Juana Enríquez

The marriage between Juana Enriquez and John of Aragon was arranged because John wished to ally himself with the powerful noble faction she belonged to, a faction which had major power in Castile at the time. They were engaged in 1443, but the marriage was delayed. The wedding finally took place in 1447.

Juana married John after the death of his first wife, Queen Blanche I of Navarre. Although John ceased to be de jure uxoris monarch of Navarre on his wife's death, he never ceded power to his son, Charles, Prince of Viana, and daughter, de jure Blanche II of Navarre, a decision which Juana supported. Such breaking of the law of succession led to a confrontation with the Crown of Aragon and a conflict between farmers and nobles, the outbreak of Navarrese Civil War. When John served in the war, he appointed Juana Enríquez to act as his Regent.[2] She left Navarre to give birth in 1452. Her husband was forced to leave Navarre in 1455, and her stepson Charles of Viana was installed as regent in Navarre with Castilian support.

In 1458, her husband became king of Aragon. In 1460, her father in Castile provided her with documentation that Charles of Viana was planning to murder his father. Juana showed the document to her husband, who used it in order to have his son arrested and imprisoned accused of treason. The Catalonians protested against the arrest of Charles of Viana. The king appointed his wife to negotiate with the Catalonians. In June 1461 she made a treaty with Catalonia in which Charles of Viana was appointed his fathers governor in Catalonia.[3] Shortly thereafter however, Charles of Viana died. John II proclaimed his son with Juana, Ferdinand, as heir of Aragon. He gave Juana the task to have their son accepted as heir and governor of Catalonia.

On 6 February 1462, Juana Enríquez had her son hailed as the heir of Catalonia and his fathers governor of Catalonia. Since her son was a minor, she swore his oath to the Catalonians in his place, and acted as Governor of Catalonia in his place.[4] Accused of having ordered the poisoning of Charles of Viana, Juana fled to Girona, seeking the protection of the bishop. They were besieged in Girona until July 1462. Juana Enríquez was appointed regent of Aragon in March 1465, when her husband was absent in Catalonia, trying to suppress the rebellion.[5]