Juana la Beltraneja
| Joanna of Castile | |
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| Queen consort of Portugal | |
| Tenure | 30 May 1475 – 28 August 1481 |
| Born | 21 February 1462 |
| Died | 12 April 1530 (aged 68) |
| Spouse | Afonso V of Portugal |
| House | Trastámara |
| Father | Disputed: Henry IV of Castile or Beltrán de la Cueva, 1st Duke of Alburquerque |
| Mother | Joan of Portugal |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Joanna la Beltraneja (21 February 1462 – 12 April 1530) was a claimant to the throne of Castile, and queen of Portugal as the wife of King Afonso V, her uncle.
Henry IV of Castile married Joan of Portugal, the youngest sister of King Afonso V of Portugal, on May 21, 1455. Seven years later, a daughter, Joanna, was born.
Henry had previously been married to Blanche of Navarre. After thirteen years, that marriage was annulled on the grounds that it had never been consummated. This was attributed to a curse, which only affected the king's relationship with his wife; a number of prostitutes from Segovia testified that they had noticed no impairment.
The king had no other children and was rumoured to be impotent. Whether true or not, it was widely circulated by Henry's opponents that the little infanta was the child of Beltrán de la Cueva, a royal favorite at court. They called her la Beltraneja, a mocking reference to her supposed illegitimacy.
Her mother was banished to Bishop Fonseca's castle where she fell in love with Fonseca's nephew and became pregnant. Henry divorced her in 1468.
On 9 May 1462, Joanna was officially proclaimed heir to the throne of Castile and created Princess of Asturias. Henry had the nobles of Castile swear allegiance to her and promise that they would support her as monarch.
Many of the more prominent nobles, seeking to increase their own power, refused to recognize Joanna, preferring that Henry name as heir his younger half-brother, Infante Alfonso. Armed conflict broke out and in 1464 the league of nobles forced Henry to repudiate Joanna and recognize Infante Alfonso as his heir. Alfonso then became Prince of Asturias, a title traditionally held by the heir apparent. Henry agreed to this compromise with the stipulation that Infante Alfonso would marry Joanna (his niece), to ensure that they both would receive the crown.
But in 1468, Infante Alfonso died, and also Joanna's parents separated. This resulted to her displacement in the succession. Her half-aunt, Infanta Isabella, was placed before her in the succession, although Joanna was considered the heir after Isabella.
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Wikipedia