria; Queen of Poland, Charles II; Archduke of Austria, … However, there were rumors that he had actually been poisoned by his father-in-law. This portrait of Joanna was done in Flanders, ca 1500: it is a detail from the wings of the Last Judgement Triptych of Zierikzee, by the Master of Afflighem . It began in the 9th century as the County of Castile (Condado de Castilla), an eastern frontier lordship of the Kingdom of León. After Ferdinand’s death, Joanna’s eldest son Charles became Charles V of Spain. Joanna was born in the city of Toledo, the capital of the Kingdom of Castile. Ferdinand refused to accept this, and when Isabella died in November 1504, a power struggle ensued between Philip and Ferdinand with Joanna as an in-between pawn. Her parents were exceptionally renowned for their faith, completing the 1492 Reconquista that ordered the conversion or exile of their Muslim and Jewish subjects and establishing the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 to maintain Catholic orthodoxy. Joanna of Castile (1479 – 1555) was also known as Joanna the mad. by Anjuli McDonald of Clanranald. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region. She went on to have six children with her husband, including Charles, who later became the Holy Roman Emperor. She also read a lot of classical literature. Photos. Joanna sank further into despair over the loss of her last child. Who Is The Greatest Female Warrior In History? This meant, her father, Ferdinand II, would lose his monarchical status. With his rival for power now deceased, King Ferdinand II dismissed his daughter’s loyal supporters and ordered Joanna to be confined within the Royal Convent of Santa Clara in Tordesillas. Her husband was on friendly terms with the King of France and did not involve himself with the anti-French policies of his in-laws. Joanna (6 November 1479 – 12 April 1555), known as Joanna the Mad (Spanish: Juana la Loca), was queen of Castile from 1504 and of Aragon from 1516. Baby Miguel was now child heir to the thrones of Portugal, Castile, and Aragon. Partner. She was a brilliant woman, speaking five languages, excelling in math, science, and philosophy. They planned marital alliances with other nations against France, the traditional rival of Aragon. She had started to show signs of mental instability since 1504, when her mother suffered from a fever and later died. She had four siblings: Isabella, Queen of Portugal; John, Prince of Asturias; Maria, Queen of Portugal; and Catherine, Queen of England. ... Joanna of Castile 1479 1555 Joanna of Castile in … Joanna was married by arrangement to Philip the Handsome, Archduke of the House of Habsburg, on 20 October 1496. However, her increasingly erratic behavior was reported following the deaths of her siblings, nephew, mother, and her husband. Joanna was now heir to her parents. Joanna of Castile. After one dangerous month at sea with three ships sunk, Joanna finally docked at her new home having suffered seasickness and a terrible cold. Juana passed away on month day 1555, at age 75 at death place. Was Joanna of Castile truly ‘mad’ or a pawn for the men in her family? Joanna’s maternal grandmother, Isabella of Portugal, allegedly suffered from mental illness as well and was sent to a convent. This was then sent to her parents which further humiliated Joanna and distressed her mother, Isabella. Joan and John Manuel shared the same grandmothers, who were sisters: Joanna I and Maria, daughters of Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon. In 1496 at the age of sixteen, Joanna was betrothed to Philip “The Handsome” of Austria and disembarked in August of that year with a fleet of approximately 22,000 people to the Low Countries. They also shared the same two grandfathers: Philip I of Castile and Manuel I of Portugal. From the union of these two crowns modern Spain evolved. Joanna of Castile, sister of Katherine of Aragon, daughter of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, also known as Joanna the Mad, 6 November 1479 – 12 April 1555. Within six days, Philip the Handsome died at the age of 28. 2017, www.tudorsociety.com/madness-juana-castile/. Nobody had expected this, least of all her. Upon the death of Isabella of Castile in November 1504, Joanna became Queen regnant of Castile, and her husband de jure uxoris King; Joanna's father, Ferdinand, lost his title of 'King of Castile', although his wife's will permitted him to govern the country in Joanna's absence, or, if Joanna was unwilling to rule it herself, until Charles reached the age of 20. Joanna of Castile's brothers : Joanna has 2 brothers: Joanna of Castile's brother, John, is still alive and kicking. The cleric was hardly finished before the couple vanished to their bedroom. She refused to let go of his embalmed body for a really long time. John died at 19. When Joanna was roughly two years old in 1464, a schism at the Castilian court agitated for Henry to give up Joanna’s right to the throne in favor of either his half-brother Alfonso, who was 10 or 11 years old, and then to Henry’s half-sister Isabella, who was about 13 years old. Although she had not been raised to be a monarch, she ended up with the throne after a series of deaths in the royal family left her as the successor. However, Isabella severely disliked and distrusted Phillip and the influence he wielded over her vulnerable daughter, so she ensured that her will would allow Joanna to rule Castile with her husband, Ferdinand, as regent until her heir reached twenty years of age. Author has 989 answers and 1.9M answer views It was because Joanna was next in line for the throne after the death of her other two siblings. She would often open his casket so she could embrace and kiss him. She was however, one of the most educated women in Europe and described as a great beauty. On top of her older siblings, Joanna had two younger sisters: Maria and Catherine, who would be known to history as Catherine of Aragon. All of them became emperors or queens. Prince of Asturias; Joanna of Castile - Biography . Joanna of Castile's sister, Katherine of Aragon, died on January 7, 1536 as he was 50 years old. 2. That same year, Joanna suffered a mental breakdown and Philip would repeatedly desert her as punishment for heated arguments. Child. The consecutive deaths made Joanna the heiress to the throne of Castile, León, and Aragon. Joanna of Castile - Biography. Joanna was born in 1479 in Toledo, Spain, and she was one of six children. Sadly, in 1525, Catalina was stolen way in the night and married off to King Juan III of Portugal. This infuriated Joanna’s husband, who reacted by minting coins that presented them as the king and the queen. Joanna of Castile, also known as “Joanna, the Mad” (or “Juana La Loca” in Spanish), was the queen of Castile and Aragon. When her father died in 1454, her half-brother ascended to the throne as King Henry IV of Castile. Modern Spain evolved from the union of these two crowns. 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