Loss, and a new journey for Philip. (Going Home, Sweet Home). Juana, Part II
JUANA LA LOCA
PART II (Part I, previous blog)
PART II
Yes, Philip and Juana meet again but it is not lust at first sight, it is now revenge at first sight.
After a two year separation and without any contact with her husband, Juana decided to return to Flanders and perhaps resume her married life and be a mother to the three children she had left behind two years earlier. Juana’s father, King Fernando, insisted that infant Fernandito be left in Spain to be educated and prepared to eventually assume the kingdom of Castile and Aragon. Sadly Juana acquiesced to the demands of her father and left her son behind.
When she arrived in Flanders and entered her home she found that she was a stranger to the place. All of her personal belongings, clothes, and jewels that she had left behind, had disappeared, they had been taken by Philip’s mistress, a French woman. Philip was literally sleeping with the ‘enemy’!
Disappointed and totally hurt she waited for her husband to come and see her. When he finally came he was drunk, in an accusatory mode, and uncivil. His mind had been poisoned against Spain by France, according to Juana’s thinking. Philip demanded that Juana return to Spain and promised to follow when Queen Isabel died to claim HIS throne. Of course Juana reminded him that it was HER throne. What followed was a vicious rape of Juana by her husband. The rape was to teach her a lesson and to remind her that Castile was HIS. He promised to rape her every night until she formally gave him Castile.
Feeling insulted by her refusals, Philip started to parade his mistress around the court, clad in Juana’s clothes and jewels. Juana might have forgiven his infidelities and rapes, but she would not forgive the humiliation of having his French mistress personally confront her. One day when the wife was taunted by her husband and the mistress, assailed by jealousy,Juana decided to tear off the necklace that the mistress was wearing. Of course the necklace belonged to Juana. Philip's response was to have his guards lock her in her room because she was ‘insane’. The publicly pronounced insane accusations continued to pile up.
Queen Isabel of Castile
Two weeks after the necklace incident, word came that Queen Isabel of Castile had died. Juana now was the ruler of Castile. A letter from her father made it clear that it was imperative that she return to Spain so she could be invested with the crown. In the meantime Philip’s emissaries had traveled to Spain to inform King Fernando about his daughter’s madness and therefore she would be unable to rule, Charles should be declared king! Charles was Juana and Philip’s young son. (Because Charles was just a child the real ruler would be Philip) Of course the only way that anyone could take away Juana’s right to the throne was for Juana to abdicate. What was Juana’s response? Never while I live!
Juana knew that her husband hungered for her crown, for power. Nothing mattered to him, not if it got in the way of his ambitions. Yes, Philip was the mad one, mad with power and his overwhelming self-importance.
Juana and her sons.
Juana needed to return to Spain but Philip saw to it that she became pregnant once again, it was a means to control her. While waiting for the birth of her fifth child, she decided to send her children to Naples where Philip’s sister resided, Margaret would be a good mother to the children. The fifth child, Mary, was born in September of 1505 and she too was sent to Naples to be with the rest of her siblings.
With the birth of the child, it was time to return to Spain. She would finally go home. Yes, home at last.
GOING HOME AT LAST, BUT WHAT WAS WAITING FOR HER?
..........JUANA'S LOSS, AND A NEW JOURNEY FOR PHILIP.......
They embarked for Spain just as winter was beginning. As expected the storms hit and the galleon they were on started to keel and to break apart. Several of the ships traveling with the Queen and her husband, were lost at sea, the decision was made to sail to the nearest port which was in England. Juana actually looked forward to going to England as it would give her a chance to see her younger sister Catherine, widow of Prince Arthur (brother of her future husband Henry).
Once Juana met her sister, to her dismay she discovered that her husband Philip had been up to his usual perfidious machinations, and had been dealing with the rulers of England to forge a deal against Juana and to bolster Philip’s chances to be the King of Castile. Philip also had been intercepting and destroying letters from Catherine and Queen Isabel sent to Juana.
Juana did not let on that she knew of his treachery and when back at sea, one night he came to her cabin, she allowed to him to deliberately impregnate her once more. He wanted her to be pregnant to better control her once they arrived in Spain, she did not protest as she did not want to enter Spain all battered.
Finally they arrived in Spain to a glorious reception of the new Queen. As the retinue set out for Castile, Juana discovered that her husband had brought a huge army of mercenaries (even larger than the one Fernando and Isabel had used in the battles against the Moors), quite an intimidating show of intent. Intimidated but determined, Juana had one constant thought, that she would soon be reunited with her father in Castile. He would defend her!
