2006/06/01 by Sara T. Nalle · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · #Early Modern Women Writers #Reformation and Early Modern Christianity #Throne #Queen (butterfly) #Kingdom #Scholarship #Wife #Biography #Sovereignty #History #Royal family #Ancient history #Classics #Art #Law #Art history #Theology #Philosophy #Politics #Political science
paper · doi:10.2307/20477911
openalex publication_date 2006/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
Born to Isabel and Ferdinand, Catholic Monarchs whose marriage united realms of Castile and Aragon, Juana the Mad (1479-1555) is one of most infamous but least studied monarchs of Renaissance. Conventional accounts of Juana portray her as a sullen woman prone to depression, a jealous wife insanely in love with her husband, and an incompetent queen who was deemed by her father, husband, and son, unable to govern herself much less her kingdoms. But was Juana truly mad or victim of manipulative family members who desired to rule in her stead? Drawing upon recent scholarship and years of archival research, author Bethany Aram offers a new vision of Juana's life. After deaths of three relatives directly in line for throne, Juana became heir to her parents' realms. As queen, Juana worked tirelessly to assure succession of her son Charles V to throne and thereby to establish Habsburg dynasty in kingdoms that others managed to govern in her name. In this part biography, part study of royal authority, Aram rightly asserts that Juana was more complicated than her contemporaries and biographers have portrayed her. Not frail and unstable woman usually depicted, Juana employed pious practices to defend her own interests as well as those of her children. She emerges as a woman of immense importance in Spanish and European history.