Name: Sister Queens
ISBN: 9780345516046

Julia Fox

Presents a dual portrait of Henry VIII's first queen and her sister, the wife of Philip of Burgundy, evaluating their roles as dynastic pawns while considering how their legendary lives reflect the turbulent age in which they lived.

The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile

Sister Queens

Jeni Enjaian

Wow. This book read nothing like a work of serious history. It also did not match up with the title. The title states that the reader will learn about the lives of Katherine and Juana. I would say that the breakdown of subject matter in this book falls into the following percentages: 15% about Isabella (and Ferdinand), 25% about Juana, 10% about Mary (Katherine's daughter), and 50% about Katherine, the sister that everyone already knows so much about. Granted, more historical documents, both primary and secondary, exist about Katherine so Fox had more to draw on. I would expect a little bit more in a narrative such as this about Katherine than Juana. However, the weight falls unequally on Katherine. Fox's sources also rely incredibly heavily on secondary sources, a sign to me of less than thorough historiography. Also, in everything I have read, I have never read anything about Juana's madness being a construct of her father and later her son to take control of Castille for themselves. For someone who lacks significant reliance on primary sources, I doubt this claim. It does intrigue me. However, I would need to read a historian with more rigorous historiographical methods.

Sister Queens The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile

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