Philip I of Castile

Philip I (July 22, 1478 – September 25, 1506), sometimes called Philip the Handsome (Felipe el Hermoso - Filips de Schone) was king of Castile. He was the son of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and his first wife Mary of Burgundy. Philip married Joanna the Mad, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and was the founder of the Habsburg dynasty in Spain.

Related Topics:
July 22 - 1478 - September 25 - 1506 - King of Castile - Holy Roman Emperor - Maximilian I - Mary of Burgundy - Joanna the Mad - Ferdinand - Isabella - Habsburg - Spain

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Philip was born in Bruges, in today's Belgium. In 1482, upon the death of his mother Mary of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold, he succeeded to her Burgundian possessions under the guardianship of his father. In 1492 he came of age and took over the rule of the Burgundian lands himself. In 1496 he married Joanna. The marriage was one of a set of family alliances with Austria and Portugal designed to strengthen Spain against France. The death of Juan, the only son of Ferdinand and Isabella, opened the succession to the Spanish Crown to Joanna.

Related Topics:
Bruges - Belgium - 1482 - Mary of Burgundy - Charles the Bold - Burgundian - 1492 - 1496 - Austria - Portugal - France - Juan

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In 1502 she and her husband received the homage of the cortes of Castile and of Aragon as heirs. Philip returned to Flanders before the close of the year. His life with Joanna was rendered extremely unhappy by his infidelity and by her jealousy, which, working on a neurotic temperament, precipitated her insanity. The princess gave way to paroxysms of rage, in which she was guilty of acts of atrocious violence. Before her mother's death, in 1504, she was unquestionably quite insane, and husband and wife lived apart.

Related Topics:
Castile - Aragon - Flanders - 1504

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When Isabella died, Ferdinand endeavoured to lay hands on the regency of Castile, but the nobles, who disliked and feared him, forced him to withdraw. Philip was summoned to Spain, where he was recognized as king. He landed, with his wife, at La Coruña on April 28, 1506, accompanied by a body of German mercenaries. Father and son-in-law mediated under Cardinal Cisneros at Remesal, near Puebla de Sanabria, and at Renedo, the only result of which was an indecent family quarrel, in which Ferdinand professed to defend the interests of his daughter, who he said was imprisoned by her husband.

Related Topics:
La Coruña - April 28 - 1506 - Cardinal Cisneros - Puebla de Sanabria

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A civil war would probably have broken out between them; but Philip, who had only been in Spain long enough to prove his incapacity, died suddenly at Burgos, apparently of typhoid fever, on September 25, 1506. His wife refused for long to allow his body to be buried or to part from it. Philip was the father of the emperors Charles V and Ferdinand I.

Related Topics:
Burgos - Typhoid - Charles V - Ferdinand I

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