The King for Aragon

[Kynan]

Juan III of Aragon may have been a full 39 years younger than his eldest sibling, and 24 years younger than his youngest elder sibling, but upon his birth to King Ferdinand of Aragon and Germaine de Foix, he was immediately known as the Prince of Girona, and was the child that would break the Hapsburg inheritance and cause trouble for his nieces and nephews across Europe for 60+ years. A man of ambition, of action and, most importantly, of great skill in politics, he would come to be known as possibly the greatest King of his time.

Born May 3rd, 1509, the only child of an aging King and his young, vibrant bride, Juan’s very birth upset the balance of power. The powerful Hapsburg Dynasty’s policy of marrying well had paid off to amazing dividends, and without the Prince of Girona, they would have controlled Spain, Burgundy, Austria and the whole of the Holy Roman Empire.

 

[Kynan]

Now, to understand just how major the birth of the heir was, one must understand exactly what this meant for Europe as a whole. By 1509, Spain had been unified, in practice, for almost 40 years. Wars had been won and lost over the country, but it had seemed to be at an end. Now, that might have all begun again, and for some, this was a great fear, for others a great boon. Because, unified, Spain was a major power, able to match other majors powers, such as France. Separated, however, Castile and Aragon were both good sized players on the political scene, but nowhere near the titan they were together.

But the split had happened for a reason, and that reason was simple: Ferdinand II of Aragon had not liked his son-in-law, and genuinely did not want the whole of Spain to fall into Hapsburg hands. Why this obsession continued past Philip of Burgundy’s death is unsure, but it’s likely that a fear of a singular great power (that was not himself) threatened the King, and thus, with his youngest son, he left one roadblock on their quest for glory.

 

[Kynan]

Thus, Juan of Aragon, Prince of Girona, was raised carefully, with certain goals in mind. His father’s death would do little to end this education, and in his will, he left instructions for his son up until his proposed date to start his personal reign. His regimen included the learning of 3 languages at once, arithmetic, political history, religious history, and a variety of other, acutely helpful classes. So much was his workload, in fact, that upon his father’s death, Germaine de Foix for actually chase away his tutors regularly, interrupting his studies to ensure her son would have time to exercise and have leisure.

The death of Ferdinand II of Aragon, actually, seems to have been a major turning point for his son, not only in the amount of study he was forced to do, but also in physical health. It’s possible the mounting pressure Ferdinand II of Aragon found in his later years was passed onto his son, and if that’s so, it’s possible that losing his father meant that the young boy was able to relax somewhat. Crucially, reports of illness in Juan of Aragon actually half from 1517 onwards, and by 1520, his physicians had transitioned from phrases like “weak of breath” to “healthy and robust”.

The death of the King of Aragon brought Juan’s nephew, the Duke of Burgundy and now Regent for Castile, to Aragon to meet his uncle. 9 years the boy’s elder, Charles of Burgundy was many things to Juan throughout the years, but first and foremost, he was the father of the young King of Aragon’s sister.

 

[ByzantineLover]

I've thought about this POD before, and I have three possible brides for Juan:

Catherine of Austria (b. 1507)
Renee of France (b. 1510)
Isabella of Navarre (b. 1513)

 

[Kynan]

The affair between Germaine de Foix and Charles of Burgundy would have been quiet, if not for a daughter, born in 1517, and the Queen Dowager’s son. For, in one of his first actions we know of, Juan III of Aragon successfully had his infant, bastard sister kept in Zaragoza with him. And it’s quite possible that this may have been the beginning of the young King’s animosity towards the Hapsburgs.

This animosity was apparent in 1519, when he received a portrait of Catherine of Austria, his niece and, at that time, betrothed. Yes, as part of the newly crowned Holy Roman Emperor’s plan for family unity, he pushed for a betrothal between his youngest sister, currently in the care of his mother, who he claimed was mad, and thus ruled for. The King of Aragon would not actually deign to look upon the woman meant to be his bride, and while letters were sent back and forth declaring love between the 10 year old and the 12 year old, it is obvious Juan’s letters were written by someone else.

By 1523, the adolescent King had had enough, and when dignitaries of the Emperor came to begin work on a date for the Archduchess Catherine to travel to Aragon, he outright refused, famously saying: “I’ll marry a pig before a German.”. Granted, this was a harsh line to take, and Catherine of Austria herself was a rather sheltered, sweet-natured girl, but Juan was serious. He was not willing to negotiate for this, and by the end of 1524, he was free of this betrothal, and instead, betrothed to the eldest daughter of the King of France, Charlotte de Valois.

This truly signified the beginning of Juan’s personal reign, although theoretically, the 14 year old would wait a further 4 years before the reins were truly put in his hands. But the marriage game was a major part of his politics, and now in partial control, in 1524, when his betrothed died, he began to look elsewhere for a Queen. His first choice was England.

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

Ooh, if Mary Tudor's an only child TTL this could be fun (rubs hands with glee).

 

[Kynan]

In 1525, negotiations for a match between Juan and Mary Tudor, only legitimate child of Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon began. Again, Juan was potentially matched with a niece, but the major obstacle was not blood, but property. Potentially, this marriage would cause a personal union between England and Aragon, and while that might be tempting, it was also dangerous. Thus, talks stalled for many months, and it was not until early 1527 that any solution was seriously considered. But this idea was an odd one.

The solution was as follows: Mary and Juan would marry, and in turn, Henry Fitzroy, bastard son of Henry VIII, would marry Isabel of Castile, illegitimate sister to King Juan. Juan and Mary would rule Aragon, and Henry Fitzroy would be made heir to England, thus solving everyone’s problems. The major issue of all this planning was simple: no one wanted it.

Thus, negotiations again stalled, and when news of Henry VIII of England’s Great Matter reached the King of Aragon, he formally shut down discussions, very clearly stating that he would not marry a bastard, nor marry into a family without respect for his sister. He put his support behind Catherine of Aragon and return to bride searching. By 1530, he was again in negotiations with France, this time theoretically for a match between himself and French Princess, with an added match between Germaine de Foix and Francis I of France. Neither match made it past the theoretical stage for two reasons: Juan III of Aragon had recently received a very interesting offer elsewhere, and Germaine de Foix was uninterested in a second marriage, particularly with a man who was known to be syphilitic and unkind to his wife.

That interesting offer had actually come from outside the initial areas that had been scoured for potential Queens. Indeed, in 1532, Bona Sforza, Queen of Poland, wrote to the King of Aragon, offering her eldest daughter for his Queen. Young Isabella Jagiellon was a good match, and by marrying her, Juan III of Aragon would agree to support Bona against the Hapsburgs, and furthermore, would support John Zapolya in his war for the Kingdom of Hungary. Considering his own distaste for the Hapsburgs, it was an easy bargain, and in 1533, the 24 year old King of Aragon was married to the 14 year old Princess of Poland by proxy. He would, later in the year, have a dignitary stand for him at the wedding between Sophia Jagiellon and John Zapolya.

 

[Kynan]

The Princess would arrive in Zaragoza in May of 1534, and her husband would see her coronated later that year, once the marriage was consummated. Now all that was needed was a child, and by 1535, rumours swirled that the Queen of Aragon was pregnant. However, these proved false, and over the next 4 years, the couple would remain unlucky, despite trying very hard for a son, or even a daughter, to be born.

During this time, Isabel the bastard of Castile was a much sought after bride for those in Aragon, and in 1536, the 19 year old Isabel was married to Íñigo Fernández de Tovar y Velasco, who was the heir to the Lord of Berlanga and nephew to the Duke of Frias. The couple were then sent to Naples, where they were placed as Viceroys of Naples, ruling for the King of Aragon. Isabel would soon give birth to her only child, a daughter, named Juana Sancha Luiza de Tovar y Velasco, for the King, and the boy would be sent to live in the royal nursery, during a time when it seemed Isabella Jageillon might have been pregnant. But that would not come until 1539, when, in July, it was heavily suspected that the Queen of Aragon might actually be expecting her first child. And she was.

 

[Kynan]

It was around this time that Juan III of Aragon began his first major affair, with Spanish beauty Maria d’Aragona, daughter of a bastard son of Ferdinand II of Naples. Beautiful and famously stupid, Maria had come to Zaragoza to join Queen Isabella’s handmaidens, only to be swept into Juan’s bed and stay there for the next 20 years. Their first child was actually born a week from the Prince of Girona, a daughter named Catalina Beatriz of Aragon, who would become an Abbess later in life.

