Joanna of Castile

Joanna (Spanish: Juana) was born on 6 November 1479, in Toledo. She was the second daughter of Isabella I of Castile and her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon. She had a fair complexion, blue eyes and auburn hair, like her mother and sister, Catherine.

Joanna was an intelligent and diligent child, and she was a great student. Her academic education consisted of canon and civil law, genealogy and heraldry, grammar, history, languages, mathematics, philosophy, reading, spelling and writing. Her education also included court etiquette, dancing, drawing, equestrian skills, good manners, music, embroidery, needlepoint, and sewing. Joanna excelled in all Iberian Romance languages (Castilian, Leonese, Galician-Portuguese and Catalan) and became fluent in French and Latin. Praise was given to her for being a skilled dancer and a talented musician: she played the clavichord, the guitar and the monochord.

In 1495, Joanna showed signs of religious scepticism and little devotion to worship and Catholic rites. Obviously, this alarmed her mother, who had established the Spanish Inquisition in 1478. Indeed, letters of Mosen Luis Ferrer, gentleman of the bedchamber of King Ferdinand, refer to the coercive punishment known as la cuerda, which Joanna was subjected to. This involved being suspended by a rope with weights attached to the feet. Isabella had declared she'd rather se her country depopulated than have it polluted by heresy. Deviance by a child of the Catholic Monarchs would not be tolerated.

In 1496, sixteen-year-old Joanna was betrothed to Philip of Flanders (aka The Handsome). He was the son of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, and his first wife, Duchess Mary of Burgundy. In August of that year, Joanna left from the port of Laredo, in northern Spain. Except for 1506, when she saw her sister Catherine, Joanna would not see her siblings again.
Joanna began her journey to Flanders on 22 August 1496. The formal marriage took place on 20 October 1496, in Lier. Philip would never be a faithful husband and this would drive Joanna into fits of jealousy. Between 1498 and 1507, Joanna gave birth to six children, and they would all grow up to be either emperors or queens: Eleanor (Queen of Portugal and Queen of France), Charles (Holy Roman Emperor), Isabella (Queen of Denmark), Ferdinand (Holy Roman Emperor), Mary (Queen of Hungary and Bohemia), and Catherine (Queen of Portugal).

The death of Joanna's brother John, the stillbirth of John's daughter, and the deaths of Joanna's older sister Isabella and Isabella's son, Miguel, made Joanna heiress to the thrones of Castile and Aragon.
In 1502, the Castilian Cortes recognised Joanna as heiress to the throne, and Philip as her consort. She was given the title of Princess of Asturias. In the same year, the Aragonese Cortes swore an oath to Joanna.

Upon the death of Queen Isabella in November 1504, Joanna became Queen regnant of Castile and her husband its King jure uxoris. Ferdinand II lost his monarchical status in Castile, but he refused to accept it. He minted coins in the name of Ferdinand and Joanna, King and Queen of Castile, León and Aragon. In early 1505, he persuaded the Cortes that Joanna's illness is such that the Queen Doña Joanna our Lady cannot govern. The Cortes then appointed Ferdinand as the Queen's guardian and the Kingdom's administrator and governor.
At the same time, Philip was unwilling to accept any threat to his chance of ruling Castile. He also minted coins in the name of Philip and Joanna, King and Queen of Castile and León, Archdukes of Austria, etc. In response, Ferdinand embarked on a pro-French policy: he married Germaine de Foix, niece of Louis XII of France, in hope that she would produce a son to inherit Aragon and, perhaps, even Castile.

