#raul merida

La Corona Partida 2016

Raúl Mérida as Philip The Handsome

José Coronado as Emperor Maximilian I

Irene Escolar as Juana of Castile

By May 1504, Juana was in Burgundy. Juana’s reunion with Philip and the children was joyful.

But soon afterwards she suspected, or discovered, an affair between Philip and a noblewoman in her entourage:

“They say,” writes Martire, “that, her heart full of rage, her face vomiting fames, her teeth clenched, she rained blows on one of her ladies, whom she suspected of being the lover, and ordered that they cut her blond hair, so pleasing to Philip …”

Philip’s response was equally furious. He had “thrown himself” on his wife and publicly insulted her.

Sensitive and obstinate, “Juana is heartbroken … and unwell …”. Isabel “suffers much, astonished by the northerner’s violence.

Maximilian’s biographer, Wiesfecker, describes Juana’s response as:

"The symptom of a pathological, passionate, if not unfounded, Haßliebe, fomenting continual strife. "

Juana would have known for years about Philip's visits to the baigneries and his more casual relationships with women. However, this affair seemed to pose a direct challenge to her standing and dignity. Juana knew her faults and had tried to limit them. In 1500, after becoming princess, she had asked Isabel to send her an honest and prudent Spanish lady who:

“Knows how to advise her, and where she sees something out of order (‘deshordenado’) in her conduct could say so as servant and adviser but not as an equal because, even if the advice were good, if expressed in a disrespectful way it would create more anger in she to whom it was said than it would allow for correction.”

Sources: Fleming, G. B. (2018). Juana I: Legitimacy and Conflict in Sixteenth-Century Castile (1st ed. 2018 edition). Palgrave Macmillan.

Fox, J. (2012). Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile. Ballantine Books.

Torn, nonetheless, between mother and husband, old frustrations and resentments erupted. She feared that Isabel planned, in Padilla’s word, to descasar (‘unmarry’) her. The news that Philip, always susceptible to fever, had fallen seriously ill at Lyon would have put her in a state of deep concern. It can be no mere coincidence that, just as Louis’ doctors were despairing of Philip’s recovery, Isabel’s doctors were concluding that relations between mother and daughter had become so bad that they had to be separated.

Even if Juana did not fully realise the seriousness of Philip’s illness, her instinct would have been to rush to his side, and she may have reminded Isabel of the monarchs’ remark of 1500:

“Do not think that you are coming here never to return. Rather, you can come and go as you wish after being sworn-in.”

However, the seas were beginning to build, and Juana was unable to travel through France while hostilities continued. Above all, Isabel’s own health was deteriorating. She attempted to conceal Philips eventual arrival home from Juana “because, in truth, she did not want her daughter to return to Flanders, since she felt very unwell with the illness from which she died.”

Philip, upon his recovery, maintained the pressure for Juana's return by dispatching a series of messengers and letters. In August, Juana assured him that preparations for her departure were under way; that she and Isabel were heading for Burgos and that Ferdinand was well. In the event, Isabel stayed at Segovia while Juana, proceeding north, stayed in the stronghold of La Mota at Medina del Campo.

Her residence in the fortress remains something of a mystery. From its hill, the red brick castle, with its massive quadrilinear keep and bartizan towers, was Castile's arsenal as well as archive and occasional lodging place and prison, and it still has a prison. The most likely explanation for Juana's stay is that Isabel had decided that she could be better guarded at La Mota than at the royal palace, since trust was failing on both sides.

On 6 September, a ship’s captain told Fernando that he had received an order from Juana to await her at Bilbao. A dismayed Isabel wrote:

“I do not think, or expect, and so cannot believe you are leaving, for although there are many necessary reasons for your departure, greater problems may follow if you leave like this.”

Juana complied. She was, however, beginning to feel pressure from Philip, who used four-year-old Charles to send an emotional appeal. Juana’s last reserves of self-control broke down.

Sources: Fleming, G. B. (2018). Juana I: Legitimacy and Conflict in Sixteenth-Century Castile (1st ed. 2018 edition). Palgrave Macmillan.

Fox, J. (2012). Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile. Ballantine Books.