Coup (1516–1519)

Abstract

For some time in declining health, Fernando died on 23 January 1516. In his will, he formally nominated Juana as his heir. Thus, she became the first and only sovereign queen of Aragon. But, in practice, he left Aragon to the governorship of his (illegitimate) son, Alonso de Aragón, archbishop of Zaragoza, and Castile to the governorship of Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, archbishop of Toledo and cardinal of Santa Balbina. I examine the motives of Juana’s son, Charles, in proclaiming himself king of Castile and thus overriding the terms of Isabel’s will, successive Cortes decisions, and the treaties of Cambray and Blois, as well as the strongly worded advice of the Royal Council, which stated that such a proclamation was “against divine and human law.” I continue by exploring the turmoil caused by Charles’ decision in the crown territories of Castile and Aragon as well as in the palace of Tordesillas itself; the meeting between Juana and her two eldest children in November 1517; the subsequent Cortes of Valladolid, which accepted Charles’s kingship under certain conditions, and Charles’s replacement of Duque de Estrada at the head of Juana’s household by Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, second marquis of Denia. The regime instituted at Tordesillas by Denia and Charles sought to confine the queen yet more closely than before. She was no longer allowed to visit the nearby convent of Santa Clara and the web of deceit that Fernando and Ferrer had begun to spin around her continued, becoming yet more intricate under the new regime.