About Me
A LUCKY ACCIDENT
I was born on June 26 1540 at the house of my maternal grand parents, the counts of Cifuentes, in Guadalajara, Spain.My full name was Ana de Mendoza y la Cerda.I was the daughter of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, prince of Melito and of Catherine de Silva.My family was one of the "Grandes" or Great Ones, meaning one of the most noble and Aristocratic families in Spain. Indeed, in my veins ran the Royal Bloods of Spain, Portugal, Austria and France.I was already considered to be a beauty since childhood, having beautiful creamy skin, and naturally rosy cheeks.My fine hair was jet black and my eyes were of a grey/green coloration.Here is my birth certificate:
My education consisted in learning Latin and religious studies.Also dancing and horseback riding were important. Yet, I always enjoyed engaging in activities devoted to men, such as swordsmanship. One day, while fighting with one of my father's guards, the man accidentally hurt my right eye with the tip of his sword. The wound was incredibly painful and I ended up losing my eye. My strength of character became evident when I forgave the poor guard, and when I turned my disability into an asset.Instead of hiding my face behind a veil (like many people adviced me), I decided to flaunt my deformity by wearing an eye patch that normally matched the fabric of my dresses. So I became an "ugly beauty". I was different from the Renaissance standards of beauty but that didn't keep me from becoming one of the most beautiful women of my time.
Meanwhile, my uncle Emperor Charles V was in charge of choosing a husband for me. He married me to Ruy Gomez in 1553. I was merely 13, Ruy was 33.Yet, I proved to be a very devout and virtuous wife. As a wedding gift, my father titled us as Duke and Duchess of Melito, and he gave us vast lands in Eboli, Naples.Charles retired and his son, the new King (and my cousin) Philip II named us Prince and Princess of Eboli.My husband became the right hand of the King. I gave him a total of ten children.By 1560 my parents, who always had a terrible relationship, had separated and I moved with my husband to the Royal Court in Madrid. I was appointed as lady in waiting of the new Queen of Spain, Elizabeth de Valois, daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de Medicis.
AT THE ROYAL COURT
This is the Royal Palace of "el Escorial", in Madrid:
Spain was the largest and most powerful Kingdom in the world so I was rather disappointed with the austerity and borderline religious fanatism that reigned in Philip II's Court.However,
I became really close to the new Queen and I was aspiring to the position of "Head of the Queen's Household", position given to the most powerful lady in Court. Philip II, scared of my increasing influence over his wife, gave the position to the Duchess of Alba, very much against Elizabeth's will. I felt insulted and I always held a grudge against Philip because of this.I remained one of the most influential ladies at Court, mainly because of my extravangant beauty. Ladies would speculate as to what color the fabric of my eye patch would be the next day.Elizabeth de Valois passed away in 1568, followed by my husband Ruy in 1573.
I decided to go back to my private domains in Pastrana. A few years earlier, I had given Saint Teresa of Avila permission to found convents in my domains as a genuine gesture of religious devotion. As a widow, I decided to give up worldly pleasures and become a nun under the name of sister "Ana de la Madre de Dios".Needles to say, I had a hard time adjusting to the severities of religious life, and my capricious and frivolus behavior lead most of the nuns to leave the convent where I was staying. So I decided to go back to the real world and administrate my dukedom of Pastrana.This painting represents me and my late husband, praying with Saint Teresa of Avila:
I encouraged trade by improving roads, and I turned it into an important cultural center. I was an overall popular ruler even though I always had trouble managing my personal finances.By 1578 I grew bored of country life and I decided to spend more time in Madrid.I owned many palaces in the city. There I held a lavish court, where many nobles came to visit me, including Philip II's secretary, Antonio Perez.
MURDER AND CONSPIRACY
Antonio was my same age, very handsome and ambitious like myself. It is not surprising that I began a romantic relationship with him. Why not? I was a widow and free to date again, provided it wasn't made public. Antonio was married to Juana Coello, but she was kept away from Court. My ambition was fueled by Antonio's own thirst for power. We wanted Philip II to name either myself or Antonio Governors of the Low Countries.The problem was the Philip's bastard brother, Don Juan of Austria, was already Governor of that land. So, with the help of Antonio, I tricked Philip II into believing that Juan planned an invasion of England with the French duke of Guise, so he could place the captive Mary Stuart on the English throne. Of course Juan would marry Mary, becoming King of England and Scotland himself.In addition, I was selling secrets of State that Antonio provided from the personal documents of Philip II.
Now Philip II was incredibly jealous of his brother Juan, and he couldn't bare the thought of him becoming King without his consent.We expected the prompt destitution and execution of Juan. Things took the wrong turn when Juan de Escobedo, Juan's secretary, came from the Low Countries to ask for money so Juan could keep on fighting the anti-Spanish rebellion there. He managed to discover anything, from the false accusations against Juan of Austria, to my affair with Antonio Perez. Antonio and I decided to murder him and on March 31 1578 we got him stabbed and killed by 8 men:
AFTER THE PORTUGUESE CROWN
My second stay at the Royal Court in Madrid seems to have developed an innate love for intrigue and ambition within me.That explains the development of the Portuguese intrigue, almost at the same time of the Escobedo murder. The death of King Sebastian of Portugal sparked a succession crisis since the Portuguese King died without an heir. Suitors to the Portuguese throne varied from Philip II, to the Queen Mother of France (Catherine de Medicis), to the Portuguese duke of Braganza.I quickly began negotiating the marriage of the son of the duke of Braganza to one of my daughters. This political intrigue would've made me Queen Mother of Portugal.But by 1579, The Escobedo family accused myself and Antonio of murdering Escobedo and all our political intrigues against Philip II came to the surface, including the Portuguese affair. To make matters worse, Antonio never got rid of documentation incriminating me in the conspiracies....
LIFE IN PRISON
Court gossip suggested that Philip II was madly in love with me. I never had a relationship with the King, but my affair with Antonio Perez would explain why he wanted to punish me so harshly. Indeed, the conspiracy against Juan of Austria, my secret dealings with Philip's enemy the duke of Braganza, and ultimately my involvement in Escobedo's murder constituted high treason.The penalty for my crimes would have been death under regular circumstances, but my position as a relative of the King spared me from that terrible punishment.Instead Philip had other plans for me. So on July 28th 1579 Antonio and I were arrested. It would be the last time I'd see him...
I was immediately incarcerated in the Tower of Pinto in Madrid:
I was locked up there with three of my youngest children. The conditions were horrible: the dampness and the cold were really ravaging my health. Before Philip II referred to me as his "dear cousin". Now he disdainfully called me "La hembra peligrosa", or the dangerous female.Eventually I was able to be placed under house arrest at my ducal Palace of Pastrana.In 1582, Antonio Perez managed to escape to Aragon, which enraged Philip II.He ordered my captors not to let me out of my cell.He confiscated my titles and properties as well as the custody of my children. Six men were in charge of my captivity. My only contact with the outside world was a small window. So I spent the last years of my life living in sheer misery, I who had been one of the most powerful and wealthy women in Europe. I died in 1592, probably because of neumonia, under the loving care of my dear daughter Ana de Silva y Mendoza. It is said that Philip II cried bitterly after my death. He protected my children until the day of his death in 1598.This is the window of my cell in Pastrana:
