Morris Dance

Morris Dance is a type of English folk dance of mysterious origins. It was (and is) most frequently practiced through the midlands and in the counties along the Welsh border, but it has connections to folk dances throughout Western Europe. Morris dance is characterized by energetic stepping and skipping, as well as the use of bells, handkerchiefs, sticks, swords, and the occasional beast.

Morris dancer and musician.

The first reference to Morris style dance comes from the wedding of Raymond Berengar, Duke of Barcelona, and Petronilla of Aragon in 1149. There are further references to continental Morris dances being adopted into church ceremonies and being performed at court events throughout the Middle Ages. It is very likely that these dances were being performed in England at the same time as well, as Morris dance was considered ancient by the Elizabethans.

The earliest mention of Morris dance in England dates from 1448, when a tapestry depicting Morris dancers was recorded in an inventory of Caister Castle. That same year, a troupe of Morris dancers were paid seven shillings by the Goldsmiths Guild for a St. Dunstan Day performance.  There are several other records of Morris dancers appearing on objects, and being paid for performances throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.¹

The name "Morris" is generally seen to be as a corruption of the Spanish word "Morisco," referring to the Arabs who occupied Southern Europe throughout much of the Middle Ages. This has led many historians to assume that Morris dancing has its roots in the traditional dance of the Moriscos. However, as Morris dance bears minimal resemblance to Moorish traditional dance this theory has been discarded by modern historians.

Additionally, the name "Moorish" was a fashionable appendage to any art considered even a little bit foreign. New music, dances, and clothing styles were labeled as "Moorish," relationship to Middle Eastern culture or not. It seems most likely to this historian that the name "Morris" was given to the dance at a later date, perhaps as a way to further distance the dance from its pagan origins.

This brings us to the probably pagan origins of Morris dance. It is likely that Morris dance existed long before the Arabs made it to Europe, and instead evolved from pagan traditions. Many dances tell the stories of a battle against nature, and dances were performed on days that were culturally significant to pagans, such as the beginning of summer and the middle of winter. In addition, the appearances of hobbyhorses and the occasional dragon or unicorn also hint at a pagan past, as these animals could be seen as a focus of worship. Outside of England in Brittany some small churches had a festival specially dedicated to the hobbyhorse, where the horse was adorned with flowers and paraded around the town. Though this was a supposedly Christian festival, it certainly seems more pagan to outside observers.

Hobby Horses at the 2018 Banbury Folk and Hobby Horse
Festival

The Morris dance of the Middle Ages can be split into two styles--Court Morris and Folk Morris. Morris dancing was very popular in the Tudor courts, with records of it having been performed in the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Court Morris was an elaborate affair with expensive costumes and elaborate sets. The line between Morris and mumming is a thin one at best, but it was especially thin in these court dances with their elaborate costuming and pageantry.² Court Morris flourished until Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans took power in 1649.

Opposed to dancing, drinking, and anything resembling a good time, Cromwell suppressed Morris dance into near extinction. However, the tradition survived. Morris dance resurfaced in the countryside after the restoration of the English monarchy. Morris dancing had fallen out of favor with the nobility, but it was adopted by the commoners. The common people couldn't afford the same elaborate costuming as the nobility, but they used ribbons, bells, flowers and colorful rags to add to their appearance. The modern Morris costume evolved from their imitations.

However, as Britain industrialized the dance began to fall out of style. Many young men moved to the factory towns, and were disinclined to continue Morris dancing. Early twentieth-century Morris dancers lamented that the younger generation was too proud to continue the  tradition, because it was too much like begging. These young men might have changed their minds as time wore on, but unfortunately, many of those young men lost their lives in World War I.

Morris dance may have been lost to time had it not been carefully documented by the ethnochoreologist and ethnomusicologist Cecil Sharp. Sharp traveled England collecting folk dances and published several works on the subject. Sharp's books revived interest in Morris dance, and Morris began to be taught (and tested) in some English schools.

A group of Morris dancers is called a side. Historically, Morris sides were exclusively male, but that is no longer the case. While a side can, hypothetically, consist of an infinite number of dancers, most have less than twenty, including the band. Most dances have only six to eight dancers on the floor at a time.

Traditional sides are led by a Squire who arranges performances and is generally the man in charge. Under him is the Foreman or Captain who teaches the dances. Last on the leadership hierarchy is the Bagman, who serves as a secretary. Under them are the dancers, and the occasional Fool or Beast.

Beasts are Morris characters that add to the story of the dance. Common beasts are hobbyhorses, dragons, and unicorns. It can be difficult for Beasts to dance with the same nimbleness as the other dancers due to their cumbersome costume, but that doesn't stop many from trying. Hobbyhorses are the most common type of Beasts in modern practice.

There are six main styles of Morris dance still practiced in England today: Cotswold, Molly, Border, Northwest Clog, Longsword, and Rapper. While all are related, each style has a unique flavor and tradition.

Border 

Quite possibly the oldest Morris tradition, Border Morris originated in the counties near the Welsh border, and, while simpler than Cotswold style, it is much more lively. It must be noted that, while it is sometimes called "Welsh Border Morris," Border Morris is an English dance and has little to do with Welsh folk dance traditions. Many border style dances have "fight sequences" choreographed into them. Historically these might have been done with actual swords, but they have been done with sticks or wooden swords since at least the 1800s.

Border Morris traditionally made an appearance in the winter, where men would dance for extra money when they couldn't farm or fish. This was considered a form of begging and was thus illegal, so dancers darkened their faces to avoid arrest. Dancers wore a rag coat, a tailcoat, women's clothing, or any other bits and bobs lying around. The main purpose of Border costume is to look eccentric. Border sides generally have a bigger band than other styles and are accompanied by a vigorous percussion section.

