Joanna+the+Mad

=Joanna the Mad=

On November 6, 1947, Joanna the Mad was born in Toledo, the capitol of Castile at the time. Joanna the Mad was a nickname for Joanna of Castile. She was the third child to her parents, Ferdinand II and Isabella I. As a young child, it is said to be that she was what we call a nerd, or an intelligent child. Her teachers were honored to have an influence in her life as she was growing up. To prove her well-developed brain, as she grew older, she majored in religious studies, court etiquette, the arts of dance and music and more. She became a master in the Iberian Romance languages and to top it off, she was fluent in French and Latin. She was being trained from a young age for a special marriage that would occur later on in her life. This marriage was supposed to unite to kingdoms in order to gain the upper hand over the powerhouse French.

Once the marriage occurred, she went of with Phillip, Duke of Burgandy (her husband) and would never see her family again. This marriage turned out to be unsuccessful and caused great pain, depression, and mental issues with Joanna. Because of this, they set off to live separately, but were still united legally. When she was separated from her husband in 1502, people began to question how mentally stable she was, although it was more likely to be postpartum depression. When Isabella (Joanna's mother) died in 1504, Joanna became Queen Regnant of Castile and her husband was declared to be ruler de jure uxoris (a Latin term meaning, "by right of his wife").

Of course, Ferdinand (Joanna's dad) wasn't too happy with the idea of Phillip being ruler, so, in response, he designated himself king. To top it off, he tried to marry another women in order to bear a son. This, of course turned out to be unsuccessful, and he had to go to plan "C". This plan was to brain wash his grandson (Charles V) into hating Phillip. During this time, Joanna was out and about, trying to help her kingdom. Eventually, her father passed away, and her son Charles became the dominant figure of the kingdom. He knew that his mom was going crazy so he decided to confine her in a windowless cell for the rest of her life. She lived there until she died on April 12, 1555 at the age of 75. She has always been remembered as the first queen to rule or reign over both Castile and Aragon, which would later evolve into Spain.