He did didn't he? Isabel the catholic is gonna leave her legacy in his steady hands and live to hold her first great-grandchild before she dies. I think that's a much happier ending then she got otl.
The Grand Duchy of the West - A Valois-Burgundian TL
- Thread starter BlueFlowwer
- Start date
Yeah, way happier than having her kingdom be bitterly contested hy her son-in-law and husband, having her heiress locked up for the remainder of her life and then having her husband betray their dream (a unified spain) in his attempts to keep his kingdom off the hands of the Habsburgs.
She really did, thankfully she'll get a much kinder and better one here.
Oh, I'm in love with those trees.
It's quite a coincidence that you dropped a family tree chapter just as I'm writing one for my test thread
It's quite a coincidence that you dropped a family tree chapter just as I'm writing one for my test thread
Chapter 17 - Family Trees by 1500 -Part Two
I shall make a few more of these before its midnight.
English family:
Edward IV of England b 1442 d 1484 m a) Elizabeth Woodville b 1437 d 1469, b) Margaret of Scotland b 1455
Issue:
1) Elizabeth of York b 1466 d 1470
2) Mary of York b 1467 d 1484 m Philip, Grand Duke of Brabant b 1469
Issue: Charles of Brabant b/d 1484
3) Stillborn daughter 1469
4) Cecily of York b 1471 d 1482
5) Edward, Prince of Wales b 1475
6) Richard, Duke of York b 1477 d 1481
7) Margaret of York b 1480 d 1483
8) Stillborn daughter 1484
Richard III of England b 1452 m a) Anne Neville b 1456 d 1480, b) Beatrice of Portugal b 1469
Issue:
1) Joan of Gloucester b 1475 m James IV of Scotland b 1473
Issue: To be written
2) Eleanor of Gloucester b 1478 m Jean VI, Duke of Brittany b 1477
Issue: Richard, Count of Montfort b 1496 betrothed to Katherine of Brabant b 1495, others to come
3) Richard, Prince of Wales b 1486 betrothed to Infanta Catalina of Castile and Aragon b 1485
4) Edmund, Duke of York b 1487
5) Beatrice of England b 1488 betrothed to Philippe of Brabant, Count of Namur b 1486
6) Thomas, Duke of Bedford b 1490
7) Cecily of England b 1495
8) Anne of England b 1497
9) Lionel of England b 1501
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence 1449 d 1476 m Isabel Neville b 1451 d 1476
Issue: Dead kids
Austrian Family:
Frederick of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor b 1415 d 1493 m Eleanor of Portugal b 1434 d 1467
Issue:
1) Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor b 1459 m Hedwig Jagiellon b 1457
Issue:
1) Eleanor von Hapsburg, Archduchess of Austria b 1475
2) Elizabeth von Hapsburg, Archduchess of Austria b 1477 m Charles of Lorraine b 1477
3) Frederick von Hapsburg, Archduke of Austria b 1479 m Anne of Burgundy b 1477
Issue: Maximilian and Leopold of Austria b 1497.
4) Hedwig von Hapsburg, Archduchess of Austria b 1485
5) Stillborn son 1487
2) Kunigunde of Austria b 1465 m ? Scorned by both Richard III and Philip, Grand Duke of Brabant. Poor girl.
Author's Note: I'm going to bed now. Toodles!
English family:
Edward IV of England b 1442 d 1484 m a) Elizabeth Woodville b 1437 d 1469, b) Margaret of Scotland b 1455
Issue:
1) Elizabeth of York b 1466 d 1470
2) Mary of York b 1467 d 1484 m Philip, Grand Duke of Brabant b 1469
Issue: Charles of Brabant b/d 1484
3) Stillborn daughter 1469
4) Cecily of York b 1471 d 1482
5) Edward, Prince of Wales b 1475
6) Richard, Duke of York b 1477 d 1481
7) Margaret of York b 1480 d 1483
8) Stillborn daughter 1484
Richard III of England b 1452 m a) Anne Neville b 1456 d 1480, b) Beatrice of Portugal b 1469
Issue:
1) Joan of Gloucester b 1475 m James IV of Scotland b 1473
Issue: To be written
2) Eleanor of Gloucester b 1478 m Jean VI, Duke of Brittany b 1477
Issue: Richard, Count of Montfort b 1496 betrothed to Katherine of Brabant b 1495, others to come
3) Richard, Prince of Wales b 1486 betrothed to Infanta Catalina of Castile and Aragon b 1485
4) Edmund, Duke of York b 1487
5) Beatrice of England b 1488 betrothed to Philippe of Brabant, Count of Namur b 1486
6) Thomas, Duke of Bedford b 1490
7) Cecily of England b 1495
8) Anne of England b 1497
9) Lionel of England b 1501
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence 1449 d 1476 m Isabel Neville b 1451 d 1476
Issue: Dead kids
Austrian Family:
Frederick of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor b 1415 d 1493 m Eleanor of Portugal b 1434 d 1467
Issue:
1) Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor b 1459 m Hedwig Jagiellon b 1457
Issue:
1) Eleanor von Hapsburg, Archduchess of Austria b 1475
2) Elizabeth von Hapsburg, Archduchess of Austria b 1477 m Charles of Lorraine b 1477
3) Frederick von Hapsburg, Archduke of Austria b 1479 m Anne of Burgundy b 1477
Issue: Maximilian and Leopold of Austria b 1497.
4) Hedwig von Hapsburg, Archduchess of Austria b 1485
5) Stillborn son 1487
2) Kunigunde of Austria b 1465 m ? Scorned by both Richard III and Philip, Grand Duke of Brabant. Poor girl.
Author's Note: I'm going to bed now. Toodles!
Last edited:
She is gonna become a nun, isn't she??
Edit: Or a future meme as the princess scorned by every prince in Christendom.
Me thinks Kunigunde marries her otl spouse. Right now she's a bit of a meme.
The Anglo - Flemish team is going strong!
I feel like reality was to depressing.
Since Elizabeth Woodville died in 1469, their family's influence in England would be drastically reduced as Queen Margaret Stewart would certainly detest them. I missed the opportunity to make something interesting with Cecily Bonville, as she certainly would not marry Thomas Grey in this TL. Hmmmm, perhaps I shall include her in something else....
Chapter 18 - Portugal and Spain from 1490 -1500
Chapter 18 – Portugal and Spain from 1490-1500
They made the most handsome of pairs when they stepped outside of the cathedral of Lisbon to thunderous applause coming from the gathered crowds. The Crown Prince and Princess of Portugal had at long last been married by the bishop Jorge da Costa after ten years as betrothed to each other. Alfonso and Isabella could barely take their eyes off each other through the ceremony but managed to stay composed at several points. Now, outside in the incense filled chapel, their joy spilled out like sunlit gold in the morning. Alfonso had grown into a tall, dark-haired youth with striking brown eyes, while Isabella was slender, golden haired and grey-eyed. The Princess glittered in a richly decorated gown of cloth of silver, with royal blue silk underskirt. The Castilian farthingale underneath it made her skirts voluminous. Alfonso, to contrast her shone in cloth of gold and scarlet silk, making the pair resemble the moon and sun, a motif that hit home.
King John and Queen Leonor looked at their son and daughter-in law with immense pride. Infanta Isabella of Portugal, their only daughter had been allowed to attend, with her nurse nearby in case the five year old disturbed the ceremony. Isabella gave her parents nothing to worry about, as she usually was a quiet and solemn child who rarely smiled. Isabella showed a passion for music and prayers, already playing the virginals and beginning to learn Latin scriptures. While Isabella of Aragon occasionally doted on the little girl, their household were separate, and the elder girl occupied with both duties and Alfonso. Her brother held a fondness, but as heir and ten years senior, she lived more on the fringes of his life. Her mother Leonor worried about her cheerless daughter and sought out playmates from noble families.
Isabella of Aragon, Crown Princess of Portugal
Isabella the younger and Alfonso grew up in the court of the most affluent kingdom in Europe. From 1483 the whole land prospered, and King John was a visionary like the princes from the Ínclita Geração, the illustrious generation sprung from the union of John of Aviz and Philippa of Lancaster. The new prince and princess would replant the tree for the next century with their five children becoming every bit at renowned as their ancestors. The Aviz dynasty would reign over a golden and tumults age of Portugal lasting until the great earthquake of Lisbon in 1755.
The King’s court cultivated an atmosphere of visionaries, with men proposing missions of boldness and explorations to ensure Portugal’s role as leading on the world stage. A junta of mathematics had been gathered in 1484 to expand on exploration and navigation as the Portuguese travelled further down the gold coast. In 1490, the prominent stone markers called padraos, lined the coast past Angola. Two years earlier, the impossible had happened, when a Portuguese sailor crossed the southern tip of Africa, past the Cape of Storms to the Cape Agulhas. Bartolomeu Dias arrived back home to a hero’s welcome, with tales of the stormy cape, which the King renamed as the Cape of Good Hope for the promised seaways to India had began to open.
Statue of Bartolomeu Dias
The court was all envisioning the riches of India beyond the cape and the mythological kingdom of Prester John, the fabled christian king who was believed to rule an empire of gold and marvels. In December of 1491 the court received another miracle. The Crown Princess gave birth to a healthy son on the ninth. The Infante was named Joao for his grandfather and uncle, and perhaps also as a nod towards Prester John as both prince and princess came to believe in the mission.
The birth happened almost at the same time as the Princess of Asturias gave birth to her third child, Infanta Isabella of Castile, Aragon, and Navarre who was born three days before baby Joao. Catherine, Queen of Navarre and Prince Juan (king jure uxoris) had three children by 1491, Infante Juan, Prince of Viana, Infante Ferdinand and baby Isabella. The Catholic Monarchs celebrated the birth of their granddaughter immensely, as their war against Granada had been victorious after almost a decade of campaigns. In late November the surrender of Granada had been signed with a treaty between the sultan Boabdil and the catholic monarchs. The entrance of the Princess of Asturias and her baby into the city was celebrated in grandeur and the young couple spent several days just enjoying the dazzling Alhambra Palace. Juan had been present when Bobadil had surrendered and had been given the honour of entering the city before his parents. Ferdinand and Isabel had relied on their son during the war, trusting him with various tasks and being his father’s squire during a few battles. Queen Isabel did not fight on the front line like Ferdinand, but she had taken on large parts of the campaigns, the strategics, logistics, as well as field medicine. The Queen provided inspiration and morale for the troops, with Juan taking part of all aspects of the war. During these years Juan had developed into rather decent warrior prince in the mold of his parents.
Ferdinand and Isabel at the Surrender of Granada
The Catholic Monarchs were lauded all over Europe, with bonfires lit in every kingdom. The fall of Granada was compared to Troy by contemporary historians and Isabel was seemed to have redeemed all of Spain. In Rome the Spanish cardinal, Rodrigo Borgia, treated the people to a spectacular bullfight in celebration. Borgia was at that point only a few months away from becoming Pope Alexander VI. The incumbent Pope, Innocent VIII led a procession to Piazza Navona and the Church of San Giacomo deli Spagnoli build forty-two years before. The ailing pope proclaimed them as the “athletes of Christ”.
Ferdinand and Isabel also received a visitor that would change the world forever in Granada. Christopher Columbus had after a long while made his way back to Spain to demand a meeting. He managed to persuade Ferdinand and Isabel to provide ships and money for his expedition to cross over the Atlantic to find the way to the Indies in the West. Three ships were outfitted, and a crew gathered. Columbus left Granada in late April of 1492. A month before that the king and queen signed a royal degree to expel all Jews from Spain. It was called the Alhambra Degree. The choice for the Spanish jews was to either to leave or convert to Christianity. While many took the route to north Africa, Italy and the ottoman realms, others went to Portugal, as King John accepted the refugees for a payment of eight cruzados per person. Several hundreds of Jews found asylum in the Low Countries, as Grand Duke Philip allowed them to settle in the cities in Amsterdam, Haarlem and Middleburg. Philip saw the benefit of allowing the financially skilled merchants, artisans, and physicians to make their home in his realm. Both in Portugal and Brabant the Jewish refugees was able to make a living and prosper. While Crown Princess Isabella would have preferred for her father-in law to follow her parent’s example, Alfonso was in tune with the king. That is not to say that the Portuguese Jewry would be living in complete peace, but they would become part of the country’s history.
In 1494 the families of Spain and Portugal united in Tordesillas in Valladolid to settle the contested areas discovered by Columbus two years earlier. The meeting somewhat of a joyful affair, with Isabel, Ferdinand and Juan meeting their daughter and sister again. Queen Catherine of Navarre was heavily pregnant with her fourth child in Burgos, with her two sons staying with her. The outcome of the treaty was the dividing line in the new lands with the east going to Portugal and the west going to Spain. Ferdinand and Isabel returned to Burgos in early July to meet their fourth grandson, Infante Alfonso born on the 5th. At the end of the year, Isabella of Aragon would announce her second pregnancy in Lisbon.
The Treaty of Tordesillas
With their own succession settled with Juan and their daughter securing the Aviz dynasty, Isabel and Ferdinand turned to their other children’s future. Infanta Juana had turned 16 years old, and it was high time for her to marry. The picking of a groom had turned out to be somewhat difficult, as many eligible bachelors had been promised or married elsewhere. James IV of Scotland had married Joan of Gloucester, Jean VI of Brittany her sister Eleanor. Charles of Lorraine had wedded Elizabeth of Austria, the second daughter of Emperor Maximilian, while the Emperor’s son found his wife in Anne of Burgundy. The king of France was married since long, the Prince of Wales betrothed to Catalina of Aragon and Philippe of Burgundy was to young for Juana. Vladislaus of Bohemia was still a widower, Isabel and Ferdinand did not want to waste their daughter to an elderly man who had lost Hungary.
A bridegroom was found in Philibert of Savoy in 1494, when Charles II of Savoy died at the ripe old age of four. His sister Yolande Louise had died in infancy before him. His granduncle, Philip the Landless became Duke and needed a bride for his son. His betrothal to Juana was announced in December and Juana left her parents realms from the port of Valencia in February of 1495. She arrived in the County of Nice more then a week later and married Philibert after arriving in Chambéry, the capital of Savoy. It’s said that he and Juana fell in love instantly. Unsurprisingly given both parties were attractive, with the Infanta being a tall and fair strawberry blond girl with brown eyes. At her entrance she was dressed in red velvet and cloth of gold, draped in pearls and jewels. Philibert was a very good locking young man, called The Handsome by later historians. Juana brought quite a rich dowry to her marriage, and while Philibert could not be more delighted with his exquisite Spanish wife, the money and riches that came with her was very welcomed as well. The Duchy of Savoy had been failing to keep up with their contemporaries and had been suffering from periods of poor administrations and underage rulers. Savoy had lost all its possessions north and south-east of Lake Geneva to the Swiss Confederacy as consequence of participating in the Burgundian Wars. Philibert was ambitious, aspiring to be a grand ruler, taking inspiration from his neighbours in Milan and France. His twenty-five years as ruler reinvented Savoy as a great duchy standing next to its neighbours.
The glorious years began in 1497 upon the birth of his and Juana’s first child, a son named Philippe Adriano in the 12th of January. Philibert expanded the chateau de Chambéry, adding a bathhouse for Juana, where the duchess spent long hours soaking in hot waters, perfumed with Castilian scents like amber, orange blossoms and musk. Philibert and Juana both imported large amounts of castell soap, the hard white soap made from olive oil from Spain. Juana enjoyed music, frequently playing the clavichord and guitar. Both enjoyed hunting with hounds and falcons, spending several hours riding around the countryside. Juana would have her second child on the 2nd of December of 1499, a daughter named for her mother-in-law. Marguerite of Savoy would spend the last Christmas of the century being warmly celebrated by the whole court and a loving family.
Juana of Castile, Duchess of Savoy
With their second daughter settled safely in Savoy, Ferdinand and Isabel turned their attention to their second son, Infante Ferdinand. While his value as spare to the throne had dropped very low, as his brother had several heirs in 1496, he was still their beloved son and since Juan was going to inherit three separate realms, young Ferdinand was groomed to become his brother’s right hand and steadfast support. While Juan was blind to any woman who wasn’t his beloved Catherine, Infante Ferdinand seemed to be more attentive to the ladies in court. Since he was only fourteen, it mostly consisted of harmless flirting and blushing glances towards a few pretty girls. Neither Ferdinand II or Isabel was alarmed by their teenage son’s attraction to the fairer sex, but decided to seek a bride for him anyway. While it was unlikely a foreign princess to become Ferdinand’s bride, there were other women of noble or royal rank of interest.
During 1496 three ladies had become the focus of negotiations that continued until the next year. Two of them as could serve as French proxies and another came from Italy. Charlotte of Albret was the eldest daughter of Alain I of Albret, one of the most powerful nobles in France. Charlotte had been Francis Phoebus of Navarre’s intended bride before his unfortunate demise in 1486. The ambitious Alain however wanted to use his children to establish dynastic links with other countries and his firstborn daughter becoming a Spanish infanta had a strong appeal. King Charles VIII of France did not want for Alain to make a alliance with Castile and Aragon and counter-offered with Anne of Foix-Candale as bride. He even promised her a large dowry, as a semi-royal bride. Anne had grown up in the royal court in Blois and had been well educated. But her connection to Navarre and the Foix family was a disadvantage as Prince Juan and Catherine of Navarre did not want a potential rival for their children in court, neither did the King and Queen. Charlotte d’Albret had been the proposed bride for Catherine’s late brother Francis Phoebus before his untimely death in 1486, but the Albret family had made no attempts at starting a conflict with Castile or Aragon since then. Alain’s oldest son Jean had married Isabeau of Brittany, the only sister of Jean VI in 1492, with one son born already and another baby on the way.
A second Charlotte also came on the radar, a Trastamara from Naples. But Ferdinand was not very interested in his Neapolitan relatives and the succession to Naples was in the hands of his sister and niece, both named Joanna of Naples. At the same time, he and Isabel was negotiating for the hand of Yolande of Lorraine, the eldest surviving daughter of Nicholas, Duke of Lorraine, and Mary of Burgundy. Their firstborn daughter, Margaret had died at the age seven from measles. As the House of Anjou held a strong claim to Naples, the marriage between Yolande and Infante Juan, the Prince of Asturias’s heir would shore up any claims for Naples in case of something happened with the Trastamara family in Naples. Thus, a marriage to Charlotte was rendered useless for Castile and Aragon.
In summer of 1497 Charlotte d’Albret left Limoges to make her voyage to her new land, crossing into the County of Périgord, where she and Alain received the homage of her father’s vassals. From here on out her entourage crossed the Gascony Moors into the city of Tartas. The company rested before they began the journey across the Pyrenees into Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. After over a week of they arrived in the town that served as a starting point of the Way of Saint James, or the Camino de Santiago for those pilgrims making their way to the Santiago de Compostela Basilica in Galicia, where the remains of the apostle Saint James the Great was said to be buried. Charlotte and her father rested in the monasteries and inns along the way, before they started to make their way to Pamplona, where the king and queen awaited her.
Catherine and Juan had recently had their fifth child, a second daughter, Infanta Eleanor in spring, having arrived in Navarre in early December. They had enjoyed a splendid Christmas court, inviting nobles, merchants, and clergy to their palace in Olite, that had been renovated and expanded since 1492. Since the pilgrimage had provided a bustling commercial exchange with many people of various classes from all over Europe, Juan, and Catherine frequently invited travellers to dine with them, both for information and for spreading propaganda. They had first arrived in Navarre in summer of 1487 to receive the homage of the courts. Infante Juan had arrived a year later to be sworn in as Prince of Viana. Queen Catherine had during her first meeting with the courtes been forced to deal with one issue: the power balance between her and Juan. The courtes was weary of Navarre being completely subjected to Castilian and Aragonese interests and while Catherine was popular as a native princess, Juan had been seen with suspicion. The couple had taken a page out of Ferdinand and Isabel’s book to prevent power rivalry. Catherine was sworn in as reigning monarch while Juan had been invested as King Consort to pacify the courtes. Juan took a more active role as the years went by and by 1497, they had ruled for a decade as co-monarchs. While Catherine and Juan had their roles as heirs to Castile and Aragon to attend it, they made sure to visit Navarre at least once a year, often for a month or two. Catherine’s mother, Magdalena of France served as regent during their absence until her death in 1495. John of Foix, the queen’s uncle dutifully governed in their name for five years, to be succeeded by his youngest brother Jacques de Foix until 1508.