Cotswold 

The most commonly performed style, Cotswold Morris originated in the South Midlands, particularly the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, and Warwickshire. Cotswold style survived the most intact after the Cromwell persecutions because of its location in the heart of royalist territory, and it was documented extensively by Cecil Sharp.

Cotswold dances are usually performed with six or eight dancers, and dancers generally wear white shirts with black or white pants. In addition to the dancers, there may also be a Fool, a Beast, or a cake impaled on a sword. Cotswold is notable for it's use of bells, or ruggles, attached beneath the knee of each dancer. Cotswold dancers may also wave handkerchiefs, bang sticks, or clap hands. Cotswold is traditionally performed around Whitsunday.

Longsword 

Also called "hilt and point," Longsword Morris comes from Yorkshire, and is, as expected, danced with swords.³ Longsword dances are performed with six to eight dancers, with each dancer holding on to their own sword, as well as the end of their neighbor's sword to make a circle. Swords are, thankfully, blunt and around a meter long. During a Longsword dance, dancers weave between the swords, and end the dance by creating a star. Longsword, as well as the closely related Rapper, is most commonly performed during Christmas and New Year's.

Molly 

Molly dance is unique in that it was less choreographed and organized than other types of Morris dance. Molly was traditionally performed as a part of the Plough Monday celebrations. Plough Monday, which takes place on the first Monday of January, was a day when ploughboys would drag a plough to the more affluent homes in the village and demand payment in money or food from the homeowners. If the ploughboys weren't satisfied with their payment, they would cut a long furrow through the homeowner's front lawn or doorstep.

Needless to say, Plough Monday was raucous at the best of times. Dancing accompanied the ceremonial shake-downs, and often random passersby would join in. Some male dancers would don women's clothing for the celebration, which gives the dance style its name ("Molly" being the contemporary pejorative for a man who wore women's clothing and male homosexuals). If not wearing petticoats, dancers wore whatever was closest to hand, and used black face paint to hide their identities--a necessity when committing property damage. Like most Morris dances, the origins of Molly are unclear, and there are no references to Molly dancing until the 1800s. Molly hasn't enjoyed the same revival as Border and Cotswold style, and traditional Plough Monday celebrations definitely aren't allowed anymore, but Molly dancing does accompany the "Straw Bear Festival" of Whittlesea, which occurs the weekend after Plough Monday.

Northwest Clog 

Not to be confused with its Appalachian counterpart, Northwest Clog originated in the industrial towns of Cheshire, Lancashire, and West Yorkshire and came of age during the industrial revolution. As people from rural communities moved to manufacturing centers, they brought their Morris traditions with them, and a new dance tradition that imitated the machinery they worked with was formed.

Northwest Clog dances are danced in multiples of four, and traditionally the dancers wore colorful clothing, along with the heavy clogs they used in their factory work. Modern dancers wear clogs with iron taps on the toe and heel. Dancers also sometimes use sticks or slings and are led by a conductor, who uses a whistle to signal changes in the dance figure. Northwest Clog is traditionally performed during the annual rushbearing, which happens in the summertime.⁴

Rapper

By far the most athletic of the Morris styles, Rapper dance hails from Durham and Northumberland. There are five dancers who are occasionally joined by the characters of Tom and Betty, who lead the dance. Dancers make use of "rappers," which are basically bendy swords with wooden handles on each end. This is the fastest of the Morris dances and, like Longsword, features dancers weaving between rappers and using their swords to create pictures. Rapper style also occasionally features backflips. Dancers wear hard-sole shoes and white shirts with black pants. Rapper dancers are traditionally performed during Christmas and New Year's.

It would be remiss of this historian to write about Morris dance but not talk about the live music that often accompanies the dancers. Morris bands utilize traditional instruments (concertina, fiddle, melodian, accordion, pipes, tabor) and are percussion driven. Bands can range in size from a single musician to tens of people, depending on the style of dance and the preference of the side. Musicians often dress to match the dancers and are an integral part of the performance.

Morris dancing, particularly Border Style and Molly Dance Morris, have met with controversy in recent years due to the fact that many Morris sides include black face paint as a part of their costume. The tradition of dancers blackening their faces has dozens of explanations dating from different eras, but some of the most common are:

Morris Men dressed in traditional Cotswold
style costume.

• Morris dancers in the Early Middle Ages blackened their faces because they were performing an ancient rite and needed to be disguised for this.
• Faces were blackened to imitate Moors during dances, which often told the tale of a Moorish vs. Christian battle.
• Dancers blackened their faces to hide their identities from the police because it was illegal to dance on public holidays.
• Morris dancing was often accompanied by a certain amount of criminal mischief, and dancers didn't want to be arrested.
• Morris dancers were shy. (No, seriously.)
• During the Industrial Revolution, many factory men had to supplement their income through dancing. They would wear face paint so their bosses didn't know about their side hustle.
• It's tradition, and face blackening helps the dancer get more into the dancing mood and feel less inhibited.
• It's a way of remembering the oppressive policies of the 1700s that disenfranchised the working class.

Morris dance is also occasionally accompanied by a brass
band or wind ensemble, but a traditional band is more
popular.

It seems likely that the reason for using face paint during Morris dances has changed throughout the ages, and there is no definitive reason for it. It must be mentioned, however, that wearing blackface in Morris dance predates the practice of wearing blackface in American minstrel shows. All the same, many Morris sides have abandoned the practice and either leave their faces bare or paint them a different color.

During its long history, Morris dance has transitioned from being an important pagan ritual, to being a way of making money, into a lighthearted celebration of English culture. Morris has evolved over the years, and undoubtedly will continue to do so, proving that culture and tradition are mutable.


¹One of the more colorful stories about Morris Dance from this era is that of the actor Will Kemp, who bet a friend that he could Morris dance from London to Norwich before the end of Lent. In a feat that would come to be known as his "Nine Day Wonder," Kemp danced the more than 100 miles between the two cities. While the entire journey took more than nine days, he did win his bet. While not the inspiration for, it is definitely reminiscent of Tony Hawks who, in the 1990s hitchhiked around the circumference of Ireland with a mini-fridge, also on a bet.
² The line was even thinner outside of England in Spain, where Morris dances often portrayed a battle between Christians and Muslims with the Christians emerging triumphant.

³Longsword Morris dance shouldn't be confused with Scottish Longsword dance, where the swords are placed on the ground.
⁴Unlike other Morris dances, Northwest Clog has always been a co-ed affair. Traditionally only men were allowed to Morris dance, but by the time Northwest Clog developed, this was no longer the case. While many Morris sides are mixed today, Northwest is the only style of Morris in which men and women dancing together has always been the norm.

This article was edited by Mara Kellogg.

Sources

"Morris and Morisca" by Violet Alford
"Some Other Hobby Horses" by Violet Alford
"Early Record of the Morris in England" by Lucile Armstrong and Barbara Lowe
"The Origins of the Morris Dance" by Rodney Gallop
"The Abram Morris Dance" by Maud Karpeles

"Some Notes on the Morris Dance" by Cecil J. Sharp

"The Earliest Reference to the Morris Dance?" by Michael Heaney

Morris Dancing-Britannica

History of Morris Dancing-Rattlejag Morris

The Morris Tradition-Morris Ring
Molly Dancing-Morris Ring
Molly Dancing-Heritage Alive
Molly Dancing-Oxford Reference
Northwest Clog-Maldon Morris
Rapper Sword Dance-the Morris Ring
Longsword Dancing
Longsword-Mersey Morris Men
Morris Dancing From the Welsh Borders-Morris Ring
History of Border Morris and OBJ-OBJ
Beltane Border Morris
Morris Dancing From the Cotswolds-Morris Ring
A Brief History of Morris Dancing-Kettle Bridge Clogs
Cotswold Morris Dancers-Cotswolds Info
Morris Dance Music-Morris Ring

Damn, Girl-Mara Branković

Before beginning, it is important to note that there is not a lot written about Mara in English. Most of the scholarship done about her is written in Serbian, and as The Nerd is not familiar with Serbian, translation apps were used to translate web pages and documents. The Nerd apologizes in advance for any mistakes or misrepresentations which may have occurred because of translation errors.

The only known portrait of Mara.

As far as obscure Slavic princesses go, Mara Branković, eldest daughter of the Serbian Despot¹, Đurađ Branković, is pretty obscure. She has been all but forgotten to the world, yet for several decades she was one of the most important diplomats in Europe, helping to keep a tenuous peace between the Muslim Ottomans, and the Christian everybody else.

Mara was the daughter of Đurađ Branković and his second wife, Irene. Maybe. She may have been the daughter of Đurađ's first, unnamed wife. The documentation is shaky, and it's difficult to know exactly when and to whom Mara was born. What is for sure is that she was the second of five children--two girls and three boys.

Serbia, at the time, was in a shaky spot. Sandwiched between the rapidly growing Ottoman Empire, and the land hungry Hungarian Empire, Serbia was put in the precarious position of having to serve two masters who didn't like each other. Đurađ had been able to gain the position of despot by only the skin of his teeth, after the previous despot died without an heir. he required the approval of the leaders of his powerful neighbors to retain his position. In order to appease the pair, he gave his daughters to them in marriage, Mara to Sultan Murad II, and her sister, Katrina, to the Count of Hungary.

Mara was 21 at the age of her marriage in 1433. The sultan was fifteen years older than her, and already had a wife and an heir. Murad supposedly wasn't initially too keen on marrying the daughter of his lowly client king, but when her father offered most of Serbia as a dowry, Murad seized on the opportunity.

The years of Mara's marriage were fairly quiet. Murad favored Mara, but reportedly never consummated the relationship. Mara got on well with Murad's other wife, and his son. She served as an intermediary between her father and her husband, trusted by both sides to be fair and honest.

Murad II

There was one major incident during the years of Mara's marriage. In 1438 Đurađ got uppity. Murad really wanted to attack the Hungarian Empire, and while Đurađ promised to remain neutral in the conflict, he refused to allow the Ottoman armies into his territory. Murad wasn't too pleased about this. He started conquering Serbia, taking almost the entire country, and sending Đurađ running to Venice.

Murad wasn't satisfied with taking Serbia. He wanted revenge, and so in 1439 he captured Mara's brother, the heir apparent, Gregory. Gregory joined his brother Stefan, who had been held as a hostage since Mara's marriage six years earlier. Murad made Gregory the governor of several Serbian territories, but in 1440 became suspicious that Gregory was corresponding with his father. Gregory and Stefan were thrown into prison, in May of 1441 the pair were blinded, then released.²

Mara was, reportedly, furious. The Sultan had ordered that she not be told about the deed until after it was done. When she found out she reportedly threw her husband under her feet, screaming at him, making it more than clear that he had gone too far this time. Regretting his actions, Murad ordered that the person who blinded the brothers also be blinded as recompense. Because that would certainly rectify the situation.

