Juana I, Daughter of Isabel
Juana was born on 6 November 1479 as the third child of Isabel and Fernando, and is known as Juana the Mad.
On 20 October 1496, she married Felipe el Hermoso (Philip the Handsome), Archduke of Austria, with whom she had six children. As a result of the deaths of her sister Isabel, her brother Juan, and her nephew Miguel de la Paz, she became the heir to the crowns of Castile and Aragon. After the death of her mother, Isabel, in 1504, she was proclaimed Queen of Castile. Her father, Fernando, assumed the regency, invoking Isabel’s will and arguing that Juana was unfit to rule.
The wedding to Felipe el Hermoso (Philip the Handsome) was held in the Church of Saint Gummarus in Lier. Contemporary sources speak of a fleet of up to 130 ships, carrying thousands of people and enough provisions for everyone. On the way, some ships were lost due to severe weather.
When they saw each other, a spark of love ignited immediately. Without having spoken to each other — they didn’t share a language, after all — they grabbed a priest off the street to officiate the marriage so they could consummate it as quickly as possible. The next day, they were joined in matrimony for a second time during a splendid ceremony.
Already during her stay in the Low Countries, Juana displayed, in the eyes of her contemporaries, signs of unusual behaviour. She openly showed her jealousy over Felipe’s infidelity and made helpless attempts to keep other women away from him. When Felipe died in September 1506, she became, according to some historians, increasingly confused. His body was embalmed and placed in a lead coffin, which Juana had arranged to have placed in her bedroom. Every morning she had the coffin opened, hoping that Felipe might have come back to life. She even took her husband’s body with her when she travelled. At least this is the version that appealed to a wide audience — and still does. Eventually, Juana was declared insane and confined in the Royal Palace of Tordesillas, where she remained even during the reign of her son, Charles I (Charles V).
The true extent of her insanity can no longer be established. The ambitious men around her — her father, her husband, and later also her son — had an interest in this explanation. It paved the way for them to claim the Spanish throne, which rightfully belonged to Juana as her mother’s successor.
Juana received a comprehensive education in Latin, literature, canon and civil law, philosophy, and mathematics. She was also well versed in court etiquette, dancing, horsemanship, and hunting.
Personally — and perhaps this is wishful thinking — I believe that Juana’s madness was somewhat exaggerated, though she certainly helped to fuel the idea that she was insane through her sometimes pathological jealousy. In my view, her rebellious behaviour can largely be explained by the manipulations of her husband, Felipe, and later also by her father, Fernando, and ultimately her son, Carlos. The fact remains that intense jealousy was also present in her mother Isabel, and that her grandmother Isabel of Portugal likewise suffered from mental illness. Further study of this issue, which is certainly significant in Spain, is required. In much of Spain, especially in Tordesillas and the surrounding area, people get angry when you mention Juana la Loca (Juana the Mad). It is Juana la Reina — the Queen.
It should be noted that Juana was the first monarch of the Spanish realm. As Isabel’s daughter, she inherited Castile; as Fernando’s daughter, she inherited Aragon and the other territories over which he ruled. Naturally, the newly discovered colonies fell to her as well, as did the Burgundy of her husband, Felipe. In the end, she was queen of an almost limitless realm without having ruled even a single day.