Joanna

views updated May 14 2018

Joanna ( the Mad) (1479–1555) Spanish queen of Castile and León (1504–55). She was the daughter of Ferdinand II and Isabella I and inherited Castile and León at her mother's death. Her father acted as regent for her until she married Philip I, son of the Holy Roman emperor. Always mentally unstable, she became insane after the death of Philip in 1506 and Ferdinand again acted as her regent. Her son Charles I (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles V) was joint ruler after Ferdinand died in 1516. Another son, Ferdinand, succeeded Charles as emperor.

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