This incident gives an interesting insight into Mara's relationship with her husband. It's clear that Murad not only respected Mara, but also considered her to be an equal to him, or at least an almost equal. He was evidently in fear of her wrath, where so many other men of the time had no regard for their wives' feelings on anything. This raises the question of if he considered Mara's political influence too great for him to risk offending her, or if he genuinely cared for her, and valued her good opinion.³

Mehmed II, later known as 'Mehmed the
Conqueror'

In 1444 the conflict between Serbia, Hungary, and the Ottomans was put to rest, with Mara playing a not insignificant part in the proceedings. After a few months of peace Murad abdicated, leaving his thirteen year old son, Mehmed II, in charge of the country. Murad, Mara, and a few other companions retreated to the countryside, with Murad coming out of retirement every so often to conquer important bits of land for his son. He died of an apoplexy in 1451.

This left the twenty year old Mehmed the sole Sultan in the empire. He and Mara were very close, she had become a sort of surrogate mother to him after his own mother died in 1449. When Mara asked to return to Serbia after her husband's death, Mehmed was more than happy to let her go, taking the extraordinary step of releasing her from the harem.

It must be noted that Mara and Mehmed's relationship would have been vastly different had she had children. Ottoman princes were notoriously fratricidal, with Mehmed himself making it legal to kill a brother who was in line for the throne. Any child of Mara's would have been a threat to Mehmed, and he could not have risked letting Mara or her child out of the country. Fortunately, Mara was childless, and posed very little threat.

Mara returned to her family in Serbia, all of whom were remarkably still alive, if not still in possession of all important organs. With Mara returned the vast swathes of Serbia that had served as her dowry, and Đurađ found himself the happy owner of more land than he had before.

From here, Đurađ did what medieval kings did best, arranged strategic marriages for his daughters to cement alliances between kingdoms. While Mara was getting on a bit, being somewhere between 32 and 39 years of age, she was still a valuable marriage candidate, especially given her Ottoman connections. Đurađ eagerly betrothed her to the last Byzantine Emperor, Emperor Constantine XI⁴

The Ottoman Empire

Unfortunately for Đurađ, Mara had had it with marriage. After Murad's death she had vowed never to marry again. Remarkably, her father (and later brothers) respected this vow, and she refused not only the Byzantine Emperor, but important Czech nobleman and ally against the Hungarians, Jana Jiskru.

When Đurađ died in 1456 a power struggle between his sons ensued. Gregory, the eldest brother, backed by Mara, Irene, and their powerful uncle Thomas, was challenged by Lazar, the youngest brother, backed by his wife and Stefan. Infighting grew so terrible that Irene died, and Mara returned to the Ottoman Empire.

Mara was welcomed back with open arms. She was given several towns and properties, and retired to Ježevo,⁵ near Mount Athos in modern Greece. It is notable that she retired to this area, as women were, and still are, forbidden to approach Mount Athos. Mara was the second woman ever to enter the area, and had to receive special permission from the monks in the area. However, given that she owned many of the monasteries, getting permission must have been easy enough.

It was, however, less easy for Mara to get her sister, Katrina to Ježevo. When Katrina's husband died in 1456, Katrina divided up his property, and peaced out of Hungary. She appears to have moved with her sister to Macedonia, though if they were in modern Greece Macedonia, or North Macedonia is uncertain.

Monastery of Simonos Petra, located on Mount Athos.

From their home, the sisters played mediator between the powerful Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire during the Venetian-Turkish war of 1463-79. The Venetians sent their emissaries to the sisters, and the sisters would pass on their messages, or accompany the emissaries to Constantinople themselves. They took the further step of using Mount Athos, essentially a neutral ground, for negotiations between the two countries.

Mara's other notable political interventions involved the election of the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church. In Mehmed's time becoming Patriarch involved paying an obscene amount of money to be appointed by the Sultan. In 1465, Mara convinced Mehemed to appoint her personal priest, Dionysius, as patriarch. Unfortunately, Dionysius didn't last long in the role, but Mara was able to see him peacefully retired to Mount Athos. She tried again with Rafael, a Serbian monk, but he was unable to raise the required funds, and was reduced to begging in the streets of Constantinople.

Mara died peacefully in 1487, and was buried in the Kosinitza monastery. She left behind her a large amount of wealth and religious relics, which was vigorously fought over by her family. She also left behind a legacy of diplomacy and peacemaking. Her advocation for the rights of Christians in the Ottoman Empire lead to some small amount of peace between the groups, and her interventions with the Venetian Republic led to a few decades of tenuous peace.



¹The term 'Despot' is not commentary on Đurađ's ruling skills, but is, instead, the official title of the ruler of Serbia at the time.
²Other stories claim that the Sultan had the brothers blinded over jealousy. The brothers were excellent hunters, and Murat apparently couldn't stand that.
³Or, perhaps, he simply didn't like to be yelled at. That should also be taken into consideration.
⁴For those protesting that the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire are the same thing, it should be known that Istanbul was not always Constantinople. The Ottoman conquest of Byzantium was not complete until 1453.
⁵It has been difficult for this historian to ascertain exactly where and what Ježevo was. There is a city called Ježevo in modern Croatia, but as far as this historian can tell, it is not the city Mara settled in. Given Mara's involvement in Ottoman affairs, it seems unlikely that she would have settled as far away as Croatia. Additionally, Mara was heavily involved with affairs on Mount Athos, a holy mountain near Thessaloniki, Greece. It seems likely that Ježevo was the name of a small village, or even the name of Mara's estate near there.

This article is gratefully dedicated to M. Kellogg, who inspired and encouraged its development. 

Article updated in 2019 to reflect the name change of North Macedonia. Formerly known as the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", this country became North Macedonia in February of 2019.

