Joanna of Castile

About Joanna of Castile

Joanna of Castile (1479–1555), often called Joanna the Mad, was a formidable 16th-century politician whose historical importance stems from her inheritance of the crowns of Castile and León, followed by her claim to the crown of Aragon upon her father's death. Although she was formally recognized as Queen of Castile and later Queen of Aragon, her immense political power was largely usurped by her father, Ferdinand II of Aragon, and later by her son, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, due to her purported mental instability. Despite this, her lineage and the immense territorial holdings she controlled made her a central, if tragic, figure in the early years of the unification of Spain and the dawn of the Age of Exploration.

Her Historical Popularity Index (HPI) rank of #743 indicates a significant, recognized historical footprint. However, her 2025 annualized Wikipedia views stand at 540K, placing her attention in a surprisingly low tier compared to contemporary political figures. For contrast, Emperor Meiji, ranked slightly lower at #822, draws 830K views, while Babur, ranked #976, commands 1.1M views. Joanna's attention gap is close to 1x, suggesting that the modern internet largely reflects her historical weight, yet she is far less visible online than less historically important rulers from similar political spheres, like Nixon at #748 but with 4.2M views.

Despite this modest digital presence, her interest is growing, evidenced by a +15.1% year-over-year increase in views. However, recent momentum suggests a slight cooling of immediate interest, with a -7% drop between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, indicating that her story has not yet fully capitalized on its historical significance in the current digital climate.