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...

Teresa (aka Tarasia or Tareja) was born on 4 October 1178 in Coimbra, Portugal. She was the oldest daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal and his wife, Dulce of Aragon. Teresa became Queen of León after her marriage to Alfonso IX of León. They would have three children: Infanta Dulce, Infanta Sancha and Infante Ferdinand. Ferdinand was, at the time, the heir apparent to the throne and remained so until his death, in 1214. However, this marriage was declared invalid because Teresa and Alfonso were first cousins. She returned to Portugal, where she lived at the monastery of Lorvão. This monastery was formerly under Benedictine rule, but Teresa converted it into a Cistercian convent with over 300 nuns. When her father died, Teresa should have received the Castle of Montemor-o-Velho and all the income there produced, as stated in Sancho I's testament. However, her brother (and new king) Afonso II wanted to centralise power and prevented his sister from receiving what was ri...