The Year of Isabella I of Castile- Joanna of Castile, A Regnant Queen (Part two)

Read part one here.

Joanna was the third child of the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. Married to the Philip Duke of Burgundy in 1496, she was destined to live out her days in the Low Countries and bear children for the Habsburg dynasty. Joanna’s life changed suddenly when several family deaths led to her being declared as her parents’ heir. Joanna and Phillip travelled to Spain to be formally proclaimed heirs in 1502, though Philip left his pregnant wife there alone when he was only declared to be a future consort and not a co-monarch.

Joanna was pregnant with her fourth child, so she could not leave for Burgundy with Philip and remained with her parents. Isabella was thrilled to have her daughter home and wished to take the opportunity to teach her how to be queen. Joanna’s child arrived safely on 10 March 1503; this little boy named Ferdinand, in honour of his grandfather, joined three siblings – Eleanor, Charles and Isabella. ¹ 

Joanna remained with her parents for three years in total, returning to her husband in 1504. While she was initially happy to be reunited with Philip, it was not long before he became controlling again, restricting her spending and flaunting his mistresses around the court. Joanna lashed out about these mistresses in public, which proved rumours of her mental instability to be correct in the minds of many.

In November 1504, Joanna had barely settled back into her life with Philip when she heard the devastating news that her mother, Isabella, had died. Joanna was now Queen of Castile. Isabella had clearly been worried about the succession in her final days, as her will reflected concerns about Joanna’s ability to rule. However, we do not know if Isabella was concerned about Joanna’s mental health or Philip taking control of Castile, as there is no explicit detail. What we know is that Isabella wrote that if Joanna “might not like or might be unable to rule”, then King Ferdinand should take over and rule until Joanna’s son Charles reached his majority.²  As Ferdinand was enraged at losing his status as King of Castile upon his wife’s death, he grabbed this opportunity with both hands and began to do everything he could to stop his daughter from ruling in her own right.

In 1505, King Ferdinand convinced the Cortes (part of the government) that Joanna was unfit to govern. He then proceeded to mint coins with his and Joanna’s images on them. By this stage, Ferdinand was acknowledged as Joanna’s guardian by the Cortes, and there was very little Joanna could do as she was overseas.

In 1506, Joanna and Philip embarked on a journey over to Castile, but on the way, they hit rough seas and were shipwrecked off the English coast. They were forced to stay in England for many months due to the weather. Despite the inconvenience, this should have been a great chance for Joanna to spend quality time with her sister, Catherine of Aragon, who was living in England under King Henry VII’s guardianship after her husband Arthur’s death. Joanna and Catherine had grown up with a very close bond but had not seen each other in a long time, and Joanna was keen to see her sister. Sadly, while Philip spent more time at the English court, Joanna was only afforded a few precious hours with Catherine during the whole time she was in England. Philip kept Joanna isolated in order to keep up the idea that she was insane, though Joanna made a great impression on King Henry VII, and he never doubted her sanity. Henry VII said of Joanna, “Although her husband and those who came with him wanting her to be crazy, I only saw her as sane.” ³.

Joanna and Philip finally left for Castile in April 1506, by which time tensions were simmering and civil war seemed inevitable. Seeing their queen arrive in Castile, the people and nobles alike gave up their support for her father, Ferdinand, and backed her and Philip as rulers. Ferdinand shocked everyone by backing down and handing the reins of governance over to Joanna and Philip.

Joanna missed her father and wished desperately to see him, though he made no plans to meet with her in person. However, he soon secretly met with Philip and expressed his wishes that Joanna be excluded entirely from governance. Ferdinand stated that Philip alone should rule over Castile, and any interference from Joanna “would be to the total destruction and perdition of these kingdoms”.⁴. If Joanna even tried to reign as a regnant Queen or to muster support for her cause, Ferdinand and Philip had plans to prevent it. The treaty mentioned Joanna’s “infirmities and sufferings” as a reason for this. ⁵An ambassador noted that “Queen Joanna continues to lead the same life of seclusion.” ⁶ Joanna may have been a Queen in name, but in reality, she was little more than a prisoner and saw only a few servants.

On 25 September 1506, just months after arriving on Spanish soil, Philip suddenly died.⁷ It is believed that he died from typhoid fever, though poisoning was also suspected. Joanna was absolutely devastated at the loss of her husband. Though Philip had been unkind to her, she still loved him, and this unexpected loss was a huge blow. Joanna vowed that she would not bury Philip until she could take his body to the city of Granada, where her mother was buried. As Philip had passed away in Burgos, over 600 km away from Granada, this journey would take over eight months. It was this decision to trek across the country with the corpse of her husband while also pregnant that made many more people doubt Joanna’s sanity.

Stories were circulated that Joanna did not allow female attendants to go near the coffin out of jealousy, and she would often open the coffin and weep over Philip’s corpse.⁸ This is when the nickname “Joanna the mad” or “Juana la loca” really took off.

Part three coming soon.

Sources
J. Fox., Sister Queens: Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile
G. Tremlett., Isabella of Castile- Europe’s First Great Queen
B. Aram, Queen Juana: Legend and History in M Gomez, S Juan-Navarro, P. Zatlin., Juana of Castile- History and Myth of the Mad Queen
E. Gascon Vera., Juana I of Castile, Catherine of Aragon and the Failure of Feminine Power and in the Construction of Empire in M Gomez, S Juan-Navarro, P. Zatlin., Juana of Castile- History and Myth of the Mad Queen

1. Sister Queens: Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile by Julia Fox p.75
2. Sister Queens: Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile by Julia Fox p.102
3. Juana I of Castile, Catherine of Aragon and the Failure of Feminine Power and in the Construction of Empire in M Gomez, S Juan-Navarro, P. Zatlin., Juana of Castile- History and Myth of the Mad Queen p.47
4. Sister Queens: Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile by Julia Fox p.123
5. Sister Queens: Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile by Julia Fox p.124
6. Sister Queens: Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile by Julia Fox p.122
7. Queen Juana: Legend and History in M Gomez, S Juan-Navarro, P. Zatlin., Juana of Castile- History and Myth of the Mad Queen p.35
8. Queen Juana: Legend and History in M Gomez, S Juan-Navarro, P. Zatlin., Juana of Castile- History and Myth of the Mad Queen p.35