Sources
Serbian Ladies and Athonite Monks by V. Demetriades and E. A. Zachariadou
Shedding New Light on the Ties of Mara Branković to the Holy Mountain of Athos and the Translation of Relics by Mihailo St. Popović
The Byzantine Lady: Ten Portraits, 1250-1500 by Donald M. Nicol
Serbia
Mara Brankovic

The Sad Case of Joanna the Not-So-Mad

The last ruler of the house of Trastamara, Joanna, known natively as Juana, of Castile was the daughter of two brilliant, but ruthless monarchs--Queen Isabella of Castile, and King Ferdinand of Aragon. She married Philip, Duke of Burgundy, and scion of the house of Habsburg. She was a brilliant woman, speaking five languages, excelling in math, science, and philosophy. Yet when she inherited the throne of Castile in 1516 she found herself shoved aside, and imprisoned as a madwoman by her father and her husband, both of whom were deadlocked in a struggle for her crown.

Joanna was the third child of
Ferdinand and Isabella.

The modern Iberian Peninsula has only three countries--Spain, Portugal, and Andorra, but when Joanna's parents took the throne the peninsula was fractured and split between the kingdoms of Castile, Aragon, Portugal, Navarre, Andorra, and the Muslim controlled Andalus. When Ferdinand and Isabella married in 1469 they united Castile and Aragon, creating a country that contained almost all of the territory of modern Spain. Though they were supposedly equal monarchs, on paper and in practice Isabella ran the whole  show. So when she died in 1504, and left Castile to her daughter Joanna, Ferdinand's dreams of an united Espana were endangered.

To understand Joanna as an adult, you have to understand Joanna as a child. Joanna was, very much, a Renaissance princess. Like her sister, Catherine of Aragon, and later her daughter, Mary of Hungary, Joanna was given a full Humanist education. She was taught math, science, philosophy, writing, religious and secular law, as well as five languages--French, Latin, Castilian, Catalan, and Galaico-Portuguese. She was very bright, arguably the brightest of Ferdinand and Isabella's children, a fact that no doubt led her to questioning the Catholic faith.

Now, given that Isabella and Ferdinand had commited mass genocide on several continents in the name of Catholicism, to have a daughter who questioned their austere faith was completely unacceptable. Letters from Ferdinand's attendants report that Joanna was subjected to torture in order to correct her unorthodoxy.

Europe, 1500

Like all royal women of the age, Joanna was expected to make a brilliant marriage, and strengthen Spanish ties with a suitable foreign power. For Joanna, that power was the Habsburg family, the family that, at the time, ruled modern Germany, Austria, and much of the Benelux area. Maximilian I was head of the family at the time, and he had a single son, Philip, Duke of Burgundy.

Philip was later referred to as 'Philip the Handsome', and that sums up his character excellently. Philip was handsome; he liked women, wine, and sport. He didn't care much for affairs of state, and he especially didn't care much for fidelity in marriage, a fact which would torment Joanna all her life.

However, when the pair first met in 1496 the dark clouds of infidelity and alleged mental illness were nowhere in sight. Upon clapping eyes on each other, the pair were overcome with lust. They immediately summoned a priest, and had their marriage blessed, not even waiting for the official wedding the day after to consummate their union. Unsurprisingly, the pair had six children.

Philip the 'Handsome'

For the first years of their marriage Joanna and Philip lived in Burgundy. Joanna enjoyed the freedom and relaxed atmosphere of the Lowlands, but unfortunately gained herself no real political allies. Though she had been tasked to advance Spain's interests by her mother, Joanna had no real interest in playing politics at this point in her life, she was more worried about wrangling her philandering husband, who had the habit of attempting to seduce everything that walked.


At the time, fidelity wasn't necessarily expected from royal men. Political marriages like Joanna and Philip's were based on the unspoken agreement that so long as there were a few heirs in the royal nursery, the man was allowed to do whatever (or whoever) he wished. The woman, on the other hand, was expected to remain faithful to her husband, and occupy her time with her children and charity projects. Joanna's mother, Isabella, understood this. Ferdinand had at least four children outside of marriage, and Isabella hadn't made a scene. Joanna, on the other hand, was in love with her husband, and wasn't going to stand for his philandering. The couple descended into a toxic cycle of her catching him being unfaithful, her yelling at him, then him avoiding her and having her confined to her rooms. Joanna's passionate outbursts and tempestuous reactions to her husband's behavior were recorded, and later used against her as evidence of her 'insanity', especially after she physically attacked one of Philip's many mistresses.

Joanna, 1500

Back in Spain Trastamara's were dropping like flies. Joanna had never been expected to inherit her mother's throne, but with the death of her brother, Juan, in 1497, and her older sister, Isabella in 1498 Joanna was set to inherit a large chunk of the Iberian Peninsula--probably.

Problem was, women could not legally inherit in Aragon, the country of Joanna's father. While Joanna did have a son, Charles (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles V), he was still a child, and should Ferdinand die before Charles reached majority the issue of who would rule Aragon became unclear.

Enter Philip. Young and already ruling a duchy of his own, Philip was eager to add to his father's empire by taking Spain off the hands of the Trastamara's. This, however, didn't sit well with Isabella or Ferdinand, neither of whom wanted their country to go to a foreigner. Worried that Castile would end up in Philip's hands, Isabella added a codicil to her will that allowed Ferdinand to rule in Joanna's stead should Joanna die or leave Spain, cutting Philip out of the deal altogether.

When Isabella died in 1506 Ferdinand immediately had his daughter declared queen in Madrid, and around Castile. When word reached Joanna and Philip in Brussels, the pair had themselves declared sovereigns of Castile, and started the long journey to Madrid.

Though he was outwardly supportive of his daughter, Ferdinand started undermining her almost immediately. He seized state revenues, and circulated rumors that she was insane, producing the reports sent from Burgundy to back up his claims.

Map of the Iberian Peninsula in Joanna's lifetime.
Missing is Andorra.

