From the Jewish library: ‘The Castles and the Crown’

The Castles and the Crown, Spain 1451-1555, by Townsend Miller, Published by Coward-McCann, Inc., 1953

By Sheila Orysiek

Sheila Orysiek
Sheila Orysiek

SAN DIEGO — I first read this book several decades ago and since have read it twice more finishing my third reading of it in this last week.  It was as fresh and as exciting a tale as the first time.  Not often does one find a book of history so beautifully written by a wonderfully gifted author.  This is non-fiction history – not historical fiction.

Townsend Miller is deeply immersed in his subject and able to bring it to life with all the nail biting tension of a mystery thriller.  He relates many indelible scenes worthy of any great film and makes true that what happens to human beings in real life is very often even more amazing than any fictional construct.

The book centers around four main characters:  Queen Isabel (Isabella) of Castile, King Fernando (Ferdinand) of Aragon, their daughter, Queen Juana (La Loca) and her husband, Phillip (The Handsome) of Austria.  The marriage of Isabel and Fernando makes possible a united Spain against the onslaught of Islam, as well as subduing the corrupt nobility and imposing a single standard of law and order.

The final push of the victorious Christians to rid Spain of the Moslem Emirate is about to begin; the culmination of a 700 year struggle. Isabel and Fernando then embark on rebuilding the lands they’ve won.   As part of institutionalizing Catholicism, they sign the Edict of Expulsion causing the mass exodus of the large and ancient Jewish community. They then invite in the Inquisition to further “purify” the land. Time has judged these actions to have been two major mistakes.

Isabel and Fernando reign as a team and they reach out to the rest of the world which includes sponsoring explorers such as Columbus.  They marry off their children:  Catherine of Aragon to England’s King Henry VIII, the others to royal houses of Portugal and Austria.

Though female and the third of five children, Juana, after the death of her mother and brother, inherits the crown of Castile.  Her husband, Phillip of Austria, can only rule Spain in her name.  However,  he finds a way around this impediment by imprisoning her and declaring she is insane.  She waits for her father, Fernando, to rescue her.  However, like Phillip, he would rather wear the crown though he, too, can only rule if Juana is dead or unable to rule.  When her husband and father die, she waits for rescue by her son, Charles, who is the Holy Roman Emperor.  But, again, he, too, wants the crown of Spain.

For 46 years, Juana, is entombed in a cold castle, tormented and outright tortured, as each male member of her family knows he can only wear the  crown if she is unable to rule.  Finally the people rise up to rescue her, but they only have sticks against swords.   There is no doubt Juana is highly intelligent but given to over impassioned behavior early in life.  After being horribly mutilated and as her life comes to an end,  she is indeed insane.  But, what history ponders is when did this insanity begin and why?   Does she really deserve to be known to us as Juana, La Loca?

This is a treasure of a book.

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Orysiek is a freelance writer who specializes in arts and literature.  You may comment to sheila.orysiek@sdjewishworld.com  Any comments in the space below should include the writer’s full name and city and state of residence, or city and country for non-U.S. residents.