Ghanima Atreides (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
atreideslioness) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2018-11-21 01:26 pm
atreideslioness) wrote in fandomhigh2018-11-21 01:26 pm
Entry tags:
Mad Kings & Queens: Raving Royals and How To Survive Them (Wednesday, 2nd Period)
"My apologies for being absent recently," Ghanima said, once everyone had arrived. "I was required for matters of state at home."
Also, spoiling her niece.
"Today, we cover Juana I de Castilla. Queen of Castile and León, Queen of Aragon, Duchess of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant, Limburg and Lothier, Duchess of Luxemburg, Margravine of Namur, Countess of Artois and Flanders, Countess of Charolais, Countess of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland."
"Today is a lesson on love, lust, and power. Never confuse them with each other."
"Queen Juana I of Castile was highly-strung and physically addicted to her dashing but adulterous husband, Philip the Handsome of Austria. Her passionate ardor was to grow wildly out of control, leading to profound jealousy, mental instability, and deranged antics that earned her the title of "Juana la Loca," or "Joan the Mad," " Ghanima said.
"As a child, Juana was sullen, moody, and solitary. Some interpreted her reclusive and haughty behavior as the hallmarks of natural majestic dignity," Ghanima smiled slightly, "of which there really is no such thing, but those close to her were disturbed to recognize in her moods a resemblance to her grandmother, the Queen Isabel of Portugal. If you've already picked-up on the similarities between the two, congratulations. It just gets worse."
"At the age of sixteen, Juana was sipped off to Flanders to marry the only son of Emperor Maximilian I, the tall, dark, and dashing Philip. By all reports, the couple were instantly attracted to one another, and enjoyed an actively carnal relationship."
"The passion reputedly soon grew one-sided however, with Philip quickly reverting to his pastimes of feasting, drinking, and bed-hopping. Juana, incensed by his unfaithfulness, flew into uncontrollable rages, spending her nights pounding on the walls of her bedchamber. Philip refused to countenance her behavior, and punished her further by withdrawing all conjugal visits. Frustrated and increasingly unbalanced, Juana grew more hysterical the more Philip withdrew."
"The death of her only brother John, Prince of Asturias, her eldest sister Isabella of Asturias, Queen of Portugal, and then of the latter's infant son Miguel, Prince of Asturias, made Joanna the heiress of the Spanish kingdoms. Her only living siblings were Maria of Aragon and Catherine of Aragon, three and six years younger than Joanna. In 1502 the Castilian Cortes of Toro recognized Joanna as legitimate heiress to the Castilian throne, and Philip as her legitimate consort. She was then named Princess of Asturias, the title traditionally given to the heir of Castile. On receiving a cold reception from her mother, and with a husband desperate to return to his harem, a heavily pregnant Juana sunk further into despondency and irrationality. She supposedly lashed out at servants, kicking, screaming, and biting, and she hurled insults. Her family locked Juana in the Castle of La Mota, and Philip happily returned to Flanders without her."
"Imprisoned and pining for her husband, Juana's obsession grew. After giving birth, she managed to escape and make her way back to Flanders, abandoning her infant son. She arrived home to find her husband in bed with another mistress, and Juana snapped. She attacked the other woman, hacking off her hair and beating her."
"When Juana's mother died, she became the Queen of Castile. Pregnant again, the new queen traveled back to Spain to claim her inheritance, taking Philip with her," Ghanima said. "Juana wanted him as far from his mistresses as possible."
"Upon the death of her mother in November 1504, Joanna became Queen regnant of Castile and her husband jure uxoris its king. Joanna's father, Ferdinand II, lost his monarchical status in Castile although his wife's will permitted him to govern in Joanna's absence or, if Joanna was unwilling to rule herself, until Joanna's heir reached the age of 20."
"Ferdinand refused to accept this; he minted Castilian coins in the name of "Ferdinand and Joanna, King and Queen of Castile, León and Aragon," and, in early 1505, persuaded the Cortes that Joanna's "illness is such that the said Queen Doña Joanna our Lady cannot govern". The Cortes then appointed Ferdinand as Joanna's guardian and the kingdom's administrator and governor."
