Mad Kings & Queens, Week III [Monday, Period 4]

[atreideslioness]

"Isabel of Portugal was a beautiful young princess who fell in love with a king, but her marriage was tainted by his weak nature, and her possessive behavior, obsessions, paranoia, and her chronic depression," Ghanima said. "She ended her days alone, hidden away in a bleak tower."



"Isabel is another prime example of inherited instability. Her father, Prince Joao, married his illegitimate brother's daughter, Isabella of Braganza. While inbreeding is often used with animals to cement desirable characteristics, breeding too close can create problems when undesirable characteristics are carried by both parents."

"In 1447, King Juan II of Castile, a widower in his early forties, was keen to find himself and eligible young bride. Alvaro de Luna, the King's closest confidant since childhood, steered him in the direction of the captivating teenage beauty Isabel. Juan was immediately entranced, as Isabel was, by all accounts, a very beautiful and intelligent woman, and he wasted no time in proposing marriage."

"Isabel was soon to discover the extent of her husband's reliance upon Alvaro. He advised when the royal couple should consummate the marriage, how frequently, and upon which occasions they should bed each other," Ghanima said smoothly. Any inappropriate giggling would be met with a glare. ""Isabel was not pleased, for obvious reasons. De Luna was used to running the King and kingdom, and no doubt thought that by choosing a young queen, he could continue to do so."

"He thought wrong."

"Isabel became jealous and possessive, her insecurities stoked by her husband's devotion to another man. De Luna's interference in their sex life drove her into alternating bouts of melancholia and rage, and her wild mood swings began to become more and more prominent."

"In April of 1451, she gave birth to their first child, a daughter that they named Isabel. This experience only aggravated Isabel's depressive tendencies. She began to demonstrate her inclination towards reclusive isolation, which would be a pattern for the rest of her life. Isabel secreted herself away in her apartments, spending her days alone, motionless, and mute, except when in the presence of her husband. Her fears and paranoia about De Luna grew more and more fanatical, and became the focus of frenzied and furious rages."

"Finally, worn down by his wife's bouts of insanity, Juan gave in and approved a plot to oust Alvaro from the court. He was arrested and executed in 1453."

"King Juan never recovered from Alvaro's death. Although Isabel gave birth to a son, Alfonso, later that year, Juan weakened and died in 1454, supposedly of a broken heart. Isabel, only twenty-six, was now a widow."

"Henry, Juan's son by his first wife, was called to assume the crown. After Henry ascended the throne, he sent his stepmother, who was three years younger than himself, and his two little half-siblings to the Castle of Arévalo, a grim and isolated tower, the previous royal grandeur of their lives nothing more than a memory. She remained obsessively true to her late husband, refusing even to be alone in male company, even with her son."

"Her children were soon removed from her care, as Henry deemed them to be at-risk with her deteriorating mental health." Ghanima paused, looking at the students. "I would like to note that Henry, unlike many of his contemporaries did not try to remove his half-siblings because of any threat they might have posed. In fact, many accounts say he was quite fond of them, and was heartbroken when Alfonso died of plague. For every story of a mad king, there is a good one, and you would all do well to remember that."

"Isabel-the-elder, however, was by this time considered quite mad. Now deprived of all company, her depression intensified. She became increasingly disturbed, troubled by disembodied voices. Her haunting paranoia infected all aspects of her life, and eventually she would receive visits from her children only if her face was hidden. This caused the children to become even more estranged, and they eventually stopped visiting completely."

"When her daughter eventually came to visit her on her deathbed, Isabel was incapable of recognizing her. She had spent the last forty-two years of her life completely alone in the tower."



[OOC: You know the rules, wait for the OCD is up, so it's all yours.]

Comments

Sign-In #3

[atreideslioness]

In an isolated fashion

Re: Sign-In #3

[intraspective]

Yamanaka Ino

Re: Sign-In #3

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri Veila

Listen to the Lecture

[atreideslioness]

Take notes, pass notes, wonder what point Ghanima is trying to make...

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[intraspective]

Ino's notes were detailed, and for the most part well thought out today. When she wasn't writing, she was fiddling with her pen and doodling in the margins of her paper.

She was also, as of yet, blissfully unaware of where, exactly, her phone messages had been winding up yesterday.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[weetuskenraider]

Tahiri was actually taking careful notes on all this; it reminded her a little bit of a genderswapped version of the Hapan court.

