Cat's Historical Doodles

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 worsh...

Maria of Aragon was born on 29 June 1482, in Córdoba. She was the third surviving daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. She had three older siblings (Isabella, John and Joanna ) and a younger sister ( Catherine ). As an Infanta of Spain, her hand in marriage was very important in European politics. Her parents entertained the idea of marrying her off to King James IV of Scotland (this happened at the same time when her younger sister Catherine's marriage to Arthur, Prince of Wales, was being planned). Ferdinand and Isabella thought that if Maria was Queen of Scotland, then the two sisters could keep the peace between their husbands. These plans, however, came to nothing. Her elder sister Isabella, Princess of Asturias, was the first wife of King Manuel I of Portugal, but her death in 1498 created a necessity for Manuel to remarry. Maria was set to become the next bride of the Portuguese King, reaffirming the dynastic links with the Spanish royal hous...

Catherine (Spanish: Catalina; Aragonese: Catarina) was born on the night of 16 December 1485, in Alcalá de Henares, Castile. She was the youngest surviving child of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile. She was a beautiful girl, quite short, with long red hair, big blue eyes, a round face and a fair complexion. Like her sisters, she received the finest education: she studied arithmetic, canon and civil law, classic literature, genealogy and heraldry, history, philosophy, religion and theology. She could speak, read and write in Spanish and Latin, and spoke French and Greek. She was also taught dancing, drawing, embroidery, lace-making, music, sewing, spinning and weaving. Catherine had a strong religious upbringing (her parents were, after all, the Catholic Monarchs) and her Roman Catholic faith would play a major role in her life. At an early age, Catherine was considered a suitable wife for Arthur, Prince of Wales, due to her own English ancestry. At t...

Elizabeth of Aragon (Portuguese: Isabel) was born on 1271 in Zaragoza, Kingdom of Aragon. She was the daughter of Infante Peter of Aragon (later King Peter III) and his wife, Constance of Sicily. She showed early enthusiasm for her faith and religious fervour was common in her family (her great-aunt Elizabeth of Hungary was a saint!). She said the full Divine Office daily, fasted and attended choral masses twice a day. In 1281, when Elizabeth was 10, a marriage was arranged for her; the chosen husband was King Dinis of Portugal . However, the wedding was not celebrated until 1288, when Elizabeth was 17 and Dinis 26. The now Queen of Portugal quietly pursued the religious practices of her youth and was devoted to the sick and the poor. Elizabeth had an active interest in Portuguese politics and was conciliator in the negotiations concerning the Treaty of Alcañices, signed by her husband and King Sancho IV of Castile in 1297. Dinis and Elizabeth would have two children: Cons...