"Joanna's husband, Philip the Handsome, was unwilling to accept any threat to his chances of ruling Castile and also minted coins in the name of "Philip and Joanna, King and Queen of Castile, Léon and Archdukes of Austria, etc." In late 1505, the pair decided to travel to Castile. Leaving Flanders on 10 January 1506, their ships were wrecked on the English coast and the couple were guests of Henry, Prince of Wales, later Henry VIII and Joanna's sister Catherine of Aragon at Windsor Castle. They weren't able to leave until 21 April by which time civil war was looming in Castile."
"Philip apparently considered landing in Andalusia and summoning the nobles to take up arms against Ferdinand in Aragon. Instead, he and Joanna landed at A Coruña on 26 April, whereupon the Castilian nobility abandoned Ferdinand en masse. Ferdinand met Philip at Villafáfila on 27 of June 1506 for private interview in the village church. To the general surprise Ferdinand had unexpectedly handed over the government of Castile to his "most beloved children", promising to retire to Aragon. Philip and Ferdinand then signed a second treaty secretly, agreeing that Joanna's "infirmities and sufferings" made her incapable of ruling and promising to exclude her from government and deprive the Queen of crown and freedom."
"Ferdinand promptly repudiated the second agreement the same afternoon, declaring that Joanna should never be deprived of her rights as Queen Proprietress of Castile. A fortnight later, having come to no fresh agreement with Philip and thus effectively retaining his right to interfere if he considered his daughter's rights to have been infringed upon, he abandoned Castile for Aragon, leaving Philip to govern in Joanna's stead." Ghanima had a brittle smile. "Men."
"By virtue of the agreement of Villafáfila, the procurators of Cortes met in Valladolid on 9 July. On 12 July, they swore Philip and Juana together as kings, and their son Charles as their inheritor." Ghanima drew the family tree out on the wipeboard as she spoke. "This arrangement did not last long.
On 25 September 1506 Philip died suddenly of typhus fever in Burgos. The general opinion publicly declared was that his father-in-law Ferdinand II, who had always disliked his foreign Habsburg origins and with whom he never wanted to share power, had had him poisoned by bocado. Joanna, pregnant with her sixth child, was inconsolable."
"They say that the lovestruck queen reportedly refused to be parted from her husband's body, and several times after he was entombed, she had his coffin opened to view his remains. When she fled the town of Burgos to escape the plague, she brought his coffin with her. She continued to open it on a regular basis to make sure he was still there, and on one occasion began to kiss his rotting corpse. When he daughter Catarina was born, Juana seized upon her as the final reminder of Philip, and guarded the child jealously, placing her in a locked tower in the castle of Tordesillas."
"In reality, By 20 December 1506 Joanna was in the village of Torquemada in Castile, attempting to exercise her rights to rule alone in her own name as Queen of Castile. The country fell into disorder. Her son and heir-apparent, Charles, later Charles I, was a six-year-old child being raised in his aunt's care in northern European Flanders; her father, Ferdinand II, remained in Aragon, allowing the crisis to grow."
"A regency council under Archbishop Cisneros was set up, against the queen's orders, but it was unable to manage the growing public disorder; plague and famine devastated the kingdom with supposedly half the population perishing of one or the other. The queen was unable to secure the funds required to assist her to protect her power. In the face of this, Ferdinand II returned to Castile in July 1507. His arrival coincided with a remission of the plague and famine, a development which quieted the instability and left an impression that his return had restored the health of the kingdom."
"Ferdinand II and Joanna met at Hornillos, Castile on 30 July 1507. Ferdinand then constrained her to yield up her power over the Kingdom of Castile and León to himself. On 17 August 1507 three members of the royal council were summoned - supposedly in her name - and ordered to inform the grandees, of her father Ferdinand II's return to power: "That they should go to receive his highness and serve him as they would her person and more." However she made it evident that this was against her will by refusing to sign the instructions and issuing a statement that as queen regnant she did not endorse the surrender of her own royal powers."
"Nonetheless, she was thereafter queen in name only and all documents, though issued in her name, were signed with Ferdinand's signature, "I the King". He was named administrator of the kingdom by the Cortes of Castile in 1510, and entrusted the government mainly to Archbishop Cisneros. He had Joanna confined in the Royal Palace in Tordesillas, near Valladolid in Castile, in February 1509 after having dismissed all of her faithful servants and having appointed a small retinue accountable to him alone."
