Queen Juana of Castile is generally known as “Joan the Mad”. She was born in 1479 to Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, she died in 1555 as the late wife of Philip the Handsome, King of Castile. Despite her nickname, Juana's "madness" has often been disputed; she may have been locked up for political reasons only. Either way, she was a passionate woman, who fell madly in love with her handsome husband and continued to caress him even after his death. In 1496, at the age of sixteen, Juana was betrothed to Philip the Handsome. For Philip the attraction to the beautiful Juana was carnal and little more, but Juana became completely infatuated with her husband. At 18, Philip was already the ruler of the Low Countries,…show more content… Both Philip and Ferinand tried to convince Juana to hand the government over to them, but still she refused. After arriving in Spain, Ferdinand and Philip made an arrangement on the government without Juana’s consent which infuriated her. Together the men tried to prove that Juana was mentally unstable and incompetent of being Queen. Soon after their arrival to Spain, Philip became deathly ill. Since Juana was pregnant again, she stayed by his side day and night until he died. Philip’s sudden death at the age of 28 had a devastating effect on Juana. She mourned over her lost husband in radical ways and couldn’t stand to be away from the corpse, which she continued to caress. Philip’s embalmed body was temporarily kept at a monastery near Burgos. Stories say that the Mad Queen had his coffin opened every night and embraced her beloved dead husband. Juana, in fact, did have the coffin opened once five weeks after his death, due to rumors that the body had been stolen. When the wraps were removed, she began to kiss his feet and caress the corpse again which led to her being forcefully removed from the vault. Burgos was suddenly struck with a contagious disease, which made Juana flee with her husband’s coffin in tow. Once again, she had the coffin opened to check on Philip’s remains. While traveling, the coffin had an armed escort, which kept all women at a distance per Juana’s request. They only traveled at night, and avoided resting in nunneries. Even while in labor, Juana refused the help of women. She was finally able to be protective of her husband without being reprimanded for it. Finally, after ten years of marriage, she could keep other women away from Philip and there was no way he could be mad at her for it. Once more, before she set out on the last leg of her journey, Juana had the coffin opened to view Philip’s