It’s not known who Juan III of Aragon had shared his bed with prior to Maria d’Aragona, but it is known that he was involved with several women. In the later 1520’s, the young man was referred to in reports as “lusty” and, in one famous incident, may have had an affair with a visiting French noblewoman, although which one is up for debate. There was even rumours that he had slept with Princess Renee of France, despite the geological distance between them. Whoever his lovers had been in the past, by 1540 he had two: his wife and his lover.

 

[Kynan]

The birth of an heir to the King of Aragon represented something grand to Juan, and at 31, he celebrated his great fortune with all the joy that one might expect. The Prince of Girona, named Ferdinand for the King’s father, it was hoped that the young son would be the next generation of great Aragonese Kings. Juan III of Aragon certainly felt so, and he spoke highly of his first legitimate child, claiming he had made “a new Alexander, greater and more than the famed Emperor”. That might have been a dig at his Hapsburg cousins, but it also might just have been a man excited by fatherhood, having come at him so quickly.

After 5 years of seeming barrenness, Isabella of Poland brought forth a child almost 12 months after her first, a second son, named Sancho. The royal couple would celebrate 7 pregnancies in total, and at the time of the birth of their youngest son in 1551, they had 6 children: Ferdinand, Prince of Girona (b.1540), Sancho of Aragon (b.1541), Maria of Aragon (b.1543), Luis of Aragon (b.1545), Anna of Aragon (b.1550) and Juan of Aragon (b.1551).

Despite their fecundity, few could claim the royal couple were truly close, and despite his pride in having so many sons, Juan was considered distant even by monarchical standards. In a moment that made the court snicker, he loudly asked who was who of his elder sons, unable to distinguish the tall boys between each other. He did not, however, neglect their needs, and Ferdinand and Sancho of Aragon was considered some of the most promising Princes in Europe.

 

[Kynan]

The loss of the Queen was quite a shock to the royal family, and her death in 1552 seems to have not come from any major illness. Reports claimed Queen Isabella was in perfect health not 4 months earlier, following her return to court, having given birth to the young Infante Juan. Theories abound as to why a healthy 33 year old woman would drop dead, from a sudden heart attack to poison. That last theory might have merit, as Maria d’Aragona was said to have bragged shortly after the death of the Queen that she would have her own coronation in the dress the Queen died in, but like all rumours, it’s fairly unsubstantiated, and none of her actions prior to/after the death of the Queen outside this rumoured outburst suggest the royal mistress thought marriage was on the horizon.

Considering his actions following his wife’s death, it might be said that it’s just as likely Juan had his own wife killed. Three months following her death, he was already negotiating for the hand of Maria of Portugal, Duchess of Viseu, and not 2 months following that, he was in discussions with England for the hand of Mary Tudor, sister to Edward VI of England. He outright rejected the hand of Eleanora of Austria for himself, or her sister Barbara for his son. Again, the famous: “I would rather marry a pig than a German” speech was brought up, and by early 1553, it seemed likely he’d find a bride in either Maria of Portugal or the widowed Christina of Denmark, Dowager Duchess of Lorraine. However, the death of the King of England changed everything.

 

[Kynan]

The death of Edward VI of England left a Kingless Queen in England, and Juan chose the most logical course of action. With his eldest sons, themselves of marriageable age, he began a course for England. Either he would be England’s King, or his sons would.

The arrival of a foreign King so soon after civil upheaval might have been unsettling to the English peoples, should it not have been so charming. Traveling up to London, Juan III of Aragon paid his dues up the English coast, throwing small fortunes out on a whim, not just to impress the people, but to placate them. It took three weeks for the King to make it up to London, by then news had travelled to the Queen that her uncle, the King of Aragon, was not only here, but immediately popular. Her parliament quaked under the fear of what he was there for. But his arrival placated them. He was merely a handsome, extravagant King, meeting his niece to congratulate her on her success, and give his condolences for her brother.

