Chapter 24 – Castile-Aragon-Navarre 1500 to 1505
The negotiations between Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabel I of Castile and the Duchy of Lorraine had begun in 1496. The hand of their grandson, the Prince of Viana for the proposed bride, Yolande of Lorraine, the eldest surviving daughter of Duke Nicholas and duchess Mary. The agreement had been finalised in November of 1500, but had hit a snag in May of 1501. Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine died in Nancy at the age of fifty-three on the 12th of April. His son, Charles of Lorraine became the new Duke with his Hapsburg bride Elizabeth as duchess. The now dowager duchess Mary moved out of her apartments in the Ducal palace to make space for Elizabeth and her daughter Marie who had turned one year old. Nicholas had ordered the palace built after his marriage to Mary of Burgundy to serve as a splendid new residence for the ducal couple and a symbol of the Duchy of Lorraine. He also ordered that the Château de Lunéville should be renovated and expanded. Mary moved her household to the chateau after her husband’s death, taking her two youngest children with her. Yolande remained in Nancy with her brother and Elizabeth to finish her education.
As Lorraine had a new ruler the alliance with Spain came under scrutiny. One of the reasons Ferdinand and Isabel wanted Yolande as their granddaughter-in law was that the House of Valois-Anjou held a strong claim to the Kingdom of Naples. In case something was to happen to the Neapolitan Trastamara family, then Juan and his heirs would have a clear shot to the kingdom. The issue was that Charles might want the claim to himself. Ambassadors went between the kingdoms as the months passed by until summer’s end. Eventually Charles saw sense in allying himself with one of the strongest kingdoms in Europe to safeguard his duchy against France. The claim to Naples was given to Yolande as part of the dowry and she would depart Lorraine to travel to Provence where a fleet of ships awaited her at the port of Marseille. Her departure took place in March of 1502, and she arrived in the County of Roussillon a few weeks later. King Ferdinand met her in Perpignan and escorted her to Girona and later to the city of Barcelona. It was a tour through the Catalan counties that made up the crown of Aragon and Ferdinand used his grandson and Yolande to strengthen royal authority in the area. The marriage itself took place in Burgos, at contrition towards the Castilian nobles who felt that Aragon had gotten more out of the marriage then Castile.
Yolande of Lorraine as Princess of Asturias
The marriage of her grandson to Yolande was a great joy to Queen Isabel as a few sorrows had blackened her family in the past two years. Her grandson, Infante Alfonso had never enjoyed strong health and at the age of seven had become severely ill. While the boy had survived, his heart was weakened. Alfonso was a small and charming boy who quickly had wrapped her around his little finger. Isabel doted on all of her grandchildren, but Alfonso had gotten extra attention as she had feared for his life several times. In addition, Queen Catherine of Navarre had delivered a third daughter in December of 1501, but the little girl had died days after birth, living long enough to be christened Magdalena after her Valois grandmother. It was the first child she and Juan had lost in fifteen years, and it made a very gloomy Christmas. Her namesake granddaughter Isabella had made it her mission to cheer the queen up and Infanta Eleanor and Infante Gaston quarreled over the space in her lap several times.
News from Portugal also cheered her up. Her daughter Isabella had given birth to her third child in summer of 1501. Prince Joao and Infanta Leonor was both thriving and baby Peter crawled around in the nursery in Lisbon. And in Savoy, Juana of Castile was expecting again. Infanta Catalina had married the Prince of Wales and left the court for Ludlow in September of 1501 to be reunited with him.
Yolande had a pleasant personality and was a steady comfort for Isabel. The queen’s health was failing, and Juan and Catherine stepped up even more in government in her stead. During the last two years of her life, Isabel spent more and more time with her grandchildren, retiring partly from government in Juan’s favour. The King of Navarre maintained a steady hand on government in Castile and had exerted his influence for years. He and Catherine had governed Navarre competently for fifteen years now and Juan had become more co-ruler in Castile then heir.
