Felipe I, also called Felipe el Hermoso, was the first king of Castile from the Habsburg house. Married to Juana la Loca, his death was a mystery or a host of theories both at the time and years later. Let us now find out how Felipe el Hermoso died.
The death of Philip the Fair
Felipe el Hermoso was known for his blonde hair and attractive blue-gray eyes.. he was the only one son survivor of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy (daughter of Charles the Bold of Burgundy and granddaughter of Philip the Good). Upon the death of her mother in 1482 took over the netherlands heritagewith his father acting as regent until 1494. In 1496 he married Juana de Castilla (the younger sister of Catalina de Aragón, known as Juana la Loca for her erratic and violent character) and briefly enjoyed the title of King Philip I of Castile.
It was actually his father who married him to Juana de Castilla, the second daughter of Ferdinand II, ruler of Aragon, and Isabella I, ruler of Castile. DAfter Elizabeth’s death, Joan became queen regent. However, his mental incapacity added to the Ferdinand II’s efforts to lay hands on the regency of Castile led the nobles to summon Philip I to Spain and proclaim it jure uxoris (“by the right of his wife”) King of Castile in 1506. Nevertheless, he died after a couple of months, raising doubts about Fernando’s foul play.
It was on September 25, 1506, when the 28-year-old Philip I died suddenly of typhoid fever in Burgos. Since death was sudden many believed that Ferdinand II poisoned him. At the time, Juana was pregnant with her sixth child, Catalina.
Theories of the death of Felipe el Hermoso
The death of Felipe el Hermoso, king of a Castile manipulated by the nobles in the hope that the young king would return the “favor” for having supported him for the throne, gave much to talk about at the time. But it wasn’t, so There are many theories about the death of the young king at the hands of those around him.
Nothing could ever be proven and neither time nor history has revealed the true death of Felipe El Hermoso beyond that fever that he suffered for 8 days and that ended his life at such a young age.
The question that many asked themselves due to the suddenness of that death was, Was he poisoned to death? And in fact, throughout Castile the suspicion spread that the premature death of Felipe el Hermoso had been the consequence of poisoning.
And who poisoned him? As we have already mentioned, many have believed for years that it was his father-in-law, another that it was his entourage for supporting Fernando el Católico, but also there is a theory that it was Cardinal de Cisneros, Right hand of the King, and no other who was in charge of concocting a plan to end Felipe el Hermoso, especially when after his death and due to Juana’s mental state, Cardinal Cisneros was appointed regent during the first months of 1507 until the return of Fernando II.