Once they arrived in Castile Juana was placed in one house while Philip stayed at another. After several days he came to Juana’s room with a document that he and a co-conspirator had written. In essence the document stated that Juana had no interest in participating in the running of the kingdom because of her ‘malady’. Therefore to avert an upheaval of the nation, Juana and Philip were asking King Fernando to renounce his regency and leave Castile at once. Philip would assume ‘his’ throne. The document was signed by “His Highness Philip, archduke of Flanders and king of Castile”, June 27, 1506. Of course Philip would need Juana and King Fernando’s signature, but he stated that his father in law ‘knew better than to defy him”.
Juana decided that she needed to escape from Philip and reach her father to warn him. She actually did escape and rode all night and the next day. When she felt out of danger, she took refuge in a hut where an old lady lived. The woman recognized Juana and gave whatever assistance she could manage to give. Juana was planning to continue her travels the next day.
The next day, just as she was leaving the hut, her husband’s men and Philip himself appeared and confronted Juana with the news that they had killed the old lady and were ready to kill her unless she returned with them. He also announced that her father was not in Segovia where she thought he was but that he had gone to Naples. It was later discovered that Philip had indeed forced the King to leave Spain.
They continued their travels and when they entered the town of Valladolid, Juana was veiled and dressed in black, as if mourning. For the next six days Juana was shut in a chamber of a palace with the windows boarded up. She was denied the services of her attending women. Each day Philip entered her room demanding that she sign the document making him King of Castile. Each day she refused. In the meantime the ‘news’ was being spread that Juana was indeed mad and could not rule. In her heart Juana knew that her refusal would mean a cruel fate, the same fate that befell her grandmother who was locked away by her own son the King Fernando. Yes, Fernando had ‘imprisoned’ his own mother because she was ‘mad’ and therefore he became the ruling King! But Juana was not mad! And no matter what the consequences might be, she was not going to give in and sign the papers.
In the meantime Philip had turned the Spanish Lords against Juana. The Lords had the power to decide who the ruler for Castile would be. He avowed that Juana did not want the throne. On the day that the question was put to Juana if she wanted to be Queen, she replied YES! Because of Philip’s lies, the Lords had expected a negative response but were glad of her decision. Philip swore that he ‘would not have his rights stolen away by a madwoman’.
Whatever plans Philip might have had to usurp the throne, they never came to fruition. Suddenly Philip fell gravely ill! Dutifully Juana rushed to her husband and did not leave his side. She tended to him and stayed with him until his death, she did not allow him to die alone like a beast.
At the time of Philip's death, Juana was pregnant with their sixth child. She would have preferred to stay put until the birth of the child but it was imperative that she go to Toledo. The Lords were already plotting on how to make Fernandito king as they preferred the son who had been born in Spain and not the older brother Carlos, who had been born in Flanders. Obviously they did not want to be ruled by Juana either as she was a woman.
-Pregnant Juana, dressed in black, accompanying Philip's catafalque to his resting place.-
Juana sent for her children to be brought to Spain, and made plans to proceed to Toledo where she would bury her husband. Yes, she would accompany the archduke’s catafalque because it was her duty.
As they rode toward Toledo, the pains came and Juana was ready to give birth to her child. She was brought to a stranger’s house where she waited two days for the birth. It was a daughter and gave her the name of Catalina (Catalina was the real name of Catherine of Aragon, Henry the VIII’s first wife). Eventually, with the baby in her arms, she continued her journey to Toledo.
While traveling to her destination, she received a letter from her father who told her not to go to Valencia where he was, but to travel to Tortoles where he would join her. He also told her that the reason that he had gone to Naples was because of the threats by Philip to harm his kingdom and his life. Jubilant, Juana did as asked.
At last, Juana would have her father’s protection and support.
BUT, WOULD SHE?
To be continued
... Warmed By The Sunset.
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With e-readers like the Kindle you can go and download free, out-of-print books! Of course, you can download free books on the home PC too, but the kindle is portable, and you can lay on the couch or bed and read!
Hope Koko is treating you kind tonight!
I hoped when I posted the collage of the January sunrises, that today wouldn't have a sunrise... I was right.. more monochrome!
Hope today goes OK for you:)
Are you feeling down? Tired? Blah? Are you needing a little shot of something wonderful? Here you go!
Hope everything is OK for you!
