Exotic queens and mistresses of the Kings of Spain

[bell_the_cat]

I think we can put the english Katherine of Lancaster (1372/1373 – 2 June 1418) wife of Enrique III of Castile as an "exotic" queen. She was daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and his second wife, Constance of Castile.

She was from England and I think that England and Castile had different cultures. But her mother was from Castile, maybe there was not a BIG diffrence afterall.

Do you know if Katherine spoke only English or knew some Castellano when she married with Enrique? How did they talk with each other? Maybe in French, the international language of the time?

 

We discussed this before, but it is an interesting question what language Katherine spoke! It was just the time that English was becming acceptable at court (1360s- 1370s), and John of Gaunt's Court was a pioneer, and patron of Geoffrey Chaucer! In spite of this, my guess is that Gaunt's second wife and her daughter were more comfortable in French than anything else!

I've really enjoyed reading this thread, by the way!

[bell_the_cat]

My favourite, slightly off-beat Spanish consort is the second wife of Ferdinand V, Germaine de Foix. Crazy name, crazy lady!

[Prince_Lieven]

I think we can put the english Katherine of Lancaster (1372/1373 – 2 June 1418) wife of Enrique III of Castile as an "exotic" queen. She was daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and his second wife, Constance of Castile.

She was from England and I think that England and Castile had different cultures. But her mother was from Castile, maybe there was not a BIG diffrence afterall.

Do you know if Katherine spoke only English or knew some Castellano when she married with Enrique? How did they talk with each other? Maybe in French, the international language of the time?

I think Katherine (or Catalina as she was known) probably spoke Castellano - she was brought up mostly by her mother, I think. Or, as Bell says, she probably at least spoke French, since that's what her mother Constanza spoke with John of Gaunt.

[Grand_Duke]

We can include Queen Sofia, wife of Juan Carlos, as an "exotic" Queen: Greek-born, Orthodox and with German-Danish blood!

[Marc]

I would say that she has a full German blood since Danish royal family were Germans themselves...

[umigon]

Hadn't thought about Sofía, but yes, you're right Grand Duke. ç


Yes, Bell-the-Cat, although not "exotic" her name was indeed crazy! Her biography, very very very interesting! Strange woman for those times was Germain de Foix.

[lady]

Don't forget actress María Calderón "la Calderona", mistress of King Felipe IV. She gave the King a son: Juan José de Austria, born April 7 1629

[Yseult]

My favourite, slightly off-beat Spanish consort is the second wife of Ferdinand V, Germaine de Foix. Crazy name, crazy lady!

I always thought that our proud queen Isabel must have been crying out in heavens when she knew her widow was to marry Germaine of Foix, the young niece of Louis XII of France  I can´t imagine two women more opposites than Isabel the castillian and Germaine the french.

I knew not until now that Germaine had married three times. After the death of Ferdinand, the grandson of Ferdinand, emperor Charles, arranged the marriage of his "granny" Germaine to Johann of Brandenburg. The couple Johann & Germaine were appointed vicerois of Valencia. After the death of Johann, Germaine married again, this time with Ferdinand duke of Calabria.

[ilyala]

wasn't she related to a mistress of king henry 4th of france? i believe they hoped henry would marry his mistress and elevate the family too...

[umigon]

My favourite, slightly off-beat Spanish consort is the second wife of Ferdinand V, Germaine de Foix. Crazy name, crazy lady!

I always thought that our proud queen Isabel must have been crying out in heavens when she knew her widow was to marry Germaine of Foix, the young niece of Louis XII of France  I can´t imagine two women more opposites than Isabel the castillian and Germaine the french.

I knew not until now that Germaine had married three times. After the death of Ferdinand, the grandson of Ferdinand, emperor Charles, arranged the marriage of his "granny" Germaine to Johann of Brandenburg. The couple Johann & Germaine were appointed vicerois of Valencia. After the death of Johann, Germaine married again, this time with Ferdinand duke of Calabria.

It has been recently discovered that Charles V not only arranged the marriage with Brandeburg because he wanted a good social position for his step-grandmother... apart from being that, she had been his mistress when he arrived in Spain in 1517 (aged only 17, while she was 29), and she bore him an illegitimate daughter, Isabel de Castilla (c.1518-after1536), mentioned in Germaine's will and in the Duke of Calabria's letters to Empress Isabel.

[umigon]

wasn't she related to a mistress of king henry 4th of france? i believe they hoped henry would marry his mistress and elevate the family too...

In fact, Germaine was a relative of Henry IV, as she was Henry's greatgrandmother's (Catalina I of Navarre), first cousin. On her mother's side, she was Louis XII's niece.

[Yseult]

Umigon...You leave me without breath!  I always thought that Charles was not a very passionate man...I could not imagine him sharing the bed with the wife of his maternal grand-father!

[umigon]

Well, that's just a myth. He was a man, after all... It seems that he was faithful to his wife and, if he wasn't, then he was absolutely discreet, as there are no news (and absolutely none!) of an extramarital affair. On the other hand, he fathered three children before his marriage and at least one after Isabel's death.

[Yseult]

Well, that's just a myth. He was a man, after all... It seems that he was faithful to his wife and, if he wasn't, then he was absolutely discreet, as there are no news (and absolutely none!) of an extramarital affair. On the other hand, he fathered three children before his marriage and at least one after Isabel's death.

But, my darling...one thing is to have mistress before your marriage or after the death of your beloved wife, and another thing is to have an affair with your grand-father wife...   

[umigon]

Yes, I agree with that, but then look it under this perspective: you are 17, you arrive to your grandfather's country (and you've never met him, that's an important point). You know nobody except the people in your retinue. And you found this young woman, 12 years your senior, much more experienced, sexually VERY active (as she proved to be), and, altough not at all good looking, extremely voluptuous. She was also amusing and intelligent, although during her first years in Spain she seemed so shy that some thought she was stupid. Anyone could have had an affair with her in those circumstances. Hopefully not under her, as she was slightly overweight at that time... then she would become "as big as a mountain", in the words of a contemporary!