Palace of the Kings of Navarre in Olite
Charlotte of Albret was received with great splendour when she and her father entered Olite in the company of Catherine and Juan. Ferdinand himself was not there as he was headed to Zaragoza where the marriage was to take place. Alain himself left Navarre after a week to return to France. His daughter had been left with a smaller entourage of French ladies, servants, and others. Charlotte, Juan and Catherine entered Zaragoza in late July, where the seventeen-year-old girl was introduced to Ferdinand and Isabel as well as Infante Ferdinand, her husband to be.
Charlotte of Albret or Infanta Carlota of Castile and Aragon, Duchess of Cádiz
Infante Ferdinand would become a prominent and controversial person during Juan’s reign; a dark and harsh warrior who dealt mercilessly with enemies, a duke who grasped for power, a son of the catholic monarchs who was suspected of heresy and a grand prince who during all the years of his life served his sovereign brother as a faithful sword and shield. Unlike his namesake nephew, he never rebelled against the throne. That Ferdinand is contrasted by the lord beloved by the poor for his charitable giving, the art patron whose court was frequently visited by artists of all kind, the devoted father of three and the husband who loved his wife with a passion despite his mistresses.
Juan is supposed to have remarked upon finding out about his brother’s violent death in 1532 that “my brother in so many ways embodied the ideals and flaws of our age”.
Yet, for all the dark stories and reputations the infante gave cause to in his lifetime, not even Ferdinand’s harshest critics could say that his marriage to Carlota was anything but tender and that she in turn loved him with all her heart. Carlota seemed to possess a unlimited amount of tenderness and virtue, easing his harsh edges at times. The Duke and Duchess of Cádiz would become a strong Spanish love story for historians to remember.
Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Cádiz. Posthumous portrait by Titian in 1540-45
Ferdinand and Carlota’s first child were born in the first weeks of January of 1500. The child was a son, Infante Santiago, named for the patron saint of Spain. Catherine, Queen of Navarre would give birth to her sixth child a few months later, on the 16th of March. Infante Gaston and Santiago would be boon companions for their entire lives from that moment on. So began the first year of the new century in the court of Ferdinand and Isabel. Only Infanta Catalina remained unmarried so far, but the ships that would bear her to England and her waiting Prince of Wales would arrive in less than two years’ time. Like all of Ferdinand and Isabel’s children, Catalina would make a strong mark in her kingdom and leave an interesting legacy for historians to study in the glorious age of renaissance Europe.
Portrait of Infanta Catalina of Aragon in 1497 by Juan de Flandes. She is believed to be eleven years old in the portrait.
Author's Note: Happy Easter to you all! Have another chapter to enjoy. Things are going very well in Portugal and Spain. Thanks to @isabella for helping me with the Charlotte d'Albret match for Ferdinand. Since she's not gonna marry Cesare Borgia in this tl, I figured that Ferdinand who be a good option instead.
They made the most handsome of pairs when they stepped outside of the cathedral of Lisbon to thunderous applause coming from the gathered crowds. The Crown Prince and Princess of Portugal had at long last been married by the bishop Jorge da Costa after ten years as betrothed to each other. Alfonso and Isabella could barely take their eyes off each other through the ceremony but managed to stay composed at several points. Now, outside in the incense filled chapel, their joy spilled out like sunlit gold in the morning. Alfonso had grown into a tall, dark-haired youth with striking brown eyes, while Isabella was slender, golden haired and grey-eyed. The Princess glittered in a richly decorated gown of cloth of silver, with royal blue silk underskirt. The Castilian farthingale underneath it made her skirts voluminous. Alfonso, to contrast her shone in cloth of gold and scarlet silk, making the pair resemble the moon and sun, a motif that hit home.
King John and Queen Leonor looked at their son and daughter-in law with immense pride. Infanta Isabella of Portugal, their only daughter had been allowed to attend, with her nurse nearby in case the five year old disturbed the ceremony. Isabella gave her parents nothing to worry about, as she usually was a quiet and solemn child who rarely smiled. Isabella showed a passion for music and prayers, already playing the virginals and beginning to learn Latin scriptures. While Isabella of Aragon occasionally doted on the little girl, their household were separate, and the elder girl occupied with both duties and Alfonso. Her brother held a fondness, but as heir and ten years senior, she lived more on the fringes of his life. Her mother Leonor worried about her cheerless daughter and sought out playmates from noble families.
Isabella of Aragon, Crown Princess of Portugal
Isabella the younger and Alfonso grew up in the court of the most affluent kingdom in Europe. From 1483 the whole land prospered, and King John was a visionary like the princes from the Ínclita Geração, the illustrious generation sprung from the union of John of Aviz and Philippa of Lancaster. The new prince and princess would replant the tree for the next century with their five children becoming every bit at renowned as their ancestors. The Aviz dynasty would reign over a golden and tumults age of Portugal lasting until the great earthquake of Lisbon in 1755.
