The Breve crónica of Juana of Castile and the Princess’s Date of Birth (1462)

Abstract

This paper seeks to prove that the date of birth of Princess Joan of Castