Born – 6th November 1479
Died – 12th April 1555
Father – King Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452 – 1516)
Mother – Queen Isabella I of Castile (1451 – 1504)
Spouse – m. 1496 – Philip of Burgundy (1478 – 1506)
Children – Eleanor Queen of France (1498 – 1558), Charles V Holy Roman Emperor (1500 – 1558), Isabella Queen of Denmark (1501 – 1526), Ferdinand Holy Roman Emperor (1503 – 1564), Maria Queen of Hungary (1505 – 1558), Catherine Queen of Portugal (1507 – 1558)
1479 (6th November)
Joanna of Castile was born to Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon at Toledo, Spain. She was the couple’s third child, her sister Isabella and brother Juan (John) had been born in 1470 and 1478.
1482 (29th June)
Joanna’s sister, Maria, was born to Isabella and Ferdinand at Cordoba, Spain. Her twin was stillborn.
1485 (around)
Joanna began her education. She loved to study and excelled in all academic subjects and spoke all Spanish dialects as well as French and Latin. She was also schooled on court etiquette, music, dancing and horsemanship.
1485 (15th December)
Joanna’s sister, Catalina (Catherine of Aragon), was born to Isabella and Ferdinand at Alcala de Henares, Castile.
1490 (Spring)
Joanna’s sister, Isabella, married Afonso, son of King Juan of Portugal by proxy in Seville.
1490 (19th November)
Joanna’s sister, Isabella travelled to Portugal for her wedding.
1490 (22nd November)
Joanna’s sister, Isabella married Afonso of Portugal in Evora.
1491 (July)
Joanna’s sister, Isabella, became a widow after her husband Afonso of Portugal, died following a riding accident.
1496 (August)
Joanna of Castile left Spain for the Netherlands where she was to marry Philip of Burgundy, son of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.
1496 (18th October)
Joanna finally reached Flanders and met Philip of Burgundy. He declared that he was so impressed by her beauty that he wanted to marry her at once and ordered a ceremony to be performed that day so that he could consummate their marriage that night.
1496 (20th October)
Joanna formally married Philip in Brussels.
1497 (during)
Joanna’s brother, Juan, married Margaret of Austria.
1497 (September)
Joanna’s widowed sister, Isabella, married Manuel of Portugal.
1497 (4th October)
Joanna’s brother, Juan, died at Salamanca, Spain. The cause of his death is not known.
1497 (after 4th October)
Juan’s wife was pregnant at the time of his death and the hope of the Spanish succession rested on the birth of Juan’s child.
1497 (December)
Joanna’s sister-in-law was delivered of a stillborn daughter. This meant that Joanna’s sister Isabella was now heir to the throne of Castile.
1498 (23rd August)
Joanna’s sister, Isabella Queen of Portugal, died in childbirth at Zaragoza, Spain. Her baby son, Miguel was heir to Castile.
1498 (15th November)
A daughter, Eleanor was born to Joanna and Philip at Leuven.
1500 (24th February)
A son, Charles was born to Joanna and Philip at Ghent, Flanders.
1500 (19th July)
Joanna’s nephew, Miguel, heir to the throne of Castile died. Joanna was now heir to Castile.
1501 (15th November)
A daughter, Isabella was born to Joanna and Philip at Brussels, Belgium.
1501 (14th November)
Joanna’s sister, Catherine of Aragon, married Prince Arthur, heir to the throne of England.
1502 (during)
Joanna of Castile discovered that her husband, Philip, had been unfaithful to her. She became hysterical and many thought she was displaying signs of madness.
1502 (late January)
Joanna and Philip arrived in Spain.
1502 (2nd April)
Joanna’s sister, Catherine of Aragon, was widowed when her husband, Prince Arthur died.
1502 (22nd May)
Joanna and Philip were formally proclaimed as heirs to Castile. She would be Queen and he would be King consort.
1502 (September)
Joanna and Philip travelled to Zargoza in Aragon to be proclaimed heirs to Aragon.
1502 (27th October)
Joanna was proclaimed the heir to the throne of Aragon. Her husband, Philip would be known as King consort.
