Joanna I of Castile & Philip the Handsome
The crisis of jealousy burst out shortly after Juana’s arrival in Flanders.
Already in July of 1504 Mojica had gone to Castile to inform Isabella and Ferdinand of the grave things that had happened ever since the Princess came back, and which the ambassador did not write about in his letters because they were very delicate and secret. And even though Philip had behaved very well, Juana did not want to see or talk to the Spanish ambassadors anymore.
In August, the Kings wrote to them, complaining about the lack of love between their daughter and son-in-law.
Here are some of the violent scenes that occurred between the spouses, and which were related by the ambassador to Ferdinand and Isabella:
Since the Princess did not want company of anyone else but her slaves, who had become sick due to being overworked, and, in spite of the prohibition on her physicians’s part, Juana continued taking a lot of baths and washing her head. Philip ordered her to dismiss her slaves and use the women whom he had chosen, threatening that he would not come to see her until she complied.
Juana got annoyed, refused to obey, and dismissed the messenger who had informed her, threatening him with death.
The Prince had to come personally to remove the slaves because, besides, the Princess had marked them on their faces; she opposed him and spoke to him insolently. Only when he threatened he would not sleep with her anymore did the Princess agree to dismiss the slaves, although not without punching one of them when she was about to leave.
As soon as Philip abandoned the bedchamber, Juana summoned one of them again, and after another violent scene, the Prince himself left.
Later he wrote to Fuensalida to inform him that he had resolved to lock all of Juana’s doors, except one, because he was afraid she would try to run off to a monastery, and from there to Spain - and that he would not allow any Spaniard to see her and would send her slaves and almoner back to Spain.
The Spanish ambassadors begged him to not do this without thinking it over, but he replied he was not going to cede as far as the slaves were concerned.
The ambassadors went to see the Princess, and to convince her she should resolve that problem. Juana responded harshly that they should not speak to her about anything, except what her parents told them to.
Philip ordered the children to be brought and begged Juana sweetly to be reasonable, but it did not have any effect on her and she insisted on having her slaves back.
Then, annoyed, Philip told her she was going to be locked away, and no Spaniard would be able to see her. She locked herself up in her rooms, refused to eat, and asked Philip to come. He, however, refused to go, in spite of the ambassadors’s pleas.
He returned at night, sick and with one of his feet hurt. He retired to a chamber that was situated below the one in which his wife resided.
When Juana sensed he was there, she started hitting the floor with a stick or stone, calling him. She spent the entire night doing this, saying from time to time:
‘Answer me, I want to know if you are there…’
And, at the same time, she began scratching the floorboards with a knife.
The next day she said if they wanted her to take food, then her children and ladies should be brought to her. Philip became desperate, had all the doors opened for her, and said she could go wherever she wanted. He was going to Flanders, to not to have to see her anymore until she complied with his wishes.
Shortly afterwards, the Princess wrote him a long letter, apparently very reasonable, given that, according to Fuensalida, Philip believed he would find her obedient at his return. In the end, in the month of November, the Prince sent the slaves, and some other of Juana’s servants, back to Spain. He believed that after separating them from Juana, they would live in greater harmony.
Although the ambassador wrote to King Ferdinand:
‘The Prince would like to do with the Princess all that we tell him on your behalf, or even more, because we have always found him ready to please her, if she wanted, but she does not want to let him (please herself) or to do what she ought to… It is a pity to see him when he speaks of the Princess…’
The ambassador firmly believed their relationship was such, that if God did not miraculously take Juana’s obsession (over her husband) away, and did not give Philip a different character, it would be impossible for them to live in harmony, and with such lack of it at home, how would they be able to rule well over so many kingdoms?
Correspondencia de Gutierre Gomez de Fuensalida, embajador en Alemania, Flandes é Inglaterra (1496-1509), el duque de Berwick y de Alba, conde de Siruela, pp. 32-34
dedicated to @thenameismg and @everythingieverloved - thank you for proofreading it for me and fixing my mistakes!
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