Joanna of Castile facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joanna I
Portrait by Juan de Flandes, c. 1500
Queen of Castile
Reign	26 November 1504 – 12 April 1555
Predecessors	Isabella I and Ferdinand V
Successor	Charles I
Co-monarchs	Philip I Charles I
Regents	See Ferdinand V & II (1504–1506; 1507–1516)
Queen of Aragon
Reign	23 January 1516 – 12 April 1555
Predecessor	Ferdinand II
Successor	Charles I
Co-monarch	Charles I
Born	6 November 1479 Toledo, Castile
Died	12 April 1555(1555-04-12) (aged 75) Tordesillas, Castile
Burial	Capilla Real, Granada, Castile
Spouse	Philip I of Castile ​ ​ (m. 1496; died 1506)​
Issue	Eleanor, Queen of France and Portugal Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Isabella, Queen of Denmark Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor Mary, Queen of Hungary Catherine, Queen of Portugal
House	Trastámara
Father	Ferdinand II of Aragon
Mother	Isabella I of Castile
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Joanna I (born 6 November 1479 – died 12 April 1555) was a powerful queen in Spain. She was known as Joanna the Mad (Juana la Loca in Spanish). She became Queen of Castile in 1504 and Queen of Aragon in 1516. These two kingdoms later joined to form modern Spain.

Joanna married Philip the Handsome, who was an Archduke of Austria, in 1496. She became the heir to the thrones of Castile and Aragon after her older brother, sister, and nephew died. When her mother, Queen Isabella I, passed away in 1504, Joanna became Queen of Castile.

However, her father, King Ferdinand II of Aragon, took control as governor. In 1506, her husband Philip became King of Castile. This started the rule of the Habsburg family in Spain. Philip died that same year. Even though Joanna was the ruling Queen, she had little power. Her father declared her unable to rule and kept her confined. He ruled as regent until he died in 1516. After his death, she also inherited his kingdom of Aragon. From 1516, her son Charles I ruled as king, and she was technically a co-monarch. But she remained confined until her death in 1555.

Early Life and Royal Family

Joanna with her parents, Isabella and Ferdinand, around 1482.

Joanna was born in the city of Toledo, in the Kingdom of Castile. She was the third child and second daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. Both her parents were from the House of Trastámara, a royal family. Joanna had fair skin, blue eyes, and reddish-blonde hair, like her mother and her sister Catherine.

Her brothers and sisters were:

• Isabella, Queen of Portugal
• John, Prince of Asturias
• Maria, Queen of Portugal
• Catherine, Queen of England

Education and Skills

Joanna received a very good education. She was trained for an important royal marriage. Such marriages helped expand the kingdom's power and keep peace with other countries. As a young princess, she was not expected to become queen. But due to several deaths, she later inherited both thrones.

Her studies included law, history, languages, and math. She read works by famous Christian and Roman writers. Her main teachers were a priest named Andrés de Miranda and a lady from the queen's court, Beatriz Galindo. Her mother, Queen Isabella, also taught her.

Joanna's royal training also covered court manners, dancing, drawing, and horse riding. She learned music and needlework like embroidery. She spoke several Spanish languages, and she was fluent in French and Latin. She also enjoyed outdoor activities like hunting. She was good at dancing and played instruments like the clavichord and guitar.

Her Marriage to Philip

Joanna around the time of her marriage, c. 1496.

The marriage contract of Joanna and Philip (1496).

In 1496, when Joanna was sixteen, she was arranged to marry Philip of Flanders. He was eighteen years old. Philip's parents were Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Duchess Mary of Burgundy. This marriage was part of a plan to connect the Habsburg family with Joanna's family, the Trastámaras. This alliance aimed to make both families stronger against the growing power of France.

Joanna had a special "proxy marriage" ceremony in Valladolid, Castile. This meant someone stood in for Philip. In August 1496, Joanna left Spain from the port of Laredo. She sailed to Flanders, which included parts of modern-day Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Germany. The official wedding took place on 20 October 1496 in Lier, Belgium. Between 1498 and 1507, Joanna and Philip had six children. All of them grew up to become emperors or queens.

Becoming Heir to the Throne

Joanna's older brother, John, Prince of Asturias, died in 1497. His baby daughter was stillborn. Then, Joanna's older sister Isabella and Isabella's son Miguel also died. These sad events meant that Joanna became the next in line to the Spanish thrones. Her younger sisters were Maria (born 1482) and Catherine (born 1485).

In 1502, the Castilian parliament, called the Cortes, officially recognized Joanna as the heir to the Castilian throne. Her husband Philip was named her royal partner. She received the title of Princess of Asturias, which was given to the heir of Castile. The Aragonese Cortes also swore loyalty to Joanna as heir that same year.

In 1502, Philip, Joanna, and many people from their court traveled to Toledo. This was so Joanna could be formally accepted by the Cortes of Castile as the Princess of Asturias. Philip and most of the court returned to the Low Countries the next year. Joanna stayed in Madrid, where she gave birth to her fourth child, Ferdinand. He later became a Holy Roman Emperor.

Becoming Queen of Spain

This portrait of Joanna was done in Flanders, c. 1500.

Queen of Castile

Taking the Throne

When her mother died in November 1504, Joanna became the Queen regnant of Castile. Her husband Philip became king alongside her in 1506. Joanna's father, Ferdinand II, lost his power in Castile. Her mother's will said he could govern only if Joanna was absent or unwilling to rule.

Ferdinand did not accept this. He made coins with his and Joanna's names on them. In 1505, he convinced the Cortes that Joanna was too ill to govern. So, the Cortes named Ferdinand as Joanna's guardian and the kingdom's administrator.

Philip, Joanna's husband, also wanted to rule Castile. He made his own coins with his and Joanna's names. In response, Ferdinand decided to make an alliance with France. He married Germaine de Foix, the niece of the French king. He hoped they would have a son to inherit Aragon and perhaps Castile.

Ferdinand's new marriage made more people support Philip and Joanna in Castile. In late 1505, Philip and Joanna decided to travel to Castile. Their ships were damaged on the English coast in January 1506. They stayed with Henry, Prince of Wales (later King Henry VIII) and Joanna's sister Catherine of Aragon at Windsor Castle. They finally left England in April.

Philip and Joanna landed in Spain on April 26. Many Castilian nobles then stopped supporting Ferdinand. Ferdinand met Philip in June 1506. To everyone's surprise, Ferdinand agreed to give the government of Castile to his "most beloved children." He promised to go back to Aragon. Philip and Ferdinand then secretly signed another agreement. It said that Joanna's "illnesses" made her unable to rule. They agreed to keep her out of government and take away her crown and freedom.

However, Ferdinand quickly changed his mind about the secret agreement. He said Joanna should never lose her rights as Queen of Castile. A few weeks later, Ferdinand left Castile for Aragon. He left Philip to govern in Joanna's place.

Joanna the Mad Holding Vigil over the Coffin of Her Late Husband, Philip the Handsome. Painting by Francisco Pradilla Ortiz, 1877

Philip's Death

The Castilian parliament met in Valladolid in July 1506. On July 12, they swore loyalty to Philip I and Joanna as King and Queen of Castile and León. They also swore loyalty to their son Charles as their heir. This arrangement lasted only a few months.

On 25 September 1506, Philip died after a five-day illness in Burgos, Castile. The official cause was typhoid fever. Joanna was pregnant with their sixth child, a daughter named Catherine.

By December 1506, Joanna was trying to rule Castile by herself. But the country fell into chaos. Her son Charles was only six years old and living in Flanders. Her father, Ferdinand II, stayed in Aragon. A group of leaders, led by Archbishop Cisneros, set up a council to rule. But they could not control the growing problems. A plague and famine swept through the kingdom. Joanna could not get the money she needed to protect her power. Because of this, Ferdinand II returned to Castile in July 1507. His arrival seemed to calm the country.

Her Father's Rule

Joanna and her husband with their Spanish subjects.

Ferdinand II and Joanna met in Castile on 30 July 1507. Ferdinand then forced her to give him power over the Kingdom of Castile and León. On 17 August 1507, royal officials were told to inform the nobles that Ferdinand II was back in power. Joanna made it clear this was against her will. She refused to sign the orders and stated that she did not agree to give up her royal powers.

However, after this, she was queen only in name. All official documents were signed with Ferdinand's name, "I the King." The Cortes of Castile named him administrator of the kingdom in 1510. He put Archbishop Cisneros in charge of the government. Ferdinand had Joanna confined in the Royal Palace in Tordesillas in February 1509. He removed all her loyal servants and replaced them with people who reported only to him.