At this point in his life, Juan III of Aragon was not necessarily considered handsome, but somewhat imposing a figure. Tall, fair and skinny, he had the steady, calm energy of a man who had lived his life sure of his position, and the confidence to know those who knew him would love him. And, within a week, he had laid out his plans with Mary.He wanted to marry her. He’d wanted to marry her in the 1520’s. He’d wanted to marry her as recently as 12 months ago. And he wanted to marry her now. If she wouldn’t have him, have one of his sons. They might be young, but they’re old enough, and eager to have a bride of their own. It’s her duty to England to have a child, and by marrying a King with four sons of his own, she can rest assured that they’re safe from a union.

The match of the century was agreed to two weeks later, and within a month, the two were granted a dispension. Two weeks following, they were married, and coronated together soon after. He’d done exactly what he’d wanted to do, and kept a valuable bride away from his Hapsburg cousins. In response, his cousin in Spain married his son to Margaret of France, and Mary soon discovered that she’d created a rift between herself and the Hapsburgs that she hadn’t anticipated.

 

[Kynan]

The King of Aragon could not, of course, stay in England, and in May of 1554, he travelled back to Zaragoza, hoping that he would soon be followed by news of a pregnancy from Mary. He would be sorely disappointed, but in any case, his sons had stayed in England for the time being, at his own request.

During his time back in Aragon, the King was focused on one thing: supporting the claims of John II Sigismund Zápolya to Hungary. The young King, son of John Zápolya and his bride, Sophia Jaigellon, was in preparations for a war for the Hungarian crown, and now, Juan III of Aragon would support him fully and fulfil his half of the marriage deal that had brought him his first wife. The King’s sister, Katherine Zápolya, had been offered to him as a bride after Isabella’s death, but he had chosen to end those discussions, due to her youth.

Juan III of Aragon had a backup plan if no children came from this marriage, and that plan included Mary’s sister marrying Ferdinand or Sancho. Thus, when he returned to London in November of 1554, to join the Christmas festivities later in the year. In England, the King of Aragon was quite annoyed that the Queen of England had chosen to send Elizabeth Tudor from the court, and he brought her back. But Mary was quite clear: Elizabeth would not be married, and certainly not to her stepson. Frustrated, Juan III of Aragon would send his sons back to Aragon, only to face the greatest loss of his life.

 

[Kellan Sullivan]

Was thinking that if Juan gets any problems regarding Naples from the French/his Habsburg cousins, Isabella Jagiellonika's Sforza blood gives her kids a good claim to the Neapolitan throne (plus a blood claim to the duchy of Milan (I think they'd do more about that than the Poles/Swedes did OTL)). Could make for an interesting dynamic in the alt-Italian Wars.

 

[Kynan]

A storm overturned the ship carrying the Aragonese Princes across the channel, and a month following their departure, news arrived to Juan III of Aragon was told his two eldest sons were gone, and thus, the future he had envisioned for his Dynasty was gone with them. In the lowest moment of his life, the King of Aragon was barely able to celebrate his wife’s supposed pregnancy, and he returned to Zaragoza, to mourn his children in peace, and to see his eldest daughter married to the Duke of Savoy, as had been agreed to months prior. The King might not have been emotionally close to his children, but he had found his ambitions in shatters, and that was a hard thing to face.

The apparent pregnancy of Mary Tudor did not produce a child, and, in a callous moment, Juan III of Aragon suggested that she was never pregnant in the slightest. Why he believed Mary was not pregnant is unsure, but what is known is that, when he returned to England in August of 1556, he was a different man. Dressed from head to toe in white, paler than even before, he looked as if he was a ghost, and following a dour Christmas, he returned to Zaragoza again, never to return to England. Mary I of England would claim another pregnancy following his departure, but like the first, no child came, by 1558, the Queen of England was sick, dying and without her husband. The King of Aragon would send his condolences at her death in late 1558, but it was obvious that, by then, he was done with England. He offered himself half-heartedly to Elizabeth I of England, but ultimately, he chose to step back from England, even stopping the use of the title, despite the continued use after Mary’s death being part of the marriage agreement.

