Juana I of Castile
Known as Juana the Mad, she was the daughter of the Catholic Monarchs. She was born in Toledo in 1479 and died in Tordesillas in 1555, where she was secluded after her father decreed her incompetent to rule. However, Juana had received a painstaking education from Beatriz Galindo “La Latina” and had the firsthand example of her mother’s way of acting, so her training as a future queen was remarkable.
The death of Prince Juan, heir to the throne of Castile and his sister Isabel made Juana heiress of Castile. In 1504, upon the death of Isabella the Catholic, Juana together with her husband Felipe “El Hermoso” (“ the Handsome”) were proclaimed kings of Castile. Upon Felipe’s death in 1506, Fernando el Católico declared his daughter unfit to reign. Nevertheless, a good part of the Castilian nobility claimed her as queen and demanded the withdrawal of Ferdinand to the kingdom of Aragon.
In Tordesillas Juana I of Castile was visited by her son, Carlos I of Spain and V of Germany, who persisted in her isolation following his grandfather’s initiative.