1502 (December)
Joanna and Philip had a terrible argument and Philip left Spain and returned to Flanders alone. When Joanna, who was six months pregnant, discovered what had happened she wanted to ride after Philip but her mother refused to let her go and locked her up in Castle La Mota.
1503 (10th March)
A son, Ferdinand was born to Joanna and Philip at Alcala de henares, Castile.
1503 (April)
Joanna was desperate to return to Flanders and Philip but as France and Spain were at war it was too dangerous to travel either overland or through French waters and her mother used this as a reason to keep Joanna away from her husband for as long as possible.
1503 (October)
Joanna’s mother named her as successor to the crown of Castile in her will. A clause was added stating that Joanna would not be able to appoint non-Spaniards to any government position. By doing this Isabella sought to deny Philip power in Spain.
1503 (November)
Joanna tried to escape from Castle La Mota where she continued to be confined but she was discovered and prevented from leaving. She became hysterical and abusive.
1504 (April)
Joanna’s parents had finally allowed her to return to Flanders on condition that she leave her son, Ferdinand behind. When she arrived in Flanders Joanna discovered Philip had taken a mistress. She confronted the woman and cut off her hair with a pair of scissors.
1504 (26th November)
Joanna’s mother, Isabella of Castile died at Medina del Campo.
1504 (26th November)
Joanna was proclaimed Queen of Castile in Spain. However, because she was not in Spain, her father, Ferdinand claimed the regency of Castile.
1504 (early December)
When he heard of Isabella’s death, Joanna’s husband, Philip, had himself proclaimed King of Castile. He also contested Ferdinand’s right to the regency of Castile.
1505 (January)
Joanna’s father, Ferdinand, summoned the Cortes. It was agreed that although Joanna was nominated Queen of Castile she had to come to Castile to prove that she was fit to rule. Ferdinand claimed that his daughter was given to over emotional outbursts that may be a result of mental instability.
1505 (15th September)
A daughter, Mary was born to Joanna and Philip at Brussels, Flanders.
1506 (January)
Joanna and Philip left Flanders to sail to Spain in order to claim the crown of Castile for Joanna. However a storm meant they had to take refuge in England. There they were invited to the English court where Joanna was reunited with her sister Catherine of Aragon.
1506 (22nd March)
Joanna’s father, Ferdinand was concerned about the succession. He felt Joanna was unfit to rule and he did not want Philip inheriting Spain so he made an alliance with France and married Germaine de Foix, niece of the King of France in the hopes of fathering a son who would inherit Spain.
1506 (21st April)
Joanna and Philip left England for Spain.
1506 (26th April)
Joanna and Philip landed at Coruna in Spain. Philip refused to let Joanna attend any meetings and acted as though he were King.
1506 (27th June)
Philip continued to refuse to allow Ferdinand to meet with his daughter Joanna. They eventually agreed a peace in the form of a statement that Joanna ‘on no account wishes to have anything to do with any affair of government or other things.’
1506 (late June)
Joanna’s father repudiated the agreement made with Philip claiming that he was forced to sign the document and that Joanna was fit to rule.
1506 (July)
Joanna and Philip went to Valladolid. Joanna refused to enter the city when she saw that two banners had been provided. She insisted that she alone was Queen and that one banner had to be removed for her to proceed.
1506 (11th July)
The Cortes swore allegiance to Joanna as Queen of Castile and to Philip as her consort. She had been interviewed by the Admiral of Castile who stated that she was of sound mind.
1506 (25th September)
Joanna’s husband, Philip, died at Burgos in Castile. It is likely he died from typhoid but it was rumoured that he had been poisoned by Ferdinand. Joanna was grief-stricken and refused to part with his embalmed body.
1506 (after 25th September)
Cardinal Francisco Jimenez de Cisneros took over power but was not able to stop some of the nobility from seizing power in their regions. Ferdinand returned to Castile with an army and restored order.
1506 (late)
There was an outbreak of disease in Burgos and Joanna decided to move to Torquemada. She insisted on taking Philip’s coffin with her. At her insistence the coffin was kept under armed guard at all time.
1507 (14th January)
A daughter, Catherine was born to Joanna and posthumously to Philip at Torquemada, Spain.
1507 (May)
Joanna decided to leave Torquemade and travel to Granada where Philip was to be buried. At times she opened the coffin of her husband to make sure that his body had not been stolen.