In October 1517, seventeen-year-old Charles I arrived in Asturias at the Bay of Biscay. On 4 November, he and his sister Eleanor met their mother Joanna at Tordesillas – there they secured from her the necessary authorisation to allow Charles to rule as her co-King of Castile and León and of Aragon. Despite her acquiescence to his wishes her confinement would continue. The Castilian Cortes, meeting in Valladolid, spited Charles by addressing him only as Su Alteza -- Your Highness -- and reserving Majestad -- Majesty -- for Joanna."
"Juana was ultimately declared incapable of assuming the monarchy, and both her father and oldest son ruled in her stead. After one visit, her son Charles advised she never be allowed in public again." Ghanima shook her head. "At least, that's the popular myth that's spread in many textbooks."
"Despite legally being the Queen of Spain, she languished alone in her windowless castle tower for nearly forty years before dying. It was only after her marriage that the first suspicions of mental illness arose. Some historians comment that she may have suffered from melancholia, a depressive disorder, a psychosis, or a case of inherited schizophrenia. Because claims of mental illness caused or aggravated by her confinement and control by others who had assumed her royal powers to legitimise the claims of her husband, father, and son to the throne, Joanna was nominalised as Queen regnant of Castile, León, and Aragon until her death."
"The State papers tell a story of a Queen who was the unfortunate victim of family jealousies. Decoded letters that passed between the Marquis and Marchioness of Denia, her "wardens", and King Ferdinand, cover the decades of incarceration in the Castle of Tordesillas and report the use of torture to force compliance. For many years the Queen dreamed of rescue by her son, Charles I. In this she was sorely disappointed, for, just as it suited Ferdinand, her "madness" legitimized Charles's rule, and so she would remain a prisoner and continue her miserable existence for many years more until her death. Close kinship offered no protection against pitiless and ruthless ambition, rather the contrary."
"She is entombed in the Capilla Real of Granada, alongside her parents, her husband, and her nephew Miguel. Between 1498 and 1507 she gave birth to six children, two emperors and four queens. And yet, in the end, Juana lost everything she loved."
Also, spoiling her niece.
"Today, we cover Juana I de Castilla. Queen of Castile and León, Queen of Aragon, Duchess of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant, Limburg and Lothier, Duchess of Luxemburg, Margravine of Namur, Countess of Artois and Flanders, Countess of Charolais, Countess of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland."
"Today is a lesson on love, lust, and power. Never confuse them with each other."
"Queen Juana I of Castile was highly-strung and physically addicted to her dashing but adulterous husband, Philip the Handsome of Austria. Her passionate ardor was to grow wildly out of control, leading to profound jealousy, mental instability, and deranged antics that earned her the title of "Juana la Loca," or "Joan the Mad," " Ghanima said.
"As a child, Juana was sullen, moody, and solitary. Some interpreted her reclusive and haughty behavior as the hallmarks of natural majestic dignity," Ghanima smiled slightly, "of which there really is no such thing, but those close to her were disturbed to recognize in her moods a resemblance to her grandmother, the Queen Isabel of Portugal. If you've already picked-up on the similarities between the two, congratulations. It just gets worse."
"At the age of sixteen, Juana was sipped off to Flanders to marry the only son of Emperor Maximilian I, the tall, dark, and dashing Philip. By all reports, the couple were instantly attracted to one another, and enjoyed an actively carnal relationship."
"The passion reputedly soon grew one-sided however, with Philip quickly reverting to his pastimes of feasting, drinking, and bed-hopping. Juana, incensed by his unfaithfulness, flew into uncontrollable rages, spending her nights pounding on the walls of her bedchamber. Philip refused to countenance her behavior, and punished her further by withdrawing all conjugal visits. Frustrated and increasingly unbalanced, Juana grew more hysterical the more Philip withdrew."
