Myth or Evidence: Juana the 'Mad'?

Today I want to discuss a much-requested topic – we’re going to be looking at the, frankly, tragic life of Juana of Castile

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Images (from Wikimedia Commons, unless otherwise stated):

“The madness of Joanna of Castile” by Lorenzo Vallés (1866). Held by the Museo del Prado.

Portrait of Isabella I of Castile by Peter de Hooch (c.1490). Held by the Museo del Prado.

Portrait of Ferdinand II of Aragon, after Michiel Sittow (late 15th / early 16th century). Held by the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna.

“The Capitulation of Granada” by Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz (1882). Held by the Senate of Spain.

Portrait of Isabel de Trastámara by an unknown artist (16th century). Held by the Convento de las Huelgas Reales de Burgos.

Detail from “The Virgin of the Catholic Monarchs” by an unknown artist (1491-1493). Held by the Museo del Prado.

Portrait of Juana I of Castile by the Master of Affligem (c.1500). Held by the National Sculpture Museum.

Stained-glass window in the High Chapel of the Church of Saint Mary of Victory (Batalha Monastery, Leiria, Portugal), attributed to Francisco Henriques (c.1510-1513). It depicts Maria of Aragon, Queen of Portugal in prayer, with her daughters.

Portrait of a girl, probably Catherine of Aragon, by Juan de Flandes (c.1496). Held by the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

Illumination showing the Catholic Monarchs and the Infanta Juana from the ”Rhyme of the conquest of Granada", by Pedro Marcuello (15th century). Held by Bibliothèque du Château (Chantilly, France)

Detail from a triptych showng Archduke Charles, the later Holy Roman Emperor Charles V., with his sisters Eleonore and Isabella attributed to Meister der St. Georgsgilde (1502). Held by the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien.

“Philip the Fair” and ”Joan the Mad” in the gardens of the castle of Brussels by the Master of Affligem (c.1495-1506). Held by the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.

Portrait of Isabella I of Castile by Juan de Flandes (c.1500-1504). Held by the Royal Palace of Madrid.

Portrait of Philip the Fair by Juan de Flandes (c. 1496-1500). Held by the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

Portrait of King Henry VII by an unknown Netherlandish artist (c.1505). Held by the National Portrait Gallery.

“Joan the Mad waiting for the resurrection of her husband Philip the Fair by Charles de Steuben (1836). Held by the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille.

“Queen Joan the Mad” by Gabriel Maureta Aracil (c.1858). Held by the Museo del Prado.

“Juana the Mad Holding Vigil over the Coffin of Her Late Husband, Philip the Handsome” by Francisco Pradilla y Ortiz (1877). Held by the Museo del Prado.

Portrait of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor by Bernard van Orley (c.1515-1516). Held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.

Quoted texts:

Gillian B. Fleming, Juana I: Legitimacy and Conflict in Sixteenth-Century Castile. Germany: Springer International Publishing, 2018.

Bethany Aram, “Queen Juana: Legend and History” in Juana of Castile: History and Myth of the Mad Queen. United Kingdom: Bucknell University Press, 2008.

Also consulted, were:

Other relevant entries from The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online.

#WomensHistoryMonth #History #Queen

[misskitty]

I love how Juana’s possible jealous violence against her husband’s mistresses was viewed as evidence of her “madness”, while Henry VIII executed two wives for their supposedly adulterous behaviour, and nobody called him crazy, at least not then!

[historybuff]

I never thought Queen Juana was mad. Claiming that your wife is mad has been the excuse of many husbands (especially rich ones) for sending off their wives to a place to be cared for, while being able to take over all of the wife's assets. I believe Juana may have had a short episode (probably from all the loss in her life), that these men used to their advantage. If she was truely mad, they would not have had to play all these tricks on her to keep her looking mad and feeling helpless.

[TSmith-yycc]

"She was mad/a should usually be translated as "she was inconvenient to some prick."

Outstanding as usual! Thank you for your work.

[prettypic]

If I may be a bit silly, I think you argue that Juana was the "Britney Spears" of her day. Both were placed into institutionalization more for the men in their life’s benefit than their own (and the treatment probably made their preexisting mental issues worst!) it’s interesting to see the parallels of how two women with extreme wealth and mental health problems were treated across more than 400 years

[danielsantiagourtado]

A truly hearthbreaking tale, Juana deserved much better.

[vlmellody]

Poor Juana!

It was so easy for men to have inconvenient women in their power declared insane and locked away.

[jared]

If Juana were mad, her family drove her to it. I now like Charles V even less than I did before.