Dear Pros - Wishing you a very Happy Month of February :)
Hope all is well with you :)
Dear Sandi, all is well here. Yesterday my husband underwent some testing at the local hospital. Nothing critical but these things take time. So by the time I drove us home, I just wanted to eat and then just relax for a while, hence no blogs visiting. Thank you for caring. And thank you for the White Rabbits. Back at you 3 times.
Ylee, thank you. White Rabbits to you too,x3.
Shore, what a beautiful video of Calla Lilies. Thank you so much. I hope that my Callas perform for me this year, last year my yellow ones did ok but my while ones only gave me one flower. Most of my Jonquils and related spring flowers are 3 to 6 inches out of the ground! Here and there I even see some tulips peeking through. Crazy winter!
Jus, thank you very much. I needed to hear that the story is being read, I don't want to spend so much time writing about something that no one is interested in reading. The next entry will be the end of the story,however I have not started writing it yet.
I hope all is well with you and that the weather is behaving in your area.
WISHING EVERYONE A WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY.
I was going to tell you to enjoy the warmth outside, but I see it's already raining there!:(
Hubby won't like it if it rains today. He has a date with the golf course!
- Barbara Winkler
"The word February is believed to have derived from the name 'Februa' taken from the Roman 'Festival of Purification'. The root 'februo' meaning to 'I purify by sacrifice'. As part of the seasonal calendar February is the time of the 'Ice Moon' according to Pagan beliefs, and the period described as the 'Moon of the Dark Red Calf' by Black Elk. February has also been known as 'Sprout-kale' by the Anglo-Saxons in relation to the time the kale and cabbage was edible."
- Mystical WWW
Luvne, you asked me to show some of my paintings, here are a few.
(This one is not quite finished)
(This is a small class exercise)
Thank you for asking me.
I particularly like the poppy and scabious painting - (2nd down).
Bed here in about an hour, but want to watch a TV show first! Hope you,(and Koko,) sleep well when it is your turn to head to bed:)
I too hope I sleep tonight as tomorrow is a long day. A trip to Maryland, you probably remember why I go there now and then.
In a previous email or a post you described your routine at bedtime. I too have a routine, combination of crossword puzzle/reading/drinking warm milk. But it does not always work. Or better yet, I do fall asleep but I wake up an hour or so later and then there is no going back to sleep.
Sleep well and have a good day tomorrow. See you when I can. :)
I am not a blog person. Wunderphotos is as much writing as I want to do. So I will say farewell, and "see" you in the Photos. -- Betsy
Hope your day is uneventful. I'm puzzling right now - I woke up to a clear radar, and now it's pouring rain. That's good, as far as the rain goes, but I'm going to have to adjust for more than fog, apparently. Of course I won't complain, as badly as we need the rain.
I wish I could bottle up some of my sleeping ability and send it to you. I was tired last night and went to bed at 9 - very unusual for me. I always fall asleep fast, and was sound asleep when a friend called at 10. She often calls around 10 or 10:30, knowing I'll be up. As it was, she couldn't believe I sounded so chipper when I told her she'd wakened me. I wake up fast, and fall asleep fast, and when we hung up, I went right back to sleep, until I woke at 5 this morning.
It really is a blessing. I suppose the day will come when I'll have trouble with sleep, but so far so good. I'll work on bottling it up for you!
for the first time in a bit and I saw your
paintings! Wow! They are so, so wonderful!
The first, second, third and fourth ones are
my favorites!:-) You are GOOD, Girl!
Yesterday morning, the weatherman said that
today we would start to get snow and by the
time it was over on Saturday, we would have
about 6". Last night he said 6 to 12". This
morning, they are saying up to 18". I am
not amused, but I did go to the store, so the
cats and I have food and drink to last through
whatever happens without having to go out in
it. I am a little short on birdseed, I find, which is
somewhat distressing and I may have
to run out before the storm and load up for
the birds, too. We haven't had much snow
this year, and yes, we need the moisture, but
I'm hoping they are wrong about the amounts.
I was much happier with the original forecast.
I just went back and looked at those four paintings
again..did I mention the word WOW?
:-D Wonderful!
Hope you have a wonderful day. Maybe I will get
some housework done if I get snowed in.
hahahahahaha..that even made ME laugh!
At first, I was thinking it's been too long since my last visit here. Then I read Juana, Part II, and discovered you left us with a cliff-hanger. I noted in your Jan. 27 comment "If in the mood, I will continue preparing the Juana story for the blog. At this point I am ready for the completed blog and move to something else." So at least I won't have to endure the cliff-hanger for too long.
