When someone calls you crazy, remember this: on November 15th or 16th, Joanna of Castile was born—a queen who was never actually crazy.
Joanna was married for 16 years to a man nicknamed “the handsome,” even though, judging by his portraits, he really wasn’t. From the beginning, he chased after the women at court, and Joanna, understandably, got upset. She wanted respect—but as a woman, a queen, and a wife, she got none. And for daring to speak up, they called her crazy.
After her husband died, Joanna claimed the throne of Castile, which rightfully belonged to her.
But her father, King Ferdinand, didn’t want her to rule. So he said she was mentally unwell—and had her locked away.
Joanna was still young and beautiful, and the king worried she might remarry and find a man who would help her fight for the throne. So it was safer for him to keep her locked up.
Later, her son Carlos visited and supposedly she “willingly gave him her power.” But that wasn’t true—he forced her to sign it away, then left her behind. She stayed locked up.
Joanna was a smart woman who spoke Latin and wrote poetry.
But instead of calling her Joanna the Imprisoned, history chose to call her Joanna the Mad.
She’s one of many women whose real stories were never told the way they should have been.
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