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Case file s655 · Medieval Europe · 1504
1504
Joanna of Castile: German: Johanna die in spain (1473-1435) Portrait of Joan the Madtitle QS:P1476,de:"Johanna die in spain (1473-1435) "la
Joanna of Castile. Juan de Flandes. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
November 1504 (Isabella I of Castile)
Place
Tordesillas, Spain
Field
the crown of Castile · Royalty and nobility on the timeline
Legal tradition
Castilian royal succession; the queen's testament · Civil law · Royal and church law
Historical event
The union of the Spanish crowns under Charles V
Religion
Joanna of Castile: Catholic (recorded as Catholic Church on Wikidata)

Isabella of Castile's will made her daughter Joanna queen, and Joanna's father and son kept her locked in Tordesillas for 46 years

Isabella I of Castile died in November 1504. Her daughter Joanna became queen of Castile. Isabella's will let Ferdinand, Joanna's father, govern if Joanna was absent or unwilling to rule, until Joanna's heir turned 20. Joanna's husband, Philip the Handsome, and Ferdinand both wanted control. In 1506 they signed the Treaty of Villafáfila, agreeing to exclude Joanna from government; Ferdinand repudiated it the same day. Philip died at Burgos on 25 September 1506, probably of typhoid. Joanna kept his body with her and took it to Tordesillas. In February 1509 Ferdinand had her confined in the royal palace at Tordesillas. Her son Charles became co-monarch in 1516 and kept her there. She remained there until she died on Good Friday, 12 April 1555, aged 75, about 46 years later. She is known in Spain as Juana la Loca, "Joanna the Mad"; whether she was mad is disputed. Her son ruled as Charles V. She is buried in the Royal Chapel of Granada, where Philip's remains were brought in 1515 and a tomb for the couple was completed in 1524.

What the law took from it

A will that lets a regent rule whenever the heir is "unable" puts the heir's freedom in the regent's hands.

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Isabella of Castile's will made her daughter Joanna queen, and Joanna's father and son kept her locked in Tordesillas for 46 years,” story s655, https://www.celebrity.estate/joanna-of-castile-1504, updated 30 October 2026.

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