I have had a good day... I hope you did, and got your Italian Lunch:))
Sleep well!
Even Ylee is not here...:(
Hopefully, you will not come and join me!! lol
I had a long day yesterday. We made a trek to Annapolis for an appointment. While there we took advantage of a nice It. restaurant and ate a nice lunch. After our appointment we went back for espresso and homemade gelato. Since it is also a gourmet shop, we bought lots of goodies to bring home. Traffic was good going and coming, so all in all it was a nice day.
Sandi, once more I did not follow you around the blogs during the night. I did get up for a short while but I was able to go back to bed and sleep. So no complaining this morning.
I do have to run to the pharmacy this morning, and to the grocery store. Then pick up the house for the cleaning service later today. A run of the mill day.....
Take care.
Briar, thank you for the nice comments. Much appreciated. I will get started on the last page of the story soon, maybe this afternoon while the cleaning people are here.
KAT, as usual you are good for my ego! Thank you for your wonderful comments. As you know it is a hobby and nothing serious, still I do enjoy the act of putting down paint. Most relaxing.
So sorry about all of the snow. This morning in the news they talked about the snow in your area and it did not sound like fun for you guys. At least you will be getting all of the water from the melted snow, I know that some areas in CO do need the water. Take care, stay safe and warm.
If you run out of birdseed, give un-popped corn, bread crumbs, cereal, old nuts and dried fruit, .... In a snowstorm we have to use our imagination to keep our feathered friends fed.
azgrandma, thank you for stopping by. Thank you so much for the nice comments and visit. I do enjoy my retirement hobby and encourage everyone to try 'playing with paints', very therapeutic.
Shore, I would give my little pinkie to paint like Georgia (I need my arm and leg!). I just love her work, the flower paintings that is. I am not too excited about her skull and bones, but I can dig her flowers! No pun intended. So, thank you for your thought. Even a fleeting thought of comparison with the great Georgia is a fantastic compliment. Luvne32, someone I know from the photo gallery, asked to see some of paintings, and I took her suggestion literally. Nice lady to ask. But as they say, be careful what you ask for.... LOL
GG, thank you. You too are good for my ego!
Luvne32, I know that you meant for me to privately show you my paintings (in an email) but I decided to put them on the blog so others get to see my 'hobby' doodles. Thank you for the suggestion and thank you for stopping by here at the blog. See you on the photo galleries.
HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!
I have seen your paintings before but it was a great suprise to see some more of them.
Maria, you have so much talent and your paintings are just beautiful!!!!!
Please share some more from time to time.
I love seeing other's art work.
And I am really enjoying the Story of Juana!
Cannot wait to hear what happens when she reaches her Father.
Isn't it amazing how women back then had so many babies like nothing to it and back in the saddle a day later! And how they so easierly ship off the children to other countries and not see them for years..it boggles the mind but I guess in those days you did what you had to do to survive.
You have a wonderful weekend!
I see you wrote this:
"Then pick up the house for the cleaning service later today."
I do that too!!! Mine service only comes every 4th Friday and she cleans very good..
but I must have things "picked up" and "in place" so when I come home every 4th Friday night, it looks so good.
I would have posted here in the middle of the night, were it not for the fact that the danged fire alarm was going off above my head and I couldn't tolerate the noise. I don't know what the problem with the system is, but I hope they get it fixed this time. It went off eight times during the night - 4 times, just sort of tentatively, but enough to wake me up. The other 4 times, it was enough to wake the dead, and it went on and on and on and... Midnight. 2:15. 2:45 3:45 4:15....
Well, at least the neighbors are getting to know one another. Poor Dixie really suffers with the noise - it is ear-splitting. The last time it went off I couldn't find her. Now I know she can hide under the footstool. ;)
Glad you had a good day yesterday. I just finished reading your continuation of Juana's story. I must say - communication and transportation back then must have been better than we imagine. That was a lot of sending messages back and forth, and traveling hither and yon.
No fog this morning, so as soon as I finish an extra cuppa I'll be off to work. I'm hoping it will rain this afternoon so I can have a nap after all the night's excitement!
She is in the process of finishing up a cardinal in watercolors - I thought you would enjoy seeing it. If you go to her blog and scroll down, she's recorded various steps of her process - very interesting. I just love it!
I actually slept for a full eight hours last night, which made up for the poor night I had the night before. Today I am staying in, it is too cold to go out, so I shall do some baking perhaps, and maybe read a book, or do some sketching, or ..... there are lots to keep me out of mischief!
Have a lovely Saturday :)
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