The Cortes--the Spanish Courts--declared Ferdinand custodian of Castile, and Ferdinand and his bishops started working on persuading Joanna to declare her father her regent. Philip, meanwhile, had landed in northern Spain, and was making his way to Madrid with Joanna. He had himself declared king in every town he went through, and seized revenues and assigned government positions to favored supporters. He was determined to become king, and he had come prepared. Protecting Philip was 2,000 German mercenaries, practically an army.


Joanna, on the other hand, was in a state of distress. Philip had told her of her father's attempts to rob her of her throne. However, she hadn't heard from her father directly, and she had witnessed her husband's attempts to steal her throne first hand. Joanna was much more inclined to trust her father than her husband, and refused to take any serious action until she's spoken with Ferdinand herself. She dressed in black in protest, and refused to appear at any oath swearing ceremony, or proclaim her husband King.

There was no doubt to Joanna that she was queen. She had been left the throne by her mother, and she intended to rule. The only problem was that nobody seemed to want her to rule. While she had some support among the populace, her strange attire and absence from the public eye isolated her from any real political supporters. She was caught between two very politically ambitious men, one of whom was wily and experienced, the other of whom had a large army and a political heavyweight for a father. Both parties owned a penis which, as so often is the case, made them both a more popular candidate than Joanna herself.

In order to keep Joanna away from her father, Philip had her confined to her rooms, and kept under guard. Both Philip and Joanna issued edicts under Joanna's name, and the pair were inches away from declaring war. Eventually, the King of France, stepped in to mediate. Ferdinand conceded to Philip, giving up all claims to Castile, and both men had Joanna declaed mad, and unfit to rule.

Joanna attending Philip's casket, painted by Charles
de Steuben

Philip took the reigns of power in Castile, and Ferdinand retreated to his holdings in Naples. Philip didn't have long to enjoy his power though, because in the fall of 1506 he died abruptly from a fever, leaving his wife six months pregnant.

With her father in Naples and her husband dead, Joanna was closer to holding her throne than she had ever been. She was pregnant, which put her in a precarious position, but Joanna was unwilling to let the Spanish nobility take the throne from her. She stayed in seclusion for three months after her husband's death, and upon emerging took his body on a cross country processional to prepare for burial.

This journey through Spain is one of the stranger episodes of Joanna's life. Historians, as well as Joanna's contemporaries, are baffled by her motives for dragging a corpse across Spain while more than six months pregnant. While one would have to ask Joanna herself to be sure, there are several theories.

The most popular and prevalent theory is that Joanna was capital C crazy, and that she had finally come unhinged. Stories of her flinging her body upon her husband's lifeless corpse and weeping hysterically spread around the countryside. This report, while likely propaganda put out by Ferdinand, and later Joanna's son Charles, is substantiated by the fact that Joanna did have Philip's casket opened several times on the journey.

Another theory is that Joanna was traveling as an act of calculated defiance. After being apart from her people for so long Joanna was showing herself and the dead 'king' to remind the populace of her son and heir, Charles. Joanna had Philip's casket opened to prove that she did, indeed, possess his remains. This would have been seen as a message to Ferdinand that while he may wish to rule Castile, Joanna wasn't going to go quietly.

Charles V, Joanna's son and heir

Both theories have merit, and fall on opposing sides of the debate that always arises whenever Joanna is mentioned--was Joanna insane, or merely the unlucky pawn of two rulers. However, this historian would like to pose a third theory (and a third answer to that question), that being that taking Philip's body on a tour of Spain was a stalling tactic on Joanna's part. Much like Penelope weaving her husband's burial shroud, then undoing her work in the dead of night, Joanna was putting off contracting a second marriage. The 'Queen' of Castile was quite the catch, and there were several rulers out for her hand (including Henry VII, her sister Catherine's father-in-law). By prolonging her mourning, and taking her time to bury Philip's body, Joanna bought time for herself to find a solution that suited her.

It was her pregnancy that eventually brought Joanna back into her father's clutches. Joanna gave birth to her youngest daughter Catalina in January of 1507, and afterwards Ferdinand sent his men to have her confined to a nunnery in Tordesillas. It was there that she stayed for the rest of her life.

The rest of Joanna's life was spent in captivity at Tordesillas, the only changes being her jailers and the man who usurped her throne. While in Tordesillas, Joanna was physically and emotionally abused, and denied visitors. Her only companion was her daughter, Catalina, who was stolen away and married off in 1525. Much of the money that was to be spent on Joanna's food and clothing was stolen by unscrupulous jailers, and she was purposely kept out of the loop on important events in order to make her seem insane. When Ferdinand died in 1516 Joanna was not told. She died believing that her father was still alive.

When Ferdinand died in 1516 Joanna's son, Charles, inherited Aragon. Since his mother was still alive Charles could not legally take control of Castile, so, like his grandfather, Charles kept his mother imprisoned, and had rumors of her continued insanity spread around Europe. Charles ruled as her regent for nearly 40 years.

Joanna was buried next to her husband in Tordesillas.

Joanne died on Good Friday of 1555 at the age of 75. She was quietly buried, and almost immediately forgotten. Charles, now Holy Roman Emperor, would rule for another three years before abdicating in favor of his brother, Ferdinand. Joanna never saw her children again.

Joanna has gone down in history as 'Joanna the Mad'. She's little more than an historical footnote, only referred to when talking about the many genetic issues of the Habsburg family. She is frequently blamed as being the origin of the many mentally ill Habsburgs, perhaps not without reason. Joanna's grandmother, Isabella of Portugal, Queen of Castile suffered from severe depression, as did many of Joanna's descendents. However, upon close inspection, contemporary claims of her insanity dissipate into dust, revealing a passionate, but naive woman who had the misfortune to be surrounded by people who loved power more than her.