 

[Kynan]

The King would remarry in 1559, to Maria of Portugal, although he did, for a time, renew his suit to Christina of Denmark, and even offered a double match, with the second between his new heir, Luis, Prince of Girona, and Renata of Lorraine. The King’s heart wasn’t into it, however, and he chose to marry the Portuguese Princess, despite an offer of the younger Infanta Juana of Castile, widow to the Prince of Portugal and mother to the heir. Because she was Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor’s daughter. The fact his grand enemy was a year dead didn’t worry Juan at all. Along with the refusal of Juana of Castile, he also refused a match between his heir and Philip II of Castile’s daughter, Maria of Castile, and one between Anna of Aragon and the Prince of Asturias.

The birth of a son between Maria of Portugal and Juan III of Aragon was truly a grand event, and the since Afonso of Aragon, born in January of 1561, was their only child, and Juan would not take a lover after Maria d’Aragona’s death in late 1560, we can assume that he began to slow down sexually in his 50’s. The fact that only once more, in 1563, did anyone assume Maria of Portugal was pregnant is a big sign that they were not necessarily active in their royal duties, even as Juan of Aragon the Younger succumbed to smallpox in 1564, leaving only Luis and Afonso as the future of their house.

The fate of Aragon was slipping fast, and in 1565, the King saw to it that, should anything happen, the Kingdom would continue, marrying his eldest son to his cousin, Katherine Zápolya. Her twin brother, John II Sigismund Zápolya, still fought for his crown of Hungary. One of the wealthiest men in Hungary, he was one of the only men able to stand against Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, and with the support of Aragon, had managed to keep the war going for almost a decade now, first under his mother’s guidance, and now on his own. He wasn’t winning, but he also hadn’t lost, and by marrying his heir to the heir to these Hungarian claims, and since Katherine, nominally Princess Katherine of Hungary, Juan put his faith against the Hapsburgs yet again.

 

[Kynan]

The 1560’s brought Isabel of Castile back to Zaragoza, with the death of her husband. She brought with her three things: knowledge that Naples was in the capable hands of her eldest son, her three daughters, and a hatred for the new Queen. Isabel had been close to Queen Isabella and had managed to go through the 5 years Juan was married to Mary Tudor without even mentioning her, so now, with Maria of Portugal, she found herself at odds with the Queen. It’s not known why Maria and Isabel were such immediate enemies, but it was obviously bad enough for Isabel to be sent back to Naples, after her daughters were all married (two to Spanish Grandees, one to God). She wouldn’t return to Zaragoza until Maria of Portugal was dead.

The birth of two grandchildren in the span of a year must have been welcome for Juan III of Aragon, and the marriage of his youngest daughter to a French prince must have been nice. The King of France’s younger brother, Henri, Duke of Anjou, was married to the Princess Anna in an attempt to encircle England, with the marriage of the King to Elisabeth of Austria, and the Princess Elisabeth of France to the Prince of Asturias (a second one, who’s elder brother had died a year earlier). It was hoped that, without these major allies, they could bring England to its knees, take Calais quickly, and eventually remove Elizabeth I of England from the throne. Who would replace her was up for debate. Juan III of Aragon cared little for the plan, but it meant the Hapsburgs chose to treat with John II Sigismund Zápolya, and agreed to him the title King of Eastern Hungary.

The grandchildren that were two Princes, one of Aragon, one of Savoy. The first, by 8 months, was Charles Victor of Savoy, first child of Maria of Aragon and Emmanuel Philibert, who was now actually in Savoy, instead of a titular Duke. The fact it had taken a decade for Maria of Aragon to get pregnant seems to have been an issue for the couple, so the fact she gave birth to a son may have made any problems there lessen. The next Prince, Ferdinand of Aragon, was born almost a year exactly from the marriage of the Prince and Princess of Girona.

 

[Kynan]

By 1568, Juan III of Aragon was at a crossroads in his life. At 59, he was getting older, possibly separated from his wife, and his brood of grandchildren was growing quickly. The birth of three this year was greeted happily, but it was a marker that it was time to slow down. The Prince of Girona would thus begin to take on some of the responsibilities of the crown, and by 1570 Juan had began discussions about properly abdicating from the throne in the near future.

These discussions would come to nothing, and in January of 1572, the King of Aragon died a quiet death, in the church his illegitimate daughter was Abbess at. He had been visiting Catalina Beatrice, during a rare time of quiet, and had slipped away during the night. No one had expected it so soon, but the King was dead, so long like King Luis I of Aragon. The body of Juan III of Aragon was carried back to Zaragoza, where he was laid to rest, next to Isabella of Poland and Ferdinand, Prince of Girona, or where his and his brother’s graves would have been, had their bodies been able to be brought back from sea.

