Joanna of Castile

Joanna Of Castile

Joanna (6 November 1479 – 12 April 1555), known as Joanna the Mad (Spanish: Juana la Loca), was the first queen regnant to reign over both the Kingdoms of Castile (1504–55) and of Aragon (1516–55), a union which evolved into modern Spain. Besides the kingdoms of Spain, she also ruled the kingdoms of Sardinia, Sicily, and Naples in Italy; a vast colonial empire in the Americas and the Philippines; and the prosperous Burgundian Netherlands, initiating Spanish interests there. She was the last monarch of the House of Trastámara and her marriage to Philip the Handsome initiated the rule of the Habsburgs in Spain. However, throughout her long reign, she was under the regency of her husband, father, inquisitor, or son and she was long confined to a nunnery for reasons of mental illness.