Damn, I just hoped that since Franz died rather close to his mother's own death, I kind of hoped that him surviving might have helped Mary survive. But as long as Philip isn't gonna be there, I am content!
La Reina Loca: A Juana I of Castile Timeline
- Thread starter pandizzy
- Start date
Oooh yes, nice to see Maria going to Burgundy in Juana's place, and that she'll have a better husband. Also very much like the dynamic between Juana and her mother, you can tell that she and her siblings were very much in awe of Queen Isabella. Loving this already!
Shame. But I hope that Maria and Franz have better marriage than Juana and Philip.
I am looking forward to seeing how this will all play out. Also I cannot wait to see Manuel and Juana's relationship. I wonder how Maria and Franz will get along. I do hope Isabel will live her best life in the convent of her choice. Any chance butterflies will flap their wings and Arthur will live? Will we be seeing Juan before he dies?
I really hope he will be good to her. In real life he was a good husband to all of his wives.
What's this ? A happy Juana I of Castille? Nice. I'm of the belief that she wasn't actually insane or unstable. She was a passionate, impressionable woman who was emotionally and physically abused by various individual's in her life that she thought she could trust. She deserved better in life than having her lands, titles and authority informally/formally usurped as well as being imprisoned for 45 years.
A living Franz of Burgundy instead of Phillip ? Well, at least Maximilian and Marys line are still alive in Burgundy. You think of the most interesting PODs @pandizzy .
A living Franz of Burgundy instead of Phillip ? Well, at least Maximilian and Marys line are still alive in Burgundy. You think of the most interesting PODs @pandizzy .
October 1495.
Alvor, Portugal. October 1495.
The room was nearly empty, devoid of all those that ought to be there to witness the King’s final moments. He had hurt many hearts in his kingdom, offended many minds and there were many who would refuse to meet him even now, in the fear that this might be another trick.
Was Duke Diogo not murdered under such strange circumstances? And then his younger brother, summoned to court with such fear, only to learn the King intended to name him his heir. No one could truly trust King John. Least of all, his dutiful and suffering wife.
Eleanor of Viseu observed as the final rites were delivered to her husband, the priests dutifully attending to someone who didn’t deserve their attention. John had murdered her brother with his own hands, had executed her brother-in-law and exiled her sister and her children from their homeland. And yet… She could have forgiven all of that, as a good wife should, if he had not insulted her by attempting to sit his bastard where her child once sat.
When his sister died, John placed Jorge de Lencastre in her household and begged her to love him as she did Afonso. It was for her son’s sake that she cared for him, because Afonso had no other brother save for him. And then she lost her child and John made moves to legitimise his illegitimate whelp, to have him be the future King of Portugal instead of her brother. That was too much of an insult to her.
She had done all she could to safeguard the succession for Manuel and now, the crown would be his. She was sure of it. Manuel would be king. She’d sell her own soul to make it happen.
Once the final rites were administered, it was only a matter of time. Eleanor stood by the bed, though she doubted John was aware of her presence. He was very sick these past few months, perhaps because of the weight of all his sins. The entire country awaited his death, the moment where the cortes would finally be able to proclaim her brother as their king and all would be put to rest. The world would be right again.
“Has Dom Manuel received my letter?” John asked with a croaking voice. Eleanor turned her face away, so she wouldn't have to see the steward nod.
The letter. His demands, more like it. When it became clear that his bastard was not to be king, John awarded him plenty of lands and offices to create in him a rival for Manuel. He was now Duke of Coimbra, Grand-Master of the Order of Santiago and administrator of the Order of Aviz, Lord of Montemor-o-Velho. And then, his sickness came and his time was ending, too little time to give his child what he wanted. So he wrote to Manuel to make demands of her brother.
He urged Manuel, on his accession, to pass all his other titles and possessions, including the mastership of the Order of Christ and the island of Madeira, over to Jorge. And if that was not insult enough, he demanded something even greater: the eldest daughter born to Manuel and his trueborn wife be given to Jorge in marriage. So he would be a son to him, her husband claimed, but all could see the truth. The eldest Infanta of Portugal would have a great dowry and with her, a claim to the throne greater than any other woman in the land. If none of Manuel’s sons had legitimate offspring, his daughter, and consequently her husband, would rule.
Eleanor had tried to convince John to have Jorge take the cloth. She had argued about the honour of a cardinal's hat for his son, the wealthy dioceses that he could accumulate, and the benefits of royal ties to the Holy See. None of it had been effective. John had argued that the whore’s son was meant for a life of politics, and she had known full well that he had intended for the boy to be his heir the moment her sweet Afonso passed to sit at the right hand of God.
She was only thankful that the Lord had not allowed such a thing and she prayed every day that her brother would be smarter than agree with the capitulations. Once he was king, that was true, he could do as he pleased with his lands and daughters.
She even hoped that he might repay their brother’s shed blood and the injustices visited upon their sister by killing the bastard outright, once he wore the crown and John was not alive to care for broken promises.
The Queen looked back at her husband when he began to wheeze, gasping for air and Eleanor knew the time was close. She clutched the rosary in her hands and observed silently as her husband breathed his last, not once shedding a tear. When it was all done, the steward stepped forward to close his eyes and she crossed herself, thankful that her great enemy had died.
“The King is dead,” the steward said, but he did not add what had now become customary in France of declaring ‘Long live the King’ for his heir. Manuel would only be a true king when he was proclaimed so by the cortes. Such was their way.
But Eleanor let out a deep breath, relaxing for the first time in many a month. She shared a single look with the steward and the present priests, knowing that now she'd have to don a widow's garments, and walked out of the room. She led herself to her own chambers, far away from the King's, so she could sit down. A maid had been present, lighting up her candles, but Eleanor dismissed her with a flick of her hand. She needed to be alone for this.
The now-Dowager Queen took a sheet of paper and a quill, dipping the tip in ink. Eleanor hesitated only briefly before she began to write out:
Meu querido irmão,
Thanks for the heads up. I'm a fan of him, so I think I will avoid the next chapter.
John is really on something else to be insisting that Manuel marry his eldest daughter to a bastard…fortunately I don’t think that’s something he could possibly enforce