Probably. While claims of Joanna being a stark raving mad woman who groped corpses and violently accosted innocent maidens, it is highly unlikely that she was completely sane. It would, in fact, be insane, if a person who had been tortured as a child, physically and emotionally abused, gaslit, and neglected most of her life died happy and well adjusted. It seems likely that Joanna did suffer from sort of mental illness; there are reports of her falling into melancholy and refusing to eat or move. The real question is which came first: the abuse or the mental illness?

Sources
The Tragic Story of Joanna the Mad by Fernando Espi Forcen, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, The University of Chicago
Juana 'The Mad' Queen of a World Empire by Lisa Andrean
Was Joanna of Castile Truly 'Mad' or a Pawn For the Men in Her Family?
Joan, Queen of Castile
Juana the Mad of Castile
House of Habsburg

Damn, Girl-Christine de Pizan

Just as Sappho is the Mama Lesbian, Christine de Pizan is the Mama Feminist. Christine was the first European woman to make a living from her writing, and her book The Book of the City of Ladies was one of the first books on feminism ever written.

Christine at her desk.

Born in 1364, Christine started her life in Venice, but her family moved to France when she was three years old. Her father, Thomas de Pizan, had received an appointment as astrologer to Charles V. Living with the royal court gave Christine access to a vast library or literary and rhetorical works. Though not much is known about her education, or if she was even formally educated at all, the quality of her literature show that Christine was obviously well read.

At the age of 15 Christine married royal secretary Etienne de Castel. It is unknown if they were  happy or not, but they did have three children¹ together before Etienne died of the bubonic plague after ten years of marriage. Etienne's death left Christine with no source of income, a substantial amount of debt, and two children and a recently widowed mother to support.

Illuminated page from The Book of
the City of Ladies

Luckily, Christine was a talented writer, and the French court had a fever that could only be cured with more poetry. Christine put out ballads about love, loss, and widowhood which brought her to the attention to royal patrons like Isabelle of Bavaria, the Duke of Orleans, and the 4th Earl of Salisbury.

For the first few years of her career, Christine mostly wrote poetry and moralistic works. Until in 1402 when Christine decided to pick a fight with a dead man. ²

Jean de Meun wrote a second half to The Romance of the Rose in 1280ish. In his poetry, de Meun was biting and cruel about ever member of society, but Christine took particular offense at the way he treated women in his works. He portrayed women as little more than one dimensional seductress ruled by their own lusts.  In her response Christine argued that women are much more complex than de Meun portrayed them. She starts by criticizing de Meun, but ends by criticizing the entire European canon at the time, censuring the many works about the nature of women, none of which were written by women.

Christine writing

This sparked a long term literary debate which would bring her to the attention of monarchs around Europe. It also sparked a long term passion for writing about women and women's history. In her seminal work The Book of the City of Ladies, Pizan imagines a world built by women, for women, free from misogyny. Within that framework she tells the stories of the great women who came before her, without the misogynistic bias that colored the accounts of so many male writers.

In around 1415 Christine retired a convent with her daughter. The increasing political unrest, and the disaster at the Battle of Agincourt, had her rattled, and she was ready to retire from public life. In 1429 she released The Tale of Joan of Arc, a ballad that basically fangirled over Joan of Arc and her victories. The Tale of Joan of Arc was Christine's last work, and she doesn't appear in public record anywhere else. It's generally assumed that she died shortly after.

Christine had a massive impact on the writers and political leaders of her day. Her works attacking the traditional patriarchal society influenced other female writers, and also influenced future female monarchs, such as Louise of Savoy, Anne of Brittany, and Leonor of Portugal.


¹A daughter named Marie, a son named Jean, and a second unnamed son who died in infancy.
²A move I cannot help but applaud. It's the sort of thing I have done would do.

Sources
Christine de Pisan-Brooklyn Museum
Christine de Pizan: Her Works
Christine de Pisan-Britannica
Christine de Pisan-New World Encyclopedia
Christine de Pisan-Biography

Damn, Girl-Louise of Savoy

Louise of Savoy was the mother of a King, and one of the most powerful women in Europe at her time. She ruled France in her son's absence, and, along with Margaret of Austria, negotiated the Peace of Cambrai or 'Women's Peace', which would end the war between France and Spain for nearly a decade. She was an amazing diplomat, and held her country and family together during times of great political stress.

Louise

Louise was born in 1476 to the poor, more or less landless, Duke of Savoy. He wasn't a very good father, and Louise's mother died when she was seven, so she was packed off to the French court to be raised by her aunt, Anne of Beaujeu.

At the time, Anne basically ran France. She, along with her husband Pierre, had been appointed as regents until Charles VIII reached majority. Though Pierre was technically a regent as well, it was Anne who ran the country. She wasn't an overly affectionate woman, but from her Louise learned the art of diplomacy and statecraft.

While under Anne's care she also met Margaret of Austria; a favorite to marry King Charles when he came of age. Though Margaret and Charles never married, Louise and Margaret stayed in close contact throughout their lives.

In 1488, at age twelve, Louise married Charles of Orleans. Charles was much older than Louise, and had two mistresses--Antoinette of Polignac and Jeanne Comte--who lived with him. Despite all this, Louise and Charles had a relatively happy marriage. Louise befriended both Jeanne and Antoinette, and later entrusted Jeanne with guardianship of her children, and took Antoinette into her service as her companion.

