Sister Queens : Katherine of Aragon and Juana Queen of Castile

The history books have cast Katherine of Aragon, the first queen of King Henry VIII of England, as the ultimate symbol of the betrayed woman, cruelly tossed aside in favor of her husband's seductive mistress, Anne Boleyn. Katherine's sister, Juana of Castile, wife of Philip of Burgundy and mother of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, is portrayed as "Juana the Mad," whose erratic behavior included keeping her beloved late husband's coffin beside her for years. But historian Julia Fox, whose previous work painted an unprecedented portrait of Jane Boleyn, Anne's sister-in-law, offers deeper insight in this first dual biography of Katherine and Juana, the daughters of Spain's Ferdinand and Isabella, whose family ties remained strong despite their separation. Looking through the lens of their Spanish origins, Fox reveals these queens as flesh-and-blood women -- equipped with character, intelligence, and conviction -- who are worthy historical figures in their own right. When they were young, Juana's and Catherine's futures appeared promising. They had secured politically advantageous marriages, but their dreams of love and power quickly dissolved, and the unions for which they'd spent…

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More by Julia Fox

More by Julia Fox