Seven months after the marriage, Yolande delighted the whole court with an announcement. A prince or princess would arrive in June of 1503. Isabel could live to see her first great-grandchild be born. Another grandchild arrived in England in late March to Catalina, much to her delight. And when Yolande gave birth to her first child a few months later, it was Queen Isabel who carried her great-granddaughter, Infanta Isabel to the baptismal front with a fierce pride. Her little namesake would be the only child of Prince Juan and Yolande she would meet. Isabel was just a little over a year old when her great-grandmother passed away in Medina del Campo.
King Ferdinand was seated by her side during the last days, keeping his wife of thirty-five years company. Together they reminisced about the empire they had built, their children who flourished in Spain and abroad. Their firstborn son would inherit a gigantic empire of different realms; Castile, Leon, Aragon, Navarre, Sicily, Sardinia, Majorca, Granada. Their fortune had become greater than they could possibly imagine. Juan and Catherine visited her chamber often during the days, while Ferdinand, Duke of Cádiz and his wife Carlota arrived in Medina del Campo after a long and hard ride. Infante Santiago had turned four and he and Gaston got on like a house on fire as always. Alfonso spent several hours curled up in bed next to Isabel, reading clumsily from storybooks and entertaining her with tales of dragons, and shining knights of his dreams. Queen Isabel thanked God every day for her grandson’s health and prayed for him to get stronger. At the age of ten, he had become a thin, pale and golden haired boy with large blue eyes, who she called
“mi angelito”. Isabel’s death on the 26th of November that year would spare her the pain of Alfonso’s passing in the summer of 1505.
Death of Isabel I of Castile. Ferdinand in red robes and Catherine of Navarre in black at his side. Juan, Prince of Viana is to the right in the green patterned clothes.
The queen had already written an extensive will where she proclaimed that she was
“leaving all of my realms, Castile and Leon to my son and heir King Juan of Navarre. Isabel requested to be buried in Granada, with a plain stone for her grave. She also requested that if Ferdinand chose to be buried elsewhere, then her coffin would be moved to be next to him. Both Catholic Monarchs would rest together in the Royal Chapel in Granada, with a splendid double monument by Domenico Fancelli, made on their son’s orders. Isabel’s request for a simple grave was ignored, but that were par for the course and the grandest ruler of her time deserved a grand monument. Many decades later Juan and Catherine would join them in the chapel. Infante Alfonso’s sarcophagus was placed in his grandparent’s crypt after his death. Granada and the Alhambra Palace held an incredibly special place in Juan and Catherine’s hearts, and they would return to the city many times in their reign.
Juan would be crowned in the Toledo Cathedral with a with a massive gathering of the Castilian and Aragonese nobles and Cortes on the 13th of January 1505. Catherine was proclaimed as queen consort as Castile and Leon at the same time. For the first time since their creations the whole of the Spanish kingdom would be under one ruler. Ferdinand II of Aragon watched his firstborn son crown himself in his mother’s crown with immense pride.
Three days afterwards, the Prince of Viana would be invested as the Prince of Asturias. Juan III still held the title of Prince of Girona as his father remained king of Aragon. Yolande was proclaimed as Princess of Viana and Asturias beside him, with the toddling Infanta Isabel clapping her chubby hands at the festivities.
King Juan would grant Catherine the dower towns of Cordoba, Huelva, La Guardia and Teruel to increase the income she already received from Navarre. She also got her dower towns in Aragon, making the queen a very rich woman.
Infante Ferdinand the younger, Duke of Granada received the title of Grand Master of the Order of Santiago at that time. The king’s second son had turned seventeen years old at his father’s coronation and while he kept up the façade of dignity and devotion during the festivities, only one person spotted the dark, hateful glares towards his elder brother. Ferdinand the elder, Duke of Cádiz noted his nephew’s face, unbeknownst to the infante. Their sister, Infanta Isabella of Granada as she was called, to distinguish her from her grandmother, aunt and niece in the court was prominently featured in the festivities. She had been betrothed to Prince Joao of Portugal since long and would leave for Lisbon over a year later. Her father intended for a imperial match for his second daughter, Infanta Eleanor. The archduchess Anne had been delivered of two more children by 1505, Elizabeth in 1501 and Frederick four year afterwards. Both of the children were thriving. The Imperial twins, Maximilian and Leopold had reached the age of eight years old by now and Maximilian had been sent to Tyrol to learn how to govern. Leopold on the other hand seemed to be disabled, as court gossip said that the boy was slow both in mind and body.
