The Crazy Queen of Spain

<p>Joanna of Castile, was, as a young lady, remarked upon for her intellect and good companionship, and married off to prize catch Philip the Handsome - but by the time she died on 13th April, 1555 she was known colloquially by the name that’s stuck ever since: ‘Joanna The Mad’.</p><br><p>She had, by then, spent 45 years in prison at the hands of her own family, who had a political advantage in exaggerating her moments of instability to keep control of her territories.</p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask whether Joanna’s problems can be traced back to her troubling childhood; reveal her disturbing behaviour whilst she grieved for her philandering husband; and consider her legacy as a prototype for the ‘mad woman in the attic’ seen in so much Western literature…</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><ul><li>‘The Intriguing Life of Joana of Castile, Who Slept With Her Husband's Corpse’ (Esquire, 2018): <a href="https://www.esquiremag.ph/the-good-life/pursuits/joanna-of-castile-history-a00208-20180428-lfrm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.esquiremag.ph/the-good-life/pursuits/joanna-of-castile-history-a00208-20180428-lfrm</a></li><li>‘Who Was Catherine of Aragon's Sister Juana la Loca in The Spanish Princess?’ (Town and Country, 2019): <a href="https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a27786471/catherine-of-aragon-sister-juana-la-loca-spanish-princess/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a27786471/catherine-of-aragon-sister-juana-la-loca-spanish-princess/</a></li><li>‘Juana la Loca, Rap Histórico’ (Academia Play, 2019): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlYsTO8bcM" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlYsTO8bcM</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

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