Read part two here. Royal uncle-niece marriages happened several times over the years. These marriages often happened for strategic reasons, such as land or power, but also because of rank and status. There simply weren’t enough others of high enough rank for marriage. The offspring of such marriages often suffered from genetic abnormalities, such as [read more]
On 26 November 1504, Queen Isabella I of Castile died at the age of 53. Her husband, King Ferdinand II of Aragon, announced her death to the waiting public and sent messengers across the country with the news. On a hastily erected stand, the Duke of Alba raised Queen Isabella’s banner three times while announcing, [read more]
Read part two here. Rumours soon arose that Eleanor was having a love affair with her stepson, now King John III of Portugal. These rumours travelled as far as Poland and included that she was pregnant with John’s child. If there was any truth in the rumours, there was no way she would be allowed [read more]
Read part one here. The Polish match never materialised as Maximilian realised his matchmaking skills were lacking. Especially in the case of Isabella, where he recognised Isabella had married a man who led an “unpleasant and shameful life” with a mistress. And so he decided “to postpone that [match] of Poland until I can recognise [read more]
Eleanor of Austria was born on 15 November 1498 in Brussels as the eldest child of the future Joanna, Queen of Castile and Philip I, King of Castile. Joanna had been visited by her parents’ ambassador in August 1498, and he wrote to Queen Isabella, “She is so gentle and so beautiful and fat and [read more]
Read part two here. Joanna’s husband and father conspired to keep her from public view, and Philip planned to rule over Joanna’s Kingdom of Castile himself. People were led to believe that Joanna was mentally ill and could not govern. Things took a shocking turn when Philip died suddenly, leaving Joanna pregnant and widowed but [read more]
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