ansaction smacks strongly of duplicity of the worst kind, for at the
very time that the Cortes was being prevailed upon to do this, Juana was
being given a royal welcome in both Aragon and Castile, for she had been
induced to come home for a visit; and she was even being given public
recognition as the future queen of these two countries. There were
feasts and tournaments given in her honor, Fernando and Isabella
introduced her to their subjects with apparent pleasure, and yet under
it all was this heartless trick which they had planned in utter defiance
of the law. Still, the law in Spain at this time was almost synonymous
with the wish of the sovereign; and so powerful was Isabella and so
great was her influence with her legislative body, that there was little
dissent to the plan for usurpation which had its origin in her fertile
brain. The reasons for this action will never be definitely known,
perhaps. It would hardly seem that Juana's lukewarm Catholicism would be
sufficient to warrant so radical a step, and it is difficult to give
credence to the vaguely circulated rumor that Juana was insane.

Whether this alleged insanity was real or not, it served as a pretext
for the action taken, and the report regarding the unhappy princess was
soon common property. When Isabella drew her last breath in 1504,
Fernando artfully convoked the Cortes, formally renounced any interest
in the succession to the throne of Castile, and caused Juana and Philip
to be proclaimed as successors to Isabella and himself. Within two
months, however, Juana's claims were completely disregarded, it was
officially announced that she was not in her right mind, and Fernando
was empowered to take control of the Castilian government and rule as
regent, according to the terms of the decree which had been arranged by
Isabella some years before, and was to remain as a _de facto_ sovereign
until Charles had reached the specified majority. The statements which
were made to support the claim as to her insanity were not altogether
clear, and to-day at least they do not seem convincing. Her attitude of
indifference toward the extreme point of view taken by her mother in
regard to religion may have been scandalous, as no doubt it was at that
time, but it was hardly evidence of an impaired intellect. During her
last visit to Spain before her mother's death, Juana had resisted with
violence when she was imprisoned for a time and had not been allowed to
go to her