"The death of her only brother John, Prince of Asturias, her eldest sister Isabella of Asturias, Queen of Portugal, and then of the latter's infant son Miguel, Prince of Asturias, made Joanna the heiress of the Spanish kingdoms. Her only living siblings were Maria of Aragon and Catherine of Aragon, three and six years younger than Joanna. In 1502 the Castilian Cortes of Toro recognized Joanna as legitimate heiress to the Castilian throne, and Philip as her legitimate consort. She was then named Princess of Asturias, the title traditionally given to the heir of Castile. On receiving a cold reception from her mother, and with a husband desperate to return to his harem, a heavily pregnant Juana sunk further into despondency and irrationality. She supposedly lashed out at servants, kicking, screaming, and biting, and she hurled insults. Her family locked Juana in the Castle of La Mota, and Philip happily returned to Flanders without her."
"Imprisoned and pining for her husband, Juana's obsession grew. After giving birth, she managed to escape and make her way back to Flanders, abandoning her infant son. She arrived home to find her husband in bed with another mistress, and Juana snapped. She attacked the other woman, hacking off her hair and beating her."
"When Juana's mother died, she became the Queen of Castile. Pregnant again, the new queen traveled back to Spain to claim her inheritance, taking Philip with her," Ghanima said. "Juana wanted him as far from his mistresses as possible."
"Upon the death of her mother in November 1504, Joanna became Queen regnant of Castile and her husband jure uxoris its king. Joanna's father, Ferdinand II, lost his monarchical status in Castile although his wife's will permitted him to govern in Joanna's absence or, if Joanna was unwilling to rule herself, until Joanna's heir reached the age of 20."
"Ferdinand refused to accept this; he minted Castilian coins in the name of "Ferdinand and Joanna, King and Queen of Castile, León and Aragon," and, in early 1505, persuaded the Cortes that Joanna's "illness is such that the said Queen Doña Joanna our Lady cannot govern". The Cortes then appointed Ferdinand as Joanna's guardian and the kingdom's administrator and governor."
"Joanna's husband, Philip the Handsome, was unwilling to accept any threat to his chances of ruling Castile and also minted coins in the name of "Philip and Joanna, King and Queen of Castile, Léon and Archdukes of Austria, etc." In late 1505, the pair decided to travel to Castile. Leaving Flanders on 10 January 1506, their ships were wrecked on the English coast and the couple were guests of Henry, Prince of Wales, later Henry VIII and Joanna's sister Catherine of Aragon at Windsor Castle. They weren't able to leave until 21 April by which time civil war was looming in Castile."
"Philip apparently considered landing in Andalusia and summoning the nobles to take up arms against Ferdinand in Aragon. Instead, he and Joanna landed at A Coruña on 26 April, whereupon the Castilian nobility abandoned Ferdinand en masse. Ferdinand met Philip at Villafáfila on 27 of June 1506 for private interview in the village church. To the general surprise Ferdinand had unexpectedly handed over the government of Castile to his "most beloved children", promising to retire to Aragon. Philip and Ferdinand then signed a second treaty secretly, agreeing that Joanna's "infirmities and sufferings" made her incapable of ruling and promising to exclude her from government and deprive the Queen of crown and freedom."
"Ferdinand promptly repudiated the second agreement the same afternoon, declaring that Joanna should never be deprived of her rights as Queen Proprietress of Castile. A fortnight later, having come to no fresh agreement with Philip and thus effectively retaining his right to interfere if he considered his daughter's rights to have been infringed upon, he abandoned Castile for Aragon, leaving Philip to govern in Joanna's stead." Ghanima had a brittle smile. "Men."
"By virtue of the agreement of Villafáfila, the procurators of Cortes met in Valladolid on 9 July. On 12 July, they swore Philip and Juana together as kings, and their son Charles as their inheritor." Ghanima drew the family tree out on the wipeboard as she spoke. "This arrangement did not last long.
On 25 September 1506 Philip died suddenly of typhus fever in Burgos. The general opinion publicly declared was that his father-in-law Ferdinand II, who had always disliked his foreign Habsburg origins and with whom he never wanted to share power, had had him poisoned by bocado. Joanna, pregnant with her sixth child, was inconsolable."
"They say that the lovestruck queen reportedly refused to be parted from her husband's body, and several times after he was entombed, she had his coffin opened to view his remains. When she fled the town of Burgos to escape the plague, she brought his coffin with her. She continued to open it on a regular basis to make sure he was still there, and on one occasion began to kiss his rotting corpse. When he daughter Catarina was born, Juana seized upon her as the final reminder of Philip, and guarded the child jealously, placing her in a locked tower in the castle of Tordesillas."