Ferdinand's remarriage only strengthened support for Joanna and Philip. In late 1505, the couple travelled to Castile. Leaving Flanders on 10 January 1506, their ships wrecked on the English coast and the couple were guests of Henry, Prince of Wales (soon to be Henry VIII). They weren't able to leave until 21 April and, by that time, civil war was looming in Castile.
Joanna and Philip arrived in Spain five days later. Ferdinand and his son-in-law met at Villafáfila on 27 June 1506 for a private interview. To the general surprise, Ferdinand handed the govern of Castile to his beloved children, promising to retire to Aragon. They also signed a secret treaty, agreeing that Joanna's infirmities and sufferings made her incapable of ruling and promising to exclude her from government and deprive her of the Crown and her freedom.
Ferdinand repudiated that second agreement in that same afternoon, declaring that Joanna should never be deprived of her rights as Queen. A fortnight later, having come to no agreement with Philip, he abandoned Castile, leaving him to govern in Joanna's stead.
By virtue of the agreement of Villafáfila, the Cortes met in Valladolid, where they swore allegiance to Philip and Joanna together as King and Queen of Castile and León, and to their son Charles as heir apparent. This arrangement lasted only a few months.

On 25 September 1506, after a five-day illness, Philip the Handsome was dead. Joanna, who was pregnant with their sixth child, was devastated.
By 20 December, Joanna had moved to Torquemada and was attempting to exercise her right to rule. The country fell into disorder; her father remained in Aragon, allowing the crisis to grow.
A regency council was set up, but it was unable to manage the growing public disorder. Plague and famine devastated the Kingdom, with half of the population dying from one or the other. The Queen failed to secure the funds required to assist her and protect her powers. In the face of all of this, Ferdinand returned to Castile in July 1507. His arrival coincided with the end of the famine and the plague - it quieted the instability and gave the impression that his return restored the health of the Kingdom.

When Ferdinand and Joanna met, he pressured his daughter to yield up her power to him. Supposedly in Joanna's name, the grandees were informed of Ferdinand's return to power. However, the Queen made it clear this was all against her will by refusing to sign the instructions and issuing a statement that she, as Queen regnant, did not endorse the surrender of her powers.
Nonetheless, from then on, Joanna was Queen in name only. All documents, though issued in her name, were signed by Ferdinand. In 1510, the government was intrusted to Archbishop Cisneros and Joanna was confined to the Santa Clara Convent in Tordesillas. At this time, some accounts claim that she was insane and that she took her husband's corpse with her to keep it close to her.

Ferdinand II ended his days embittered. His marriage to Germaine de Foix failed to produce a son, leaving Joanna as his heiress presumptive. He resented the fact that, after his death, both Castile and Aragon would pass to his foreign-born grandson Charles, to whom he had transferred his hatred of Philip. He wanted his grandson Ferdinand to succeed him, and he actually did name him heir in his will, but he was persuaded to change it back to Joanna and Charles. He died on 23 January 1516.

In October 1517, seventeen year-old Charles arrived in Castile. On 4 November, he and his sister Eleanor met with their mother at Tordesillas. There, they secured the authorisation to allow Charles to rule as her co-King of Castile, León and Aragon. Despite conceding all his wishes, she remained in confinement.

Charles insured domination and the throne by having Joanna confined for the rest of her life in the rooms of the Royal Convent of Santa Clara. Joanna's condition deteriorated: reportedly, it was difficult for her to eat, sleep, bathe, or change her clothes. Charles wrote to the convent It seems to me that the best and most suitable thing for you to do is to make sure that no person speaks with Her Majesty, for no good could come of it.

Joanna, Queen of Castile, León and Aragon, died on Good Friday, 12 April 1555, aged 75. She is buried in the Royal Chapel of Granada, alongside her parents and her husband.

The claims of Joanna's madness as propagated during her lifetime can no longer be entertained. The State papers tell a story of a Queen who was an unfortunate victim of her illustrious birth-right. Decoded letters that passed between the Marquis and Marchioness of Denia (her wardens) and King Ferdinand II cover the decades of incarceration at the Castle of Tordesillas and report the use of torture to force compliance. For many years, Queen Joanna dreamt of rescue by her son, Charles. She was terribly disappointed, for just as it suited Ferdinand, her madness legitimised Charles' rule. And so, Joanna remained a prisoner and continued her miserable existence for many more years until her death.

Joanna of Castile

Master of Affligem

c. 1500