The King’s court cultivated an atmosphere of visionaries, with men proposing missions of boldness and explorations to ensure Portugal’s role as leading on the world stage. A junta of mathematics had been gathered in 1484 to expand on exploration and navigation as the Portuguese travelled further down the gold coast. In 1490, the prominent stone markers called padraos, lined the coast past Angola. Two years earlier, the impossible had happened, when a Portuguese sailor crossed the southern tip of Africa, past the Cape of Storms to the Cape Agulhas. Bartolomeu Dias arrived back home to a hero’s welcome, with tales of the stormy cape, which the King renamed as the Cape of Good Hope for the promised seaways to India had began to open.
Statue of Bartolomeu Dias
The court was all envisioning the riches of India beyond the cape and the mythological kingdom of Prester John, the fabled christian king who was believed to rule an empire of gold and marvels. In December of 1491 the court received another miracle. The Crown Princess gave birth to a healthy son on the ninth. The Infante was named Joao for his grandfather and uncle, and perhaps also as a nod towards Prester John as both prince and princess came to believe in the mission.
The birth happened almost at the same time as the Princess of Asturias gave birth to her third child, Infanta Isabella of Castile, Aragon, and Navarre who was born three days before baby Joao. Catherine, Queen of Navarre and Prince Juan (king jure uxoris) had three children by 1491, Infante Juan, Prince of Viana, Infante Ferdinand and baby Isabella. The Catholic Monarchs celebrated the birth of their granddaughter immensely, as their war against Granada had been victorious after almost a decade of campaigns. In late November the surrender of Granada had been signed with a treaty between the sultan Boabdil and the catholic monarchs. The entrance of the Princess of Asturias and her baby into the city was celebrated in grandeur and the young couple spent several days just enjoying the dazzling Alhambra Palace. Juan had been present when Bobadil had surrendered and had been given the honour of entering the city before his parents. Ferdinand and Isabel had relied on their son during the war, trusting him with various tasks and being his father’s squire during a few battles. Queen Isabel did not fight on the front line like Ferdinand, but she had taken on large parts of the campaigns, the strategics, logistics, as well as field medicine. The Queen provided inspiration and morale for the troops, with Juan taking part of all aspects of the war. During these years Juan had developed into rather decent warrior prince in the mold of his parents.
Ferdinand and Isabel at the Surrender of Granada
The Catholic Monarchs were lauded all over Europe, with bonfires lit in every kingdom. The fall of Granada was compared to Troy by contemporary historians and Isabel was seemed to have redeemed all of Spain. In Rome the Spanish cardinal, Rodrigo Borgia, treated the people to a spectacular bullfight in celebration. Borgia was at that point only a few months away from becoming Pope Alexander VI. The incumbent Pope, Innocent VIII led a procession to Piazza Navona and the Church of San Giacomo deli Spagnoli build forty-two years before. The ailing pope proclaimed them as the “athletes of Christ”.
Ferdinand and Isabel also received a visitor that would change the world forever in Granada. Christopher Columbus had after a long while made his way back to Spain to demand a meeting. He managed to persuade Ferdinand and Isabel to provide ships and money for his expedition to cross over the Atlantic to find the way to the Indies in the West. Three ships were outfitted, and a crew gathered. Columbus left Granada in late April of 1492. A month before that the king and queen signed a royal degree to expel all Jews from Spain. It was called the Alhambra Degree. The choice for the Spanish jews was to either to leave or convert to Christianity. While many took the route to north Africa, Italy and the ottoman realms, others went to Portugal, as King John accepted the refugees for a payment of eight cruzados per person. Several hundreds of Jews found asylum in the Low Countries, as Grand Duke Philip allowed them to settle in the cities in Amsterdam, Haarlem and Middleburg. Philip saw the benefit of allowing the financially skilled merchants, artisans, and physicians to make their home in his realm. Both in Portugal and Brabant the Jewish refugees was able to make a living and prosper. While Crown Princess Isabella would have preferred for her father-in law to follow her parent’s example, Alfonso was in tune with the king. That is not to say that the Portuguese Jewry would be living in complete peace, but they would become part of the country’s history.
In 1494 the families of Spain and Portugal united in Tordesillas in Valladolid to settle the contested areas discovered by Columbus two years earlier. The meeting somewhat of a joyful affair, with Isabel, Ferdinand and Juan meeting their daughter and sister again. Queen Catherine of Navarre was heavily pregnant with her fourth child in Burgos, with her two sons staying with her. The outcome of the treaty was the dividing line in the new lands with the east going to Portugal and the west going to Spain. Ferdinand and Isabel returned to Burgos in early July to meet their fourth grandson, Infante Alfonso born on the 5th. At the end of the year, Isabella of Aragon would announce her second pregnancy in Lisbon.
The Treaty of Tordesillas
With their own succession settled with Juan and their daughter securing the Aviz dynasty, Isabel and Ferdinand turned to their other children’s future. Infanta Juana had turned 16 years old, and it was high time for her to marry. The picking of a groom had turned out to be somewhat difficult, as many eligible bachelors had been promised or married elsewhere. James IV of Scotland had married Joan of Gloucester, Jean VI of Brittany her sister Eleanor. Charles of Lorraine had wedded Elizabeth of Austria, the second daughter of Emperor Maximilian, while the Emperor’s son found his wife in Anne of Burgundy. The king of France was married since long, the Prince of Wales betrothed to Catalina of Aragon and Philippe of Burgundy was to young for Juana. Vladislaus of Bohemia was still a widower, Isabel and Ferdinand did not want to waste their daughter to an elderly man who had lost Hungary.