Charles died in 1496. Leaving 19 year old Louise a widow with two small children, one of whom, Francis, was second in line for the throne

Francis I

Despite challenges from her male relatives, Louise managed to keep custody and guardianship of her children. When Charles XIII died in 1498, Francis became heir to the throne. His uncle, Louis XII, had been unable to produce any living sons, and had only two daughters, Renee and Claude. Much to Louise's chagrin, Francis and Claude were married in 1514

After Louis' death later that year Francis ascended to the throne, and relied heavily on Louise for help with ruling. It was she who made many of the state appointments, and it was to her that Francis left the responsibilities of ruling to when he decided to go to war against the Italian States.

Francis was only 21 when he came to the throne, and he was eager to prove himself just as much of a military man as his Spanish and English counterparts. Louise was unable to talk him out of it, so she dutifully helped raise the funds for his wars, and served as regent while he was away.

Louise's first regency lasted for less than a year, and was fairly unremarkable. Her second regency in 1525, however, was considerably more stressful. While fighting in Pavia, Italy Francis was captured by the Spanish-Italian forces, and taken off to Madrid.

Louise must have been devastated, not to mention worried sick, but she didn't let it affect her judgement. She was responsible for France, and she would see that France was taken care of. She took up residence in Lyon, and summoned the members from the parliaments of Paris, Rouen, and Bordeaux to advise her. She tasked the Paris Parliament with defending Northern France, and set the rest to raising the necessary funds. All the while, she was in contact with the Spanish king in Madrid.

With the help of her old friend Margaret of Austria, Louise was able to arrange for the release of her son, and a temporary peace with the Spaniards and Italians. The terms were steep. Two of Francis' sons would be sent to Madrid as hostages, and France would have to cede Burgundy. Despite the unappealing terms, Louise agreed, and traded two of her grandsons for her son.

Margaret of Austria 

As for the rest of the treaty, well, in Louise's own words, promises made under duress were meaningless. Burgundy stayed with France, and Francis went back to waging merry war against the Spanish and Italians. Unamused, the Spanish king took out his frustrations on Francis' sons. That was around when Louise decided that this war needed to end.

In 1528, Louise and Margaret of Austria, the Spanish regent in the Netherlands, started covertly talking about making peace. There were a lot of issues on both ends, but thankfully Louise and Margaret were both much wiser than their counterparts. In July of 1529 they met in Cambrai to officially make peace. Under the terms of their treaty, France would keep Burgundy, and Francis could ransom his sons in exchange for an unholy amount of money. Francis would marry Eleanor of Portugal, the Spanish King's sister, and the war would stop. This peace held for seven years.

However, Louise's health didn't. Louise suffered from gout, colic, stomach pains, and a number of other illnesses. Her infirmity was only further aggravated by the fact that she refused to slow down. in 1531, just two years after she negotiated the Ladies Peace with her friend Margaret of Austria, Louise died.

Sources
Louise of Savoy: The 'King's Mother' and Regent of France
Louise of Savoy
Louise of Savoy (1476-1531)

Skanderbeg, The Dragon of Albania

Born Gjergj Kastrioti, Skanderbeg is one of, if not the most famous Albanian national hero. Taken from his home a young age and raised in the center of the Ottoman empire, Skanderbeg returned to his homeland to free them from the Turks, and was moderately successful for more than 25 years.

Gjergi's father was Gjon Kastrioti, the rebellious Albanian prince of Emathia. The sultan was determined to keep Gjon in line, so, as was common in the day, he had Gjon's children kidnapped, and taken to the Ottoman court at Adrianopel, modern Edirne, Turkey. He was converted to Islam, and given an excellent education. He was intelligent, and a cunning commander. This prompted the Turkish army to call him 'Iskander Bey' or 'Alexander of the Albanians', in honor of Alexander the Great. Over time, these names have morphed to become Skanderbeg.

In 1443, Skanderbeg was done fighting for the Ottomans. He had been made governor of Albania, and he was ready to throw off Ottoman oppression. Instead of attacking the Hungarian forces like he was supposed to, Skanderbeg defected along with 300 of the Albanians under his command. Under the cover of having a command from the Sultan, Skanderbeg and his 300 Albanians gained access to the Turkish castle at Kruje. They slaughtered the inhabitants, and the next day Skanderbeg's family sigil flew over the battlements--the double headed eagle.

Skanderbeg's sigil of the double-headed
eagle would become the basis for the Albania
flag.

Sultan Murad II was, understandably, not too thrilled about this turn of events. He sent his troops to attack Skanderbg and the Albanians at Kruje, but despite the Ottoman forces being significantly larger than the Albanian forces, Skanderbeg was able to see the Ottomans off.

This happened several times, and Skanderbeg was able to keep the Ottomans at bay until 1461, when he and the Sultan finally made peace, and Albanian was absorbed back into the Ottoman empire. Skanderbeg was able to keep the Ottomans at bay for so long because he had some pretty hefty allies, mainly the Kingdom of Naples, as well as the Vatican.

When Skanderbeg defected from the Ottomans, he also defected from Islam, and converted back to Christianity. This made him a natural ally for the people on the Italian peninsula, who feared an Ottoman invasion. The Papal States and Naples sent him troops and supplies, and Skanderbeg held off the Ottomans, and furthered Pope Eugenius IVs crusade against Islam.


Skanderbeg was a genius general, and very popular with the people. He had been elected as chief of all the Albanian armies, and he was the key to Albanian resistance against the Turks. So when Skanderbeg died of malaria in 1468, Albania was in a precarious place. The resistance managed to hold out for another 10 years before the Turks reconquered the country.

Today Skanderbeg is a national hero. There are statues of him in every major Albanian city, and he is remembered for having fiercely protected Albanian sovereignty. It was his fierceness that earned him the nickname, 'Dragon of Albania'.

Sources
Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg (1405-1468)
Skanderbeg
Gjergi Kastrioti Skanderbeg-Facts