Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile

Isabella Queen of Castile and Leon (1451 -1504) and her husband Ferdinand King of Aragon (1452 - 1516) had five surviving children: one son and four daughters. Two other pregnancies miscarried. Of these five children of the royal house of Trastamara, author Julia Fox in SISTER QUEENS (2012) highlights Katherine (1485 - 1536) Princess of Aragon and her older sister Juana (1479 - 1555), Queen of Castile. *** The children and grandchildren of Queen Juana of Castile were plentiful, starting with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and his younger brother Ferdinand, important within the Hapsburg Dynasty, who succeeded Charles as Emperor. For over two centuries the downline of Queen Juana were important European rulers or their consorts. Queen Juana's younger sister Katherine, wife in succession of Arthur Prince of Wales and Henry VIII, King of England, produced only one living heir, Mary Tudor (1516 - 1558). Marrying at age 37 her cousin Philip, son of her nephew Emperor Charles, Mary Tudor (Queen Mary I of England 1553 - 1558) produced no living heirs. Philip became King of England, with no right of succession if his wife produced no children. Mary briefly restored England to unity with the Papacy, a unity quickly undone by her half-sister Queen Elizabeth I. *** Queen Juana of Castile was called "the Mad" during her lifetime. Her mental disorders, largely discounted by subsequent historians and author Julia Fox gave a pretext to three power-mad, ungenerous men in succession to rule her kingom in her name, her Hapsburg husband Philip the Handsome, Duke of Burgundy, then her father King Ferdinand of Aragon and finally her son Charles V. They kept her a virtual prisoner. ***Julia Fox gives perhaps three times as much space to Juana's younger sister Katherine (who like their mother Queen Isabella also had English royal blood through John of Gaunt). Although only a consort, Katherine was regent of England while Henry VIII was waging an early war in France. To her goes much credit for the decisive defeat of Henry VIII's brother in law King James IV of Scotland at the battle of Flodden Field (9/11/1513). Both Queens were cruelly misused by their male relatives and both died isolated from their people. -OOO-