Although she somehow doubted Ta'a Chume could get away with pulling an Alvaro de Luna on Tenel Ka.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[momslilassassin]

Ben took careful notes.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

Lion-o felt sorry for poor Isabel and her sad story. Once again, he made sure to underline an important point in his notes: "Inbreeding is bad!

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

Liir felt... ill to his stomach. He didn't look up all class long.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[intraspective]

She levelled a long, long glance at the back of his head.

And flicked a wee tiny bit of eraser in his general direction.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[solo_sword]

The topic of isolation was one Jaina was definitely paying attention to, due to having some issues there herself. Though at least she was positive she'd never end up that bad.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[meg-powers.livejournal.com]

Meg listened, wondering if her mother ever felt that isolated in her position.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[walks-two-paths.livejournal.com]

Savannah remembered this story from the first time she took the class, but she was writing notes about it anyway. It was a powerful story -- and so sad.

Discussion

[atreideslioness]

"Nature versus nurture," Ghanima announced, sitting on her desk. "Was Isabel's madness inborn? Was it created by the isolation forced upon her both during and after her marriage? What sort of breaking point would it take for you to follow in her footsteps?"

[OOC: Let pinging chaos reign! Discuss with each other, and start some fun (respectful!) fights!]

Re: Discussion

[intraspective]

"I think," she said, considering it, "that a lot of the underlying issues were always there--I would guess that she'd always been rather obsessive, and controlling, but it was mitigated by the fact that she had, before, been able to have the level of control over her own life, and the details of it, that kept her issues to a manageable level. She wouldn't, I'd say for sure, but the first or the last person with power to like controlling things. So when she got married and found most of her control taken from her--and not through her own folly--it just... ramped up the need for it, and that eventually drove her mad."

"Kinda," she said thoughtfully, "like some poisons, I guess? She was fine 'til her 'dosage' changed. And the isolation didn't help, I wonder what would've happened if she'd been given control of something in the early years of her marriage..."

Re: Discussion

[atreideslioness]

"You don't even need to be in power to want to have some control over your life," Ghanima pointed out even as she nodded in agreement. "Today, it is not uncommon for someone in Isabel's situation to be diagnosed with post-partum depression, and it is widely acknowledged that many of the 'madmen' of antiquity suffered from Obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD can strike anyone really, regardless of rank, but considering the mating habits of the royal families, it's not surprising that it turns up so often in rulers."

Re: Discussion

[raspberryturk]

"I can't say for sure that she was born with the crazy," Reno mused, "I mean, never met her as a kid, you know? But I gotta say, some people do seem more sensitive to that kinda thing than other people, no matter what kinda upbringing they get. Maybe she wouldn't have gone and lost it if the situation she was in was different, but I think someone else might've been able to deal with it better, so it was just as much her as what was goin' on around her, too."

A pause.

"If that makes any sense, yo. That kinda thing, I could handle, but I been handlin' a lot worse than that my whole life, so that ain't sayin' much, either."

Re: Discussion

[new-to-liirness.livejournal.com]

Liir didn't want to answer, didn't want to think on this case at all, but he raised his head eventually even if he kept his eyes down.

"It wasn't any one thing, I don't think. Disposition, situation, isolation."

And he wasn't touching the last with a forty foot pole. It was, after all, his greatest fear.

Talk to the TAs

[atreideslioness]

When they ping in.

Re: Talk to the TAs

[raspberryturk]

Reno was there, looking a little more grouchy and a little more paranoid than usual.

It was entirely possible he was listening to the voices of the other people in class to see if any one of them sounded like the jerks who were phoning him yesterday.

Re: Talk to the TAs

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin was there. And maybe giving certain people in the class a wide eyed look like a kicked puppy. He was beginning to understand Arthur's dislike of the boxes.

HE WOULD NEVER FORGIVE BEN.

Talk to Ghanima

[atreideslioness]

She's around, before and after class.

OOC

[atreideslioness]

Sorry for late, I totes didn't get up until about an hour ago. Whoops.

Syllabus is here, along with ooc info and detention rules.. Sorry it took so long!

Syllabus is also prone to change at teacher's discretion. Because I am easily distracted by shiny.

Re: OOC

[withoutverona]

... OMG, Emperor Norton. I *love* that story.

Re: OOC

[raspberryturk]

YAY VLAD YAY