One which come very late when she has children andgranchildren to help her remember him.
La Reina Loca: A Juana I of Castile Timeline
- Thread starter pandizzy
- Start date
Honestly speaking, isabel could have made a better queen Isabel II without having been obsessed with Alfonso, because love doesn't make someone destroy themself. I think that Juana's alleged madness stories are so popular that people often tend to overlook the mental conditions of the other Trastamara siblings. But clearly what Isabel had with Alfonso was clear obsession and that is something disturbing that says a lot about a person and their past.
She was alone in another country and the person she loved suddently dies. I found her reaction understandable up to a point.
She was neither alone or in a foreign court as she had been raised between Castile and Portugal and so Alfonso’s maternal grandmother (who was also sister of her own maternal grandmother) had a big role in her upbringing.
Isabel was basically being held hostage so that her parents would abide by the Treaty of Alcáçovas..... And from being the only child for a good amount of eight years it's sure that Isabel was particularly close to her mother (even though Isabel Sr seemingly preferred her son understandably). What I can conclude from here (and I might be wrong) is that Isabel, like her sister Juana, might have had some serious attachment or emotional issues.
Not much different from the usual way of raising princes and princesses…
She became the Governor of the Low Countries for her nephew and was the maternal figure to her niece and nephew if I remember correctly. Moreover Margaret was already rejected early by Charles VIII leading to her lifelong resentment of the French, didn't have to deal with emotional burdens like Isabel Jr
Mental health issues ran in both the Trastamara and Aviz dynasties, it's worth remembering.
As I said Margaret got a much worse life than Isabel: she lost her mother at two years old, was separated from her family when she was three years old, raised to be Queen of France away from her family, for being rejected when she was thirteen and kept prisoner by her former betrothed until he reached an agreement with her father about her dowry and other issues, then returned at “home” who was a totally unknown place for her at that point (and here we already are much worse than Isabel). Then she seriously risked to die on the way on her marriage, after six months of what promised to be a very loving marriage she lost her husband and few months after she birthed a stillborn girl (and I think she had a first understandable breakdown here), then she had to return home again, after losing two crowns promised to her, being betrayed by her first love (who rejected her for forcing Margaret’s new stepmother to marry him instead), losing her husband and child, then she remarried, to the great love of her life, at 21 years old and after three years she lost also him and tried to kill herself for the desperation (she threw herself from a window) and she was only 24 years old. Still she recovered and find reasons for continue to live.
Too true. Isabella of Castile‘s Portuguese mother was reputed to be mad and likely her granddaughters inherited something, specially Isabel.
I completely agree with what you say. Judging Isabel's behavior I always wonder if what she had with Alfonso was love or not, cause it feels like down right obsession. This kind of behavior can also be noticed in Katherine of Aragon (maybe) who is said to by many to be obsessed with their fact the she was the queen of England. Don't know if it was something that ran in the family.
True
Without doubt, something in their bloodline and possibly also in their education… Maria also could have not been totally free by obsessions (in her case that would be her eldest daughter‘s marriage) and Juana, well, she snapped under the unsustainable level of pressure and abuses under which she was…
True. But I wonder if we could have explored the other Trastamára sisters I'd Juana's 'alleged' madness stories had not been so popular. According to a research it was found that the younger children are more likely to avoid have a hereditary mental illness, therefore it can be inferred that Isabel and Juana were the worst affected as compared to Maria and Catalina. But I think that Isabel could have recovered a bit to survive childbirth if she and Manuel had not rushed with the pregnancy.
Onee of my early ideas for the first chapter was Maximilian receiving word that Charles had married Anne of Brittany instead of Margaret.
May 1496.
Toledo, Castile. May 1496.
Juan asked her to ride with him. He knew that she could refuse him nothing, not when he asked her so gently and lovingly. She and Juan had the closest bond amidst the children of Queen Isabella, and had always played together before he was handed over to his tutors and she to the women. It was no surprise that he would try to comfort her when her heart was so broken.
They rode across the lands that surrounded Toledo, their escort struggling to keep up with them and Juana raised her head toward the sky, auburn hair bound in a braid. She had not left the castle since news came from Portugal, when they told her that Manuel wanted her sister, and she’d missed the sun. She missed its warm kiss on her skin, the light that burned behind her closed eyelids.
Tears burned in the corners of her eyes and Juana looked at her older brother, blonde hair stuffed under a large feathered hat.
“I don't understand why you're so upset,” Juan murmured, gentle and understanding. “There will be others.”
Juana shook her head. How could she explain it, in truth? The pain that she felt in her heart. Manuel was their kin, the Lord's chosen to rule in Portugal and he was supposed to be hers. She was to be Manuel's queen, not Isabel. She didn't even want him, she'd much rather scourge herself in Afonso's memory than honour her future husband. Why should she be rewarded with a man who was described to be kind, and just, recalling all that had been exiled by King John as his first act as ruler? Why should she be allowed to stay so close to home when she refused husband after husband, and said she intended to become a nun, to the despair of their mother?
Juana looked at her brother. “Isabel had her chance to be Queen of Portugal,” she said. “And she failed. She failed to have a child with her departed husband and to act in serenity after his death. The Lord clearly does not wish for her to be queen of our grandmother's country.”
“Juana,” said Juan. “You ought to be more sympathetic. You don't know her pain.”
“She isn't being sympathetic with me,” Juana said, kicking at the side of her horse to coax him into a trot. “She doesn't think of what will happen to me when she goes to my intended husband.”
Juan frowned. “What do you mean?” he said.