1507 (30th July)
Joanna met with her father, Ferdinand who decided that she was mentally unstable and had her placed under house arrest in the castle at Tordisillas.
1509 (February)
Joanna’s father dismissed her servants and appointed new ones that were answerable to him.
1509 (11th June)
Joanna’s sister, Catherine of Aragon became Queen of England when she married King Henry VIII.
1510 (during)
Joanna’s father, Ferdinand was named as administrator of Castile. The government of Castile was largely undertaken by Archbishop Cisneros.
1515 (22nd July)
Joanna’s daughter, Mary, married Louis of Hungary.
1515 (12th August)
Joanna’s daughter, Isabella, married Christian of Denmark.
1516 (23rd January)
Joanna’s father, Ferdinand died at Madrigalejo, Extremadura. He was buried in Granada.
1516 (after 23rd January)
Joanna’s son, Charles, was proclaimed regent for Joanna. However, as Charles was in Flanders, Aragon was governed by Ferdinand’s illegitimate son Alonso of Aragon while Archbishop Cisneros continued to govern Castile.
1517 (7th March)
Joanna’s sister, Maria, died at Lisbon, Portugal from complications following the birth of her tenth child.
1517 (October)
Joanna’s son, Charles and her daughter Eleanor arrived in Spain.
1517 (4th November)
Joanna’s children, Charles and Eleanor, came to see her at Tordesillas. She gave Charles authorisation to rule as her co-King of Castile, Leon and Aragon.
1518 (during)
Joanna’s daughter, Eleanor, married Manuel of Portugal, former husband of Joanna’s sisters Isabella and Maria.
1519 (during)
Joanna’s son, Charles, was elected Charles V Holy Roman Emperor.
1520 (early)
Joanna’s son, Charles paid his mother a visit before leaving to Germany to take up his role as Holy Roman Emperor. He left Cardinal Adrian of Utrecht in charge of the government of Castile.
1520 (16th April)
Revolt of the Comuneros
This was an uprsing in Castile by rebels opposed to the rule of Charles V. They wanted Joanna, who had been brought up in Spain to take over rule.
This was an uprsing in Castile by rebels opposed to the rule of Charles V. They wanted Joanna, who had been brought up in Spain to take over rule.
1520 (September)
Revolt of the Comunero
A group of the rebels opposed to the rule of Charles, seized Tordesillas and freed Joanna. They wanted to set her as a puppet Queen. However, Joanna refused to sign any papers.
A group of the rebels opposed to the rule of Charles, seized Tordesillas and freed Joanna. They wanted to set her as a puppet Queen. However, Joanna refused to sign any papers.
1520 (December)
The forces of Charles retook Tordesillas. Joanna was sent to the Royal Convent of Santa Clara in Tordesillas.
1521 (23rd April)
Revolt of the Comuneros
The rebels were defeated at the Battle of Villalar.
The rebels were defeated at the Battle of Villalar.
1521 (24th April)
The leaders of the Revolt of the Comuneros, Juan Lopez de Padilla, Juan Bravo and Francisco Maldonado were executed.
1521 (26th May)
Joanna’s son, Ferdinand, married Anna of Bohemia and Hungary.
1525 (10th February)
Joanna’s daughter, Catherine, married her cousin, King John III of Portugal. Without the presence of her daughter, Joanna’s mental health deteriorated.
1526 (19th January)
Joanna’s daughter, Isabella, died in Ghent following a serious illness.
1526 (10th March)
Joanna’s son, Charles, married his cousin, Isabella of Portugal, daughter of Joanna’s sister, Maria.
1530 (7th July)
Joanna’s daughter, Eleanor, married Francis I of France.
1536 (7th January)
Joanna’s sister, Catherine, died at Kimbolton Castle, England probably from cancer.
1555 (12th April)
Joanna died in the Convent of Santa Clara at Tordesillas.
Published Sept 05, 2018 @ 8:00 pm – Updated – [last-modified]
Harvard Reference for this page::
Heather Y Wheeler. (2018 – 2020). Joanna (the mad) of Castile 1479 – 1555. https://www.thetimelinegeek.com/joanna-the-mad-of-castile-1479-1555. Last accessed [date]