Joan was born as one of nine children of King Edward of Portugal and his wife Eleanor of Aragon. Joan was born on the 31th of March, 1439 at Quinta do Monte Olivete (modern day Almeda), after her father's death.
In 1440, Eleanor was politically outmaneuvered from the regency of Joan's brother Afonso and was forced into exile in Castile together with the infant Joan. In Castile, Joan and her mother lived at the monastery of Santa María de Medina del Campo, dependent on charity. Joan's mother was deeply unhappy as she longed for the children she had to leave behind in Portugal. In 1444 Eleanor applied for them to return to Portugal, but she died in February 1445 at Toledo. There were rumors that she had been poisoned.
After her mother's death, Joan was taken under the guardianship of her uncle Peter and was raised at court in Lisbon.
Though a bride without a significant dowry, Joan had valuable connections to offer Henry, apart from being the sister of the king of Portugal she also possessed influential relatives such as her older sister Eleanor, Holy Roman Empress and their paternal aunt Isabella, Duchess of Burgundy.
In February 1462, six years after Joan's marriage to Henry, she gave birth to a daughter, also named Joan, called La Beltraneja because of rumours that she was in fact the daughter of Don Beltrán de la Cueva, 1st Duke of Alburquerque, who was suspected of being Joan's lover.
Henry banished Joan from the royal court and she went to live in Coca at the castle of Henry's supporter, Bishop Fonseca. She soon fell in love with Bishop Fonseca's nephew; they embarked on a sexual affair, which resulted in Joan bearing her lover two illegitimate sons. Henry subsequently declared their marriage had never been legal and thus divorced her in 1468.
At the death of her former husband in 1474, Joan championed her daughter's right to succeed to the throne, but she died shortly thereafter. This led to the outbreak of the War of the Castilian Succession (1475–1479).
Scandals and illegitimate children
Prior to her banishment, Joan had provoked much criticism in the Castilian court as she allegedly wore dresses that displayed too much décolletage, and her philandering with men was considered scandalous. She was considered haughty, unscrupulous, ambitious and ruthless, participating in intrigues and completely controlling her husband. Joan has been credited with many lovers, including the poet Juan Rodríguez de la Cámara.[4][5]
Joan had two illegitimate children by Pedro de Castilla y Fonseca "el mozo", nephew of Bishop Fonseca, and a great grandson of King Pedro of Castille:
her two sons were Pedro Apostol de Castilla y Portugal, married to Juana de Mendonza, and Andres Apostol de Castilla y Portugal, married to Mencía de Quiñones.
The birth of her two illegitimate children only added to Joan's considerable notoriety.
She later entered the convent of San Francisco in Segovia.
Joan died in Madrid on June 13, 1475 at the age of 36. She was buried in the convent of San Francisco.
^Historia de Portugal - Website: - with source: Joel Serrão (dir.) Pequeno Dicionário de História de Portugal, Lisboa, Iniciativas Editoriais, 1976 - AND - Joaquim Veríssimo Serrão, História de Portugal, Volume II: Formação do Estado Moderno (1415-1495), 2.ª ed., Lisboa, Verbo, 1979
^Historia de Portugal - Website: http://www.arqnet.pt/portal/portugal/temashistoria/duarte.html - with source: Joel Serrão (dir.) Pequeno Dicionário de História de Portugal, Lisboa, Iniciativas Editoriais, 1976 - AND - Joaquim Veríssimo Serrão, História de Portugal, Volume II: Formação do Estado Moderno (1415-1495), 2.ª ed., Lisboa, Verbo, 1979
* also an infanta of Spain and an archduchess of Austria,** also an imperial princess of Brazil,*** also a princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duchess in Saxony,◙ Also a princess of Braganza,ƒ title of pretense
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