[HallowqueenCrafting]

For those of us who learn the history of British Monarchs, it's easy with the benefit of modern sensibilities and the successful reigns of queens to look at Henry VIII's obsession with having a male heir as being vanity, but when your childhood is filled with the stories of Empress Matilda and the fact that Juana would have started her imprisonment at about the time he took the throne, it takes on new context. Regardless of if he really thought she was mad or not, he could clearly see a Queen Regnant having her power usurped by the men in her life, and had to wonder if that would be Mary's fate if the succession was left to her. Especially since she's Juana's niece. Would the pressures of rule cause her to go mad as her aunt did? Or even if he didn't believe she was mad, would Mary's future husband try to usurp her power by claiming she was also mad?

What role did this play in the lives of the upcoming queens regnant of England and Scotland? Juana was still alive when Mary Tudor came to her throne for her short reign, and Mary Queen of Scots was already on the throne at the time. Did the fear of men locking up their queen and stealing her power play into their calculus for their own reigns? Elizabeth in particular I think was influenced heavily by the fate of Juana.

[souleylove]

The way every man in her life completely used and abused her is horrible! Loyalty to family was so deeply ingrained in the women of that family and I don't think it served any of them well (it certainly didn't help Catherine either). In my opinion, Juana may have suffered from bouts of depression, but I don't think she was mad during most of her life. If she did have a mental break, it was probably caused by being locked up for so long and the lies her son told her. That poor woman deserved so much better.

[kimberlyperrotis]

I don’t believe any of the stories perpetuated against Juana to indicate her “madness”. Knowing a bit more about her sister Catherine’s behavior, I don’t believe she ever had public, violent arguments with anyone, especially her somewhat intimidating, highly respected mother, or used vile language. She no doubt was deeply depressed and grieving after the death of her husband, but deep grief is not insanity, it would have resolved in time and not necessarily hampered her ability to rule. This was nothing but a power grab by the men who surrounded her, including compliant Catholic clergy, who would have done anything asked of them to get a new cathedral or palace built for them in return for their lies. This particular nasty trick, “madness” of the woman, had been used frequently throughout history and I think the more capable and independent a woman was, the more likely it was to be used against her. Compliant or less-capable women would have been allowed to maintain the title and dignity of sovereign with the true power held by the men who ruled “in her name”. As the ancient saying goes: quo bono? Look to who gained what and there’s the answer.

[DeLarger]

On the point of Henry VII’s willingness to marry her, I think it’s perfectly plausible that he would be content to marry Juana and lock her up just like her last husband did. He had been a widower for years and from all accounts a joyless and bitter man. It’s possible he could have fully believed in her insanity and been perfectly willing to marry her just to establish a connection to Spain.

[georgeh.johnson]

Juana, “more sinned against than sinning” or mad. The behavior of her relatives towards her, and especially of her son Charles, all contributed to her mental instability, and her confinement and the lies told to her there would have affected negatively even the strongest personality. I have long been saddened by her story and have a strong admiration for her tenacity in surviving to old age in spite of it all.

[cathryncampbell]

Thank you for a thoughtful, incisive overview of Juana. She may have suffered from post-partum depression, but Juana strikes me as a woman who was disgracefully abused by the men around her. Juana's son Charles V was chronically short of money, so he ordered his servants to raid Juana's chests of silverware & to replace the contents with bricks (so that the chests would not become suspiciously light). Charles consistently mistreated his mother, just as he did many of the other female relatives in his life. Juana didn't stand a chance....

[danielclaeys]

There is a line in the movie "Steel Magnolias" when Shirley McLean's character Wheezer, claimed that she not crazy, she's just been in a very bad mood for the last 30 years.
I believe that Juanna suffered from both what is known today as.clinical and situational depression. If.a heavy dose of Royal inbreeding is factored in, I think that is pretty much a wonder that this sort of behavior was anything more than a normal day to day experience in most of the Royal houses of the time.
Seems that no one was really happy during this time and the only reason that misery enjoys company is to involve or even create others that are more miserable than you just so you can feel better.

[dawnmuse]

The cruelty and greed of every man in her life who should have protected her is heartbreaking. Dr. Kat, I learned new things from you today about her captivity in Castile that only convinces me further that she was never “la Loca” at all. God rest her soul.

[athetopofmylungs]

Born and raised spaniard- i never believed she was mad. She was used, heavily, by everyone around her.
Thanks for covering her life!

[Laramaria]

She sounds like someone who was in massive distress, in need of help and found nothing but abuse and more trauma. Glad to see a deep dive into her side of things, beyond the fame she received.
Love this video! Amazing work! 🥺❤

[gina]

I think poor Juana was a pawn in the games of her father, husband and son. Her son should have had more regard for the well being of his mother than he did. Such a shame that her life was a misery.

[kathyjaneburke]

My heart has always bled for this tormented woman...

[glitteryfaery]

Ive always been fascinated by her story and never thought she was "mad", it always appeared to me like a story concocted by the men around her to keep her from having any sort of power and agency