Juana la Beltraneja

Juana la Beltraneja

(hwä`nä lä bĕltränā`hä), 1462–1530, Castilian princess, daughter of Juana of Portugal, queen of Henry IVHenry IV,
1425–74, Spanish king of Castile and León (1454–74), son and successor of John II. His weakness opened the way to civil strife and anarchy. The Castilian nobles refused to recognize Henry's alleged daughter Juana la Beltraneja as his heiress and
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 of Castile. Her paternity was generally attributed to the court favorite Beltrán de la Cueva, whence her name. Juana was recognized as legitimate heiress to the throne by the Cortes of Castile, but later Henry IV designated as successor first his half-brother Alfonso (d.1468) and then his half-sister Isabella (later Isabella IIsabella I
or Isabella the Catholic,
1451–1504, Spanish queen of Castile and León (1474–1504), daughter of John II of Castile. In 1469 she married Ferdinand of Aragón (later King Ferdinand II of Aragón and Ferdinand V of Castile).
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). In 1470, Henry recognized Juana again, but when he died (1474) Isabella seized the throne. Juana's partisans called upon Alfonso V of Portugal for help and arranged his marriage to the young princess. After five years of struggle Alfonso was decisively defeated at Toro (1476), and Isabella was recognized (1479) as queen of Castile. Juana retired to a convent in Portugal.