Queen Juanita of Castile and Leon was the older sister of English Queen, and first wife of Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon. They were born to two powerful parents (Isabella I of Castile who sent Christopher Columbus to find a quicker way to the Far East and Ferdinand II of Aragon) who stressed duty over everything else…they also both ended up in marriages that started off blissful and then went sadly awry. Alas to, in one way or another they ended up being betrayed by their own father whose political ambition overshadowed his love for his daughters – something that would not have been allowed had their mother not died when both were young adults.
In C. W. Gortner’s‘The Last Queen’, Juanita is painted sympathetically as a woman who is overcome with the sexism of her historical era, which is not necessarily the way history has painted her – the insane queen whose throne had to be taken from her and then she was isolated and in the end she was left to die abandoned by her son. The readers first meet Juanita as a young woman who resembles her father, and though having a healthy respect for her mother, is wary of her and often thinks that the woman never has the best interests of her children in mind; only her throne. To be fair, the queen did have a lot on her plate. Isabella was a Christian queen who conquered and then rid the last of the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula. At the same time she decided to also take on all non-believers in Christ and thus the infamous Spanish Inquisition was started on her watch. In fact one of the reasons she continued to fund Columbus after it was obvious that he hadn’t found a water route for the spice trade is that she wanted to convert the indigenous people of these newly discovered foreign lands to Christianity for the salvation of their souls. I should note that her husband thought the funding of Columbus’ escapades was a waste of funds.
Juanita, being the dutiful daughter and headstrong (as Gortner paints her) marries the Duke of Fleming and tries to make a go at the marriage even though she finds her husband weak in character as he is handsome. Known as Philip the Handsome, or Philip the Fair, and with all due respect to generations before, I must say he comes across as Philip the Eh. Although the couple have a passionate relationship at the beginning of their betrothal as well as being blessed with children (their first born son arriving to greet the world in a privy closet – can you imagine the jokes that were made during Charles the V lifetime?). The marriage soon sours after when her husband uses tragedy in her family (the death of her brother, older sister, and the sister’s only child) as fodder for political gain.
I first became aware of Juanita when I was doing research on another article. I found this painted portrait of her with a huge head and small body and immediately thought photoshopping sixteenth century style. You know, so much has been written about the Tudor Era with books galore about all six of his wives (even Anne of Cleeves who was married to Henry VIII for a few short months) that I was bug-eyed with wonder about the fascinating tale of Juanita of Castile. It makes what her sister went through seem like a minor annoyance. I hope this is an enticement – there is a whole historical episode about how Juanita dragged her dead husband’s corpse all over Spain, occasionally opening the casket to give him a kiss. Really, after reading that how could you not think she needed some serious down time, but Gortner makes a great defense for her – a la a champion of her honor a few centuries too late. Through the book he makes a case for her being married to the wrong man, with the wrong political adviser, at the wrong time. It was to the advantage of all the men in her life – father, husband, and eventually son to paint her as crazy in order to steal her throne – the throne her mother wanted her to inherit. All the way she is thwarted in her attempts to take what is rightfully hers through pregnancy, death of allies, and betrayals. In short, ‘The Last Queen’ makes a fascinating read.
The only real downside to this book for me was how it was marketed. The title sounds like a million similar titles involving historical fiction novels. Perhaps if it was called something like ‘The Last Spanish Queen’ or ‘Isabella’s Heir’ or something in that vein so it would distinguish it from the competition.
I would recommend this book for anyone interested in historical fiction especially novels that deal with the royal houses of Europe. Juanita’s story isn’t one that many readers at least in the states are familiar, plus her legacy is that she was connected to so many familiar historical figures. It is the perfect winter read.