First Queen of All Spanish Kingdoms

Becoming Queen of Aragon

Ferdinand II died in 1516. His second marriage had not produced a son who lived. This meant his daughter Joanna was his heir. Ferdinand was unhappy that Castile and Aragon would go to his grandson Charles I, who was born and raised outside Spain. He had hoped his younger grandson, Ferdinand I, who grew up in Castile, would take over.

Ferdinand II had named Ferdinand as his heir in his will. But he was convinced to change it and name Joanna and Charles I instead. When Ferdinand II died in 1516, the Kingdoms of Castile and León, and Aragon, along with their territories, passed to Joanna I and Charles I. Charles I was still in Flanders. Aragon was ruled by Ferdinand II's son, Alonso de Aragón. Castile and León were ruled by Archbishop Cisneros as regent. Some nobles tried to make the younger Ferdinand king of Castile, but it failed.

Her Son as Co-Monarch

In October 1517, seventeen-year-old Charles I arrived in Spain. On 4 November, he and his sister Eleanor met their mother Joanna at Tordesillas. There, they got her permission for Charles to rule as her co-King of Castile, León, and Aragon. Even though she agreed, she remained confined. The Castilian Cortes showed their disapproval of Charles by calling him only "Your Highness" and saving "Majesty" for Joanna. However, no one truly believed Joanna could rule.

In 1519, Charles I ruled the Kingdom of Aragon and its lands, and the Kingdom of Castile and León and its lands, all together. That same year, Charles was also chosen as Holy Roman Emperor. The kingdoms of Castile and Aragon remained united under one ruler until the early 1700s. Charles later gave up his title as Holy Roman Emperor to his brother Ferdinand.

The Revolt of the Comuneros

In 1520, the Revolt of the Comuneros began. People were unhappy about the foreign influence of Charles V's Habsburg family in Castile. The rebels wanted Castile to be governed in the old ways. To make their rebellion seem legal, the Comuneros turned to Joanna. If she had given written approval, the rebellion would have been legal and might have won.

To stop this, a bishop named Don Antonio de Rojas Manrique visited Joanna. He asked her to sign a document against the Comuneros. She hesitated. Before she could decide, the Comuneros took over Tordesillas and asked for her support.

Adrian of Utrecht, who was Charles V's regent, said that Charles would lose Castile if Joanna supported the rebels. Joanna felt sympathy for the Comuneros. But her advisors convinced her that supporting the revolt would harm the country and her son's rule. So, she refused to sign a document supporting them. The Battle of Villalar later confirmed that Charles would win against the revolt.

Her Confinement Continues

Charles made sure his power was secure by keeping his mother confined for the rest of her life. She stayed in the Royal Palace in Tordesillas, Castile. Joanna's health and state of mind seemed to get worse. She reportedly believed some of the nuns caring for her wanted to kill her, though this was never proven. It was said she had trouble eating, sleeping, bathing, or changing her clothes. Charles wrote to her caretakers, telling them to make sure no one spoke with her.

Joanna had her youngest daughter, Catherine of Austria, with her during her father Ferdinand II's rule (1507–1516). Her older daughter, Eleanor of Austria, had created a sense of a home within the palace rooms. In her final years, Joanna's physical health declined quickly, and moving around became very difficult.

The Capilla Real in Granada, where Joanna is entombed.

Joanna died on 12 April 1555, at the age of 75, in the Royal Palace at Tordesillas. She is buried in the Royal Chapel of Granada in Spain. She rests there with her parents, Isabella I and Ferdinand II, her husband Philip I, and her nephew Miguel da Paz.

Discussions About Her Mental Health

When Joanna was young, she was known to be very smart. Claims that she was "mad" are still debated by historians. The first ideas about her mental health problems appeared only after her marriage. Some historians think she might have had melancholia (a type of depression), a psychosis, or an inherited form of schizophrenia. However, it is also possible that her husband Philip and his father, Maximilian I, wanted her to be declared ill or unable to rule. They would gain power if she was seen as unfit.

Stories about her mental illness are also linked to her grandmother, Isabella of Portugal, Queen of Castile. Isabella was confined to a castle after her husband died.

Children of Joanna and Philip

The children of Phillip and Joanna.

All of Joanna's children except Mary had children of their own. Today, only Charles, Isabella, and Ferdinand have descendants.

Images for kids

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  Coat of arms as consort of Philip the Handsome

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  Coat of arms as consort and Princess of Asturias and Girona

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  Coat of arms as Queen of Castile

See also

In Spanish: Juana I de Castilla para niños