"In reality, By 20 December 1506 Joanna was in the village of Torquemada in Castile, attempting to exercise her rights to rule alone in her own name as Queen of Castile. The country fell into disorder. Her son and heir-apparent, Charles, later Charles I, was a six-year-old child being raised in his aunt's care in northern European Flanders; her father, Ferdinand II, remained in Aragon, allowing the crisis to grow."
"A regency council under Archbishop Cisneros was set up, against the queen's orders, but it was unable to manage the growing public disorder; plague and famine devastated the kingdom with supposedly half the population perishing of one or the other. The queen was unable to secure the funds required to assist her to protect her power. In the face of this, Ferdinand II returned to Castile in July 1507. His arrival coincided with a remission of the plague and famine, a development which quieted the instability and left an impression that his return had restored the health of the kingdom."
"Ferdinand II and Joanna met at Hornillos, Castile on 30 July 1507. Ferdinand then constrained her to yield up her power over the Kingdom of Castile and León to himself. On 17 August 1507 three members of the royal council were summoned - supposedly in her name - and ordered to inform the grandees, of her father Ferdinand II's return to power: "That they should go to receive his highness and serve him as they would her person and more." However she made it evident that this was against her will by refusing to sign the instructions and issuing a statement that as queen regnant she did not endorse the surrender of her own royal powers."
"Nonetheless, she was thereafter queen in name only and all documents, though issued in her name, were signed with Ferdinand's signature, "I the King". He was named administrator of the kingdom by the Cortes of Castile in 1510, and entrusted the government mainly to Archbishop Cisneros. He had Joanna confined in the Royal Palace in Tordesillas, near Valladolid in Castile, in February 1509 after having dismissed all of her faithful servants and having appointed a small retinue accountable to him alone."
In October 1517, seventeen-year-old Charles I arrived in Asturias at the Bay of Biscay. On 4 November, he and his sister Eleanor met their mother Joanna at Tordesillas – there they secured from her the necessary authorisation to allow Charles to rule as her co-King of Castile and León and of Aragon. Despite her acquiescence to his wishes her confinement would continue. The Castilian Cortes, meeting in Valladolid, spited Charles by addressing him only as Su Alteza -- Your Highness -- and reserving Majestad -- Majesty -- for Joanna."
"Juana was ultimately declared incapable of assuming the monarchy, and both her father and oldest son ruled in her stead. After one visit, her son Charles advised she never be allowed in public again." Ghanima shook her head. "At least, that's the popular myth that's spread in many textbooks."
"Despite legally being the Queen of Spain, she languished alone in her windowless castle tower for nearly forty years before dying. It was only after her marriage that the first suspicions of mental illness arose. Some historians comment that she may have suffered from melancholia, a depressive disorder, a psychosis, or a case of inherited schizophrenia. Because claims of mental illness caused or aggravated by her confinement and control by others who had assumed her royal powers to legitimise the claims of her husband, father, and son to the throne, Joanna was nominalised as Queen regnant of Castile, León, and Aragon until her death."
"The State papers tell a story of a Queen who was the unfortunate victim of family jealousies. Decoded letters that passed between the Marquis and Marchioness of Denia, her "wardens", and King Ferdinand, cover the decades of incarceration in the Castle of Tordesillas and report the use of torture to force compliance. For many years the Queen dreamed of rescue by her son, Charles I. In this she was sorely disappointed, for, just as it suited Ferdinand, her "madness" legitimized Charles's rule, and so she would remain a prisoner and continue her miserable existence for many years more until her death. Close kinship offered no protection against pitiless and ruthless ambition, rather the contrary."
"She is entombed in the Capilla Real of Granada, alongside her parents, her husband, and her nephew Miguel. Between 1498 and 1507 she gave birth to six children, two emperors and four queens. And yet, in the end, Juana lost everything she loved."
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During the Lecture
Discussion
"Juana remained queen her entire life, but at the mercy of men. You've heard bits of truth sprinkled in with the propaganda... what is a Queen, when her throne is isolation? What is the truth, when you have a conveniently 'mad' grandmother to use against you? If you were Juana, what would you have done to stay out of the tower? Do you think she even had a chance?"
Talk to Ghanima
OOC