Joanna of Castile. Joanna The Mad

Joanna of Castile, known as Joanna The Mad (1479 - 1555) was Queen of Castile, Aragon and Navarre. By marriage, Archduchess of Austria, Duchess of Burgundy and Brabant and Countess of Flanders. On the death of her brothers John and Isabella and her nephew Miguel de la Paz was Princess of Asturias, Princess of Gerona and Princess of Viana. On the death of her mother, Isabella, was sovereign of the Kingdom of Castile: Queen of Castile, Queen of León, Queen of Galicia, Toledo, Cordoba, Granada, Jaén, Murcia, Seville, Gibraltar, the Canary Islands and the West Indies, Lady of Biscay and Molina. On the death of her father, Fernando, was queen of Aragon, Countess of Barcelona, Queen of Valencia, Naples, Mallorca and Sicily. In 1516 she became the first queen of the crowns that make up present-day Spain, however since 1506 was only nominal her power, with her son Charles, the first king of Spain.

Since childhood itself received a careful education of a princess and heiress of Castile unlikely, based on obedience rather than the government. In the strict environment and itinerant court, Joanna was outstanding student in religious behavior, civility, good manners and proper management, the Court, without underestimating arts such as dance and music training as Amazon and and knowledge of own Romance languages ​​of the Iberian Peninsula, as well as French and Latin.

The management of the Princess's house was completely dominated by her parents. The house included religious personnel (confessor, sacristan, beggar and chaplains) Administrative Officers (butlers, waiters, grooms, accountant, treasurer and secretary), food personnel (cooks, crossbowmen hub, steward, baker, pastry chef, butler and tasters), employed persons and protection of health and service staff (maids and slaves) carefully selected by her parents.

Isabella and Fernando negotiated marriages of all their children in order to secure its strategic and diplomatic objectives. Aware Joanna skills and her potential performance in another court, pledged his daughter Joanna with the Archduke Philip.

When Joanna came to the Northland was not received by her fiance. This was due to the opposition of directors of Philip Francophiles to alliances of marriage contract with his father, the Emperor. The atmosphere of the court with the one found Joanna was radically opposed to that she lived in her native Castile. On one hand, the sober, religious and family Castilian court contrasted with the highly individualistic and uninhibited-Flemish Burgundian court very festive and opulent fabrics through trade that dominated their markets for a century and a half.

While future husbands were not known, fell madly in love to be. However, Philip soon lost interest in the relationship, which gave birth to Joanna pathological jealousy. Soon came the children, that worsened Joanna's jealousy. Joanna watched her husband all the time and despite the heavily pregnant with her second pregnancy, she attended a party at the palace of Ghent. That same day she had her son, Charles, in the toilets of the palace.

Dead her brothers, John and Isabella, Joanna became heiress of Castile and Aragon. When in 1503 her husband, Philip, went to Flanders to some business, leaving Joanna in full gestation, it seems that her mental state deteriorated. She decided from Castile with her parents, especially her mother's request because she was worried about her.

Given the obvious mental imbalance of Queen Joanna, Fernando (father), becomes the ruler of the throne of Castile. Queen's dementia became more acute. She did not want to change clothes, she did not wash ... and finally, her father decided to lock her in Tordesillas, to prevent the formation of a political party around his daughter.

In 1516 the King dies Ferdinand and, by his will, becomes Queen Joanna of Aragon, but the Aragonese institutions did not recognize. Meanwhile, her son Charles, benefited from the inability of Joanna, to be crowned King. So that was added to himself royal titles which belonged to his mother. Joanna never been declared incompetent by the courts. While living in official documents should be included in the first place, the name of Joanna. On the death of Ferdinand, exercised the regency on the throne of Castile Cardinal Cisneros until the arrival of Carlos from Flanders. When Charles came to his mother kept locked and ordered that forced her to hear Mass and confession using torture if necessary.

Since her father confined in 1509, Joanna remained in a house / palace / prison until she died in 1555, after 46 years of forced confinement and always dressed in black with only the company of her daughter Catherine (that leave in 1525 to marry King John III of Portugal), anonymous and battered physically and psychologically by their servers. Especially hard were the years of service of the Marquis of Denia, which gave preference to their own daughters before Joanna and Catherine. The Marquis did the job with zeal and efficiency more than would have been necessary, as it seemed to boast in a letter to the emperor. In that letter the Marquis claimed that Queen Joanna constantly complained saying that had enclosed the "prey" and wanted to see the Great of Spain because "they want to complain about how she had" the Emperor should be quiet because he controlled the situation and knew procrastinating to such requests.

She was never allowed to leave the palace, and that despite the plague was declared in the town where she lived.

With her ​​husband Philip I the Handsome had 6 children:

- Leonor. Queen of Portugal, by her marriage to Manuel I of Portugal, and Queen of France by her marriage with Francis I of France.

- Carlos. King of Spain (as Charles I) and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (under the name of Charles V).

- Isabella. Queen of Denmark and the Kalmar Union, by her marriage to Christian II of Denmark.

- Fernando. King of Spain and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

- Mary. Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, wife of Louis II, and Governor of the Netherlands.

- Catherine. Queen of Portugal, wife of John III.

In recent years, mental illness is linked to physics, having great difficulty in the legs, which eventually paralyzed her. Then again speak of religious indifference, reaching even to comment that could be possessed. Therefore, her grandson Philip asked a Jesuit, St. Francis Borgia future, to visit her and find out what was true at all. After speaking with her, the Jesuit said the accusations were unfounded and that, given her mental state, perhaps the queen had not been treated properly. Somewhat later, returned to visit the saint, but this time to comfort at the time of her death. And he did so well, he even said that the queen had reason returned, having found, says St. Francis Borgia, "very different meaning in the things of God that there had known in her Highness'. She died in Tordesillas (Valladolid) on April 12, 1555, at age 75.