“María will soon go to Burgundy,” said Juana. “Catalina to England, but where will I go? Perhaps to Hungary, and to that old man, so Mother can give him her support against the Turks. Or to Denmark, so I can be far away and never return, so no one ever thinks of me again.” She looked at him. “I've been forgotten.”
“You haven’t,” Juan insisted. “Not by me.”
Juana didn’t answer him. Not when a sole rider came from the city, rushing to reach them. She and Juan urged their horses to go to him, certain that it was something important, because their mother never did interrupt their usual rides before. She too loved horses and knew how calming it could be to ride across the land.
“Your Graces,” said the man after a curt nod. “The Queen requests your presence before night's fall.”
Juan and her rode back into the city, following the sole rider, with their escort coming behind her. Juana wondered what her mother could possibly want up until the moment she was before her, still in her riding habit and with her hair pulled from its braid by the wind. The Queen was sitting by the window and she turned to look at her two children with affective strictness.
“Look at your sister, Juan,” said the great queen Isabella. “Soon enough, you won’t be able to anymore.”
Juana and Juan exchanged a glance.
“Did something happen, lady mother?” Juan asked, careful.
“Dom Francisco de Eça has returned with his master’s missive,” her mother began and Juana felt her heart race inside her chest. “His King, Dom Manuel, has chosen the Infanta Juana to be his bride, not Princess Isabel. I suppose it was her demands for the marriage, or maybe the fact that we offered a dowry equal to Isabel’s for Juana--” She could not speak anymore, not when her child threw herself at her feet, kissing the hem of her skirt.
“Oh, thank you, mother!” The words slipped past her lips, tumbling down. “Thank you, thank you!”
“Don’t thank me,” her mother said as Juana sat on her heels, looking up at her magnificent mother and queen. “It was the work of your father, not mine.” Her mother looked at her with a single look that could freeze the entire world, full of reproach. “I don’t appreciate the actions of a selfish daughter and before you leave, you shall apologise to your sister for your words against her.”
Juana nodded. “I shall,” she said. “I shall apologise and be to her as loving a sister as I have always been.”
Her mother put a hand over her head, as if to give her a blessing.
“Your father has decided to ride with you to the border,” she commented. “Dom Manuel has demanded your presence already. You’ll leave before July.”
“Thank you, mother,” said Juana. Her mother dismissed her and Juan afterwards and her older brother left to go with his tutors, though Juana barely paid attention.
She was going to Portugal!
Juana walked across the corridors of the royal residence in search of her older sister. She found Isabel in the chapel, as she always was, the once Princess of Portugal kneeling by the altar, clutching her hands as she prayed.
Although she hadn’t intended to interrupt, her sister turned to look at her, certainly having heard a misstep or another. Since the death of her husband, Isabel had worn simple black garments or a widow's robes, her shorn golden curls hidden under a hood. Her cheeks were sunken in and there were dark bags under her eyes, but she looked no different than what she looked every day. Widowhood had been cruel.
Her sister crossed herself and stood up to look at her, all without saying a word. Juana sighed.
“I came here to apologise,” she said. “What I did to you was cruel and unbecoming. I shouldn't have done it.”
Isabel arched an eyebrow. “Done what?” she asked. “If you can't speak of it, why do it?”
Juana huffed.
“I'm sorry for pulling your hair and slapping you when it seemed you'd wed King Manuel,” she said. She set her shoulders back. “Now, it seems there was no reason at all to do it. Dom Manuel has chosen me in the end.”
For a moment, Isabel said nothing. And then she sighed and walked towards Juana. It was almost a shock to have her sister embrace her and it took a breath before Juana returned it, wrapping her arms around Isabel's lithe body. Her sister rubbed a soft hand down her back before she took a step back, closing her fingers around Juana's shoulders.
“My baby sister,” she murmured. “My poor, foolish baby sister. You don't even know what you're getting yourself into.” She smiled kindly, as though her words didn't ring in Juana's ears. “Perhaps I'd make a poor wife to Manuel, but at least, I know what it demands from a person. I don’t think you do.”
Juana didn't know what to say. She was speechless, staring at her sister and her eyes that were so like their mother's.
“When you become a wife, you will no longer be a daughter, a child,” Isabel said. “Your foolish behaviour won't be accepted anymore. Sweet sister, you're an abnormal creature. You feel too much, but it's time to stop. There is no other way to survive. The man you pine for does not exist. He is a figment of your imagination and it’s time you accept that.”
Juana felt her heart race as her sister continued.
“Nearly every year, you will be called upon your duty to bear heirs for your husband, to forget when he looks at another woman. When he eventually sells off your daughters to the highest bidder, and causes your sons’ deaths in his needless wars.” Isabel smiled and her eyes found a strand of auburn hair that had escaped from Juana's braid, allowing a humorous glint to overtake them. “And perhaps you may still love him throughout all of that, but in the end, Dom Manuel will not measure up to the image you have of him in your head. Men will always disappoint you, my sweet thing, either by living or dying.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Juana asked, trembling. “Do you hate me?”
Her sister blinked, surprised. “Hate?” she repeated in an incredulous tone. “I have nothing but love for you in my heart. I'm trying to warn you, Juana. You may think you will rule by your husband's side as our mother does, but that is not what will happen. Our mother broke the rules. Juan's fate is to reign whilst yours is childbirth and sadness.” She stroked her arms gently. “You won't be like our mother. She is a queen regnant, tasked by God to rule Castile. You'll be little more than a broodmare, imprisoned and made to squeeze out one offspring after another, paraded on Manuel’s arm when he must mollify our parents and later our brother. And whatever you do to make him happy, to win his love and respect, it will never be enough.”