Thus, the new King, Luis I of Aragon, rose to the throne, bringing with him his wife, Katherine Zápolya, and a new Prince of Girona. Luis was a man of less action than his father, and in his first major decision as King, he extended a peace offering to the King of Castile, in the form of a betrothal between the Prince of Girona and the youngest daughter of the King of Castile, Juana of Castile. It wasn’t a full reconciliation with the Hapsburgs, but it was a start to better relations between the two dynasties.

That did not mean support for the Zápolya Kings of Eastern Hungary was ended, and in 1575, the King of Aragon again showed his faith in John II Sigismund Zápolya to take the rest of Hungary, by betrothing his eldest daughter to Zápolya’s son by Sophia Báthory, and his second born son to Zápolya’s only daughter, Barbara Zápolya. Granted, the Princess Barbara would die in 1579, but the intentions were there.

The marriage of Ferdinand, Duke of Girona and Juana of Castile would have been a success, if the Prince had not begun a fascination with a young Hungarian woman, Elizabeth Báthory, who had travelled to Zaragoza to join his mother’s ladies in waiting. The young man was sure of his love, and in 1579, a year prior to his wedding, he demanded that he be allowed to marry the Hungarian noblewoman, despite the fact she was considered unsuitable. In an effort to have the Prince listen to reason, the wedding was moved forward by 6 months, and in January of 1580, the Prince of Girona married the daughter of Castile, and all was considered settled. It was not, and Philip II of Castile would receive regular letters from his daughter, complaining the Prince was unkind and neglectful.

 

[Kynan]

The rise of the Duke of Anjou and Anna of Aragon to the throne of Poland in 1573 was greeted with much excitement by the royal family in Aragon. They were highly proud of their Polish heritage, and if their blood could sit on the throne, they were more than happy. But when, a few months later, the new King of Poland abandoned his throne, his wife, and his newborn baby son to return to France and become King there, Luis I of Aragon was shocked. His sister, still in Poland, found herself stuck in a country that, for now, did not want her, with what was now the Dauphin of France, without any way, nor any money, to take her home. Eventually she’d make it to France, but the Princess of Aragon would never forgive the slight. In the place of Henri de Valois and his bride, Anne Jaigellon, Dowager Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg, had risen to the throne with her second husband, Stephen Báthory. Her son, Sigismund of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was considered the heir to Poland.

Back in Aragon, the birth of the King and Queen’s latest, and last, child in 1576, a son named Sancho, was celebrated, and in 1577, they celebrated further, with the marriage of Afonso of Aragon to his Neopolitan cousin, Maria Theresa de Tovar y Velasco, granddaughter to Isabel of Castile, and the apparent love of the Prince of Aragon’s life. The two were married with the permission of King Luis, who had his own sons to carry on the name, although the Queen Dowager, Maria of Portugal, would never meet her daughter-in-law, nor contact her. In fact, she died three weeks after the wedding, and thus managed to narrowly miss the arrival if Isabel of Castile, who would attend her funeral.

 

[Kynan]

The marriage of Afonso and Maria Theresa could not have happened at a more opportune time, for a year later, the King of Portugal died, and the War for the Portuguese Succession began. Sebastian of Portugal had left no children, nor had he married, nor did he have siblings. Thus, even man and woman with Portuguese blood claimed the Throne. Afonso of Aragon was lucky that, regardless of anything else he was now technically a nobleman of Portugal, and he would travel to Lisbon to place his suit. Against him, however, was the King of Castile, the Duke of Savoy, and a host of other grandchildren of Manuel I of Portugal.

The ultimate result of the war came with the success for Philip II of Castile, who graciously allowed Afonso to keep his titles in Portugal and decreed that, after himself and his immediate heirs, the Dukes of Viseu were next in line for the Throne of Portugal. There was some issues with that, mainly being that the Duke of Savoy, the Duke of Guimarães and all their cousins, plus Henry of Portugal, Archbishop of Lisbon, who had been convinced to end his claim on the basis that all that would do was push the Succession War back a few years. Soon after, he was poisoned. Because why keep loose ends around?