A bridegroom was found in Philibert of Savoy in 1494, when Charles II of Savoy died at the ripe old age of four. His sister Yolande Louise had died in infancy before him. His granduncle, Philip the Landless became Duke and needed a bride for his son. His betrothal to Juana was announced in December and Juana left her parents realms from the port of Valencia in February of 1495. She arrived in the County of Nice more then a week later and married Philibert after arriving in Chambéry, the capital of Savoy. It’s said that he and Juana fell in love instantly. Unsurprisingly given both parties were attractive, with the Infanta being a tall and fair strawberry blond girl with brown eyes. At her entrance she was dressed in red velvet and cloth of gold, draped in pearls and jewels. Philibert was a very good locking young man, called The Handsome by later historians. Juana brought quite a rich dowry to her marriage, and while Philibert could not be more delighted with his exquisite Spanish wife, the money and riches that came with her was very welcomed as well. The Duchy of Savoy had been failing to keep up with their contemporaries and had been suffering from periods of poor administrations and underage rulers. Savoy had lost all its possessions north and south-east of Lake Geneva to the Swiss Confederacy as consequence of participating in the Burgundian Wars. Philibert was ambitious, aspiring to be a grand ruler, taking inspiration from his neighbours in Milan and France. His twenty-five years as ruler reinvented Savoy as a great duchy standing next to its neighbours.
The glorious years began in 1497 upon the birth of his and Juana’s first child, a son named Philippe Adriano in the 12th of January. Philibert expanded the chateau de Chambéry, adding a bathhouse for Juana, where the duchess spent long hours soaking in hot waters, perfumed with Castilian scents like amber, orange blossoms and musk. Philibert and Juana both imported large amounts of castell soap, the hard white soap made from olive oil from Spain. Juana enjoyed music, frequently playing the clavichord and guitar. Both enjoyed hunting with hounds and falcons, spending several hours riding around the countryside. Juana would have her second child on the 2nd of December of 1499, a daughter named for her mother-in-law. Marguerite of Savoy would spend the last Christmas of the century being warmly celebrated by the whole court and a loving family.
Juana of Castile, Duchess of Savoy
With their second daughter settled safely in Savoy, Ferdinand and Isabel turned their attention to their second son, Infante Ferdinand. While his value as spare to the throne had dropped very low, as his brother had several heirs in 1496, he was still their beloved son and since Juan was going to inherit three separate realms, young Ferdinand was groomed to become his brother’s right hand and steadfast support. While Juan was blind to any woman who wasn’t his beloved Catherine, Infante Ferdinand seemed to be more attentive to the ladies in court. Since he was only fourteen, it mostly consisted of harmless flirting and blushing glances towards a few pretty girls. Neither Ferdinand II or Isabel was alarmed by their teenage son’s attraction to the fairer sex, but decided to seek a bride for him anyway. While it was unlikely a foreign princess to become Ferdinand’s bride, there were other women of noble or royal rank of interest.
During 1496 three ladies had become the focus of negotiations that continued until the next year. Two of them as could serve as French proxies and another came from Italy. Charlotte of Albret was the eldest daughter of Alain I of Albret, one of the most powerful nobles in France. Charlotte had been Francis Phoebus of Navarre’s intended bride before his unfortunate demise in 1486. The ambitious Alain however wanted to use his children to establish dynastic links with other countries and his firstborn daughter becoming a Spanish infanta had a strong appeal. King Charles VIII of France did not want for Alain to make a alliance with Castile and Aragon and counter-offered with Anne of Foix-Candale as bride. He even promised her a large dowry, as a semi-royal bride. Anne had grown up in the royal court in Blois and had been well educated. But her connection to Navarre and the Foix family was a disadvantage as Prince Juan and Catherine of Navarre did not want a potential rival for their children in court, neither did the King and Queen. Charlotte d’Albret had been the proposed bride for Catherine’s late brother Francis Phoebus before his untimely death in 1486, but the Albret family had made no attempts at starting a conflict with Castile or Aragon since then. Alain’s oldest son Jean had married Isabeau of Brittany, the only sister of Jean VI in 1492, with one son born already and another baby on the way.
A second Charlotte also came on the radar, a Trastamara from Naples. But Ferdinand was not very interested in his Neapolitan relatives and the succession to Naples was in the hands of his sister and niece, both named Joanna of Naples. At the same time, he and Isabel was negotiating for the hand of Yolande of Lorraine, the eldest surviving daughter of Nicholas, Duke of Lorraine, and Mary of Burgundy. Their firstborn daughter, Margaret had died at the age seven from measles. As the House of Anjou held a strong claim to Naples, the marriage between Yolande and Infante Juan, the Prince of Asturias’s heir would shore up any claims for Naples in case of something happened with the Trastamara family in Naples. Thus, a marriage to Charlotte was rendered useless for Castile and Aragon.
In summer of 1497 Charlotte d’Albret left Limoges to make her voyage to her new land, crossing into the County of Périgord, where she and Alain received the homage of her father’s vassals. From here on out her entourage crossed the Gascony Moors into the city of Tartas. The company rested before they began the journey across the Pyrenees into Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. After over a week of they arrived in the town that served as a starting point of the Way of Saint James, or the Camino de Santiago for those pilgrims making their way to the Santiago de Compostela Basilica in Galicia, where the remains of the apostle Saint James the Great was said to be buried. Charlotte and her father rested in the monasteries and inns along the way, before they started to make their way to Pamplona, where the king and queen awaited her.
Catherine and Juan had recently had their fifth child, a second daughter, Infanta Eleanor in spring, having arrived in Navarre in early December. They had enjoyed a splendid Christmas court, inviting nobles, merchants, and clergy to their palace in Olite, that had been renovated and expanded since 1492. Since the pilgrimage had provided a bustling commercial exchange with many people of various classes from all over Europe, Juan, and Catherine frequently invited travellers to dine with them, both for information and for spreading propaganda. They had first arrived in Navarre in summer of 1487 to receive the homage of the courts. Infante Juan had arrived a year later to be sworn in as Prince of Viana. Queen Catherine had during her first meeting with the courtes been forced to deal with one issue: the power balance between her and Juan. The courtes was weary of Navarre being completely subjected to Castilian and Aragonese interests and while Catherine was popular as a native princess, Juan had been seen with suspicion. The couple had taken a page out of Ferdinand and Isabel’s book to prevent power rivalry. Catherine was sworn in as reigning monarch while Juan had been invested as King Consort to pacify the courtes. Juan took a more active role as the years went by and by 1497, they had ruled for a decade as co-monarchs. While Catherine and Juan had their roles as heirs to Castile and Aragon to attend it, they made sure to visit Navarre at least once a year, often for a month or two. Catherine’s mother, Magdalena of France served as regent during their absence until her death in 1495. John of Foix, the queen’s uncle dutifully governed in their name for five years, to be succeeded by his youngest brother Jacques de Foix until 1508.
Palace of the Kings of Navarre in Olite
Charlotte of Albret was received with great splendour when she and her father entered Olite in the company of Catherine and Juan. Ferdinand himself was not there as he was headed to Zaragoza where the marriage was to take place. Alain himself left Navarre after a week to return to France. His daughter had been left with a smaller entourage of French ladies, servants, and others. Charlotte, Juan and Catherine entered Zaragoza in late July, where the seventeen-year-old girl was introduced to Ferdinand and Isabel as well as Infante Ferdinand, her husband to be.
Charlotte of Albret or Infanta Carlota of Castile and Aragon, Duchess of Cádiz
Infante Ferdinand would become a prominent and controversial person during Juan’s reign; a dark and harsh warrior who dealt mercilessly with enemies, a duke who grasped for power, a son of the catholic monarchs who was suspected of heresy and a grand prince who during all the years of his life served his sovereign brother as a faithful sword and shield. Unlike his namesake nephew, he never rebelled against the throne. That Ferdinand is contrasted by the lord beloved by the poor for his charitable giving, the art patron whose court was frequently visited by artists of all kind, the devoted father of three and the husband who loved his wife with a passion despite his mistresses.
Juan is supposed to have remarked upon finding out about his brother’s violent death in 1532 that “my brother in so many ways embodied the ideals and flaws of our age”.
Yet, for all the dark stories and reputations the infante gave cause to in his lifetime, not even Ferdinand’s harshest critics could say that his marriage to Carlota was anything but tender and that she in turn loved him with all her heart. Carlota seemed to possess a unlimited amount of tenderness and virtue, easing his harsh edges at times. The Duke and Duchess of Cádiz would become a strong Spanish love story for historians to remember.
Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Cádiz. Posthumous portrait by Titian in 1540-45
Ferdinand and Carlota’s first child were born in the first weeks of January of 1500. The child was a son, Infante Santiago, named for the patron saint of Spain. Catherine, Queen of Navarre would give birth to her sixth child a few months later, on the 16th of March. Infante Gaston and Santiago would be boon companions for their entire lives from that moment on. So began the first year of the new century in the court of Ferdinand and Isabel. Only Infanta Catalina remained unmarried so far, but the ships that would bear her to England and her waiting Prince of Wales would arrive in less than two years’ time. Like all of Ferdinand and Isabel’s children, Catalina would make a strong mark in her kingdom and leave an interesting legacy for historians to study in the glorious age of renaissance Europe.
Portrait of Infanta Catalina of Aragon in 1497 by Juan de Flandes. She is believed to be eleven years old in the portrait.
Author's Note: Happy Easter to you all! Have another chapter to enjoy. Things are going very well in Portugal and Spain. Thanks to @isabella for helping me with the Charlotte d'Albret match for Ferdinand. Since she's not gonna marry Cesare Borgia in this tl, I figured that Ferdinand who be a good option instead.
Last edited:
Jeez , did you hide outside of my apartment with a pair of binoculars? That was the fastest reply I ever had.
*goes out to check on balcony* Are you hiding in the heavy snowfall? Get your ass in here, I have tea waiting!Not really