Archduke Maximilian in 1505
Infanta Eleanor of Castile, Aragon and Navarre in 1507
King Juan also invited his friend, Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones, the conde of Tendilla to dine with him in private at one evening after the festivities. The nobleman was a member of the powerful House of Mendoza, and had proven to be a devoted and accomplished man who faithfully had served the Crown as ambassador to Pope Innocent VIII, military commander in the Grenada Wars and Captain General of Grenada after 1491. His eldest daughter had been raised in court as lady in waiting to Catherine and companion to the infantas. Maria de Mendoza was born a year after Infante Ferdinand the younger and had grown up to be a stunning beauty at the age of sixteen. As Juan and Inigo had been close friends, with the Conde serving as a mentor while Juan was a prince, a marriage between the Infante and Maria would serve to bind the Mendoza family closer to the Crown.
To ensure the loyalty of the Mendoza family, Juan had granted mercy to Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar y Mendoza, Inigo’s nephew. Rodrigo, Marquis of Cenete had been imprisoned by order of Isabel I of Castile for marrying Maria de Fonseca y Toledo despite being forbidden by the Queen. It was a carefully orchestrated ceremony that took place in Cordoba a few weeks later, when a penitent Rodrigo was brought up from confinement clad in simple white linen in the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos. King Juan awaited him in the throne room, wearing his crown, richly attired. Rodrigo humbly knelt before the king and humbly thanked him for freeing him. Juan rose up from his throne and proclaimed that he had ordered him here to see whether or not Rodrigo was worthy of any clemency, as he had betrayed his mother’s order. Was he planning to defy Juan as well? Rodrigo proclaimed that his punishment by Isabel had been fair and that he would remain the king’s man of liege and limb to Juan for the rest of his life. As he had finished speaking, Queen Catherine rose from her seat and sank to her knees before her husband while clasping his hand in hers. She pleaded with him to show mercy as
“it benefited a great king to know when to grant those penitents a second chance, as a christian ruler should be reminded as the deliverer of justice sometimes should deliver mercy.”
Catherine’s intersession was certainly pre-planned as it gave Juan an excellent opportunity to yield without losing strength. Juan thus proclaimed, that since Rodrigo had offered his sworn oath and as the queen had implored him, that he be restored in royal favour and bade him to rise. Rodrigo kissed the king’s hand in gratitude and stood up. Juan told the assembled nobles that as long as they oath to the Crown, the king would honour them in return. A few hours later the king and queen sat down for a banquet, where the Marquis of Cenete dined at the king’s right side, wearing new clothing benefiting his noble station. Two months later, Infante Ferdinand the younger and Maria de Mendoza married in Seville in May in the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See. The cathedral had seen the christening of Juan, Prince of Asturias and Viana in 1486 and King and Queen enjoyed Seville immensely, as the Royal Alcazar in the city became one of their favourite residences.
While the marriage between Ferdinand and Maria was a strategically sound one for the crown at the time and Juan did successfully bind several noble families with a web of loyalties, the outcome of it would be brutal. It would cause several years of unrest, a revolt against the crown backed by, among others, the king of France and it would cause the death of both Ferdinands, as the hatred between uncle and nephew escalated into lethal violence in 1532. While none of that darkness were present that beautiful spring day of 1505, the seeds for one of the most tragic events in Juan’s long life had been planted.
King Juan III of Castile and Navarre in 1505
Author's Note: I'm kind of feeling crappy today, so have another chapter. Please shower me with love and comments. I felt like it was time to visit Spain once more and see what is up. Isabel the Catholic has passed away and now we finally have Juan III of Castile and Navarre. Marriage plotting and future disaster aplently!
www.castles.nl
en.wikipedia.org
