be "refused under any circumstances to occupy herself
with the affairs of the kingdom," and it was mutually agreed that Juana
was to be prevented by force, if necessary, from taking any part in the
government of Castile! What happened in that interview no man can ever
know exactly, but it certainly appears that the wily Fernando had been
able by some trick or mass of false evidence to convince Philip that
Juana was really insane, and yet he had been with his wife almost
continually for the previous two years and had not thought of her in
that light, and Fernando had not even seen his daughter within that same
space of time! But then and there the fate of the much-abused princess
was definitely decided. Juana, self-willed as she had shown herself to
be, was not a woman of strong character or any great ability, and her
husband had so regularly controlled her and bent her to his will that he
found little trouble in the present instance in deposing her entirely,
that he might rule Castile in her stead. When Philip died suddenly two
months after he had assumed the reigns of government, Juana was stricken
with a great grief, which, it is said, did not at first find the
ordinary solace afforded by tears. She refused for a long time to
believe him dead; and when there was no longer any doubt of the fact,
she became almost violent in her sorrow. She had watched by her
husband's bedside during his illness, and was most suspicious of all who
had anything to do with her, for she thought, as was probably the case,
that Philip had been poisoned, and she feared that the same fate might
be reserved for her. In any event, Juana was treated with little or no
consideration at this unhappy moment; the Cardinal Ximenes, who had been
made grand inquisitor, assumed control of the state until Fernando might
be summoned from Naples, whither he had gone; and, all in all, the
rightful heir to the throne was utterly despised and disregarded. She
was allowed to follow her husband's body to its last resting place, and
then, after a brief delay, she went to live at Arcos, where she was well
watched and guarded by her jealous father, who feared that some
disaffected nobles might seek her out and gain her aid in organizing a
revolt against his own government. While in this seclusion, Juana was
sought in marriage by several suitors, and among them Henry VII. of
England; but all these negotiations came to naught, and in the end she
was sent to the fortres