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The Bastard Queen, Niece of the Catholic Kings
Joanna La Beltraneja, Isabella of Castille and the fight for a throne
Joanna La Beltraneja was the only child of King Henry IV of Castile and his second wife, Joan of Portugal. Henry was the older half brother of the future Queen of Castile, Isabella, known as the Catholic Monarch who repelled the Moors from Spain and sent Columbus to the New World. How Isabella took the Castillian throne, instead of Joanna, who had a better claim, is based on one factor: dubious paternity.
In 1436, while Henry was the Prince of Asturias, he married his first wife and cousin, Blanche of Navarre. The marriage between the two kingdoms of Navarre and Castille solidified a peace treaty. By 1453, the Bishop of Segovia was forced to annul this union due to Blanche’s infertility. It was not uncommon for royal men to annul their marriages when they were unable to produce heirs. Curiously, instead of directly blaming Blanche for the problem, as was common, the cause of the unfruitful union was a curse. Henry claimed that he had tried to consummate the marriage for three years, but could not perform the deed. To demonstrate that he had no issue in performance elsewhere, he secured the testimony of prostitutes in Segovia, who praised their king’s lovemaking. Surely, in Henry’s mind, the only reason for his inability to…
