SummerSimo Travel Troubles Notes and The Purring Page

When they label you as crazy, remember back to November 6, 1479, the birth of Giovanna de Castilla, a queen who was never insane. Never.

Giovanna was married to a man for 16 years whom they called the handsome one, even though he wasn’t. (Portraits suggest he was typically unattractive). From day one, this man took advantage of all the court ladies. Giovanna would understandably become angry, as she demanded respect she was not granted, neither as a woman, a queen, nor a wife. And so, they labeled her insane.

Upon her husband’s death, Giovanna claimed the Castilian queen’s throne that she was destined for. King Ferdinand, her own father, didn’t want Giovanna to reign. So he decided she was mad and had her locked away.

Giovanna was still young and very beautiful. The king feared that she might remarry and could rely on a man who would support her in her fight for the throne. Better she be locked away.

When her son Carlos went to visit her, they said she “graciously ceded” him power. That was a lie. Carlos forced her to sign over the power and left her there locked up. Giovanna was an educated woman, a Latin speaker, a poet. Yet history labeled her ‘Joanna the Mad,’ not ‘Joanna the Prisoner.’

Giovanna de Castilla stands as one among many women whom history has denied their true voice.

The next time you’re called crazy remember that insanity is the first thing attributed to a woman when there’s an attempt to silence her.

This is for those who don’t believe in the endless struggles women have gone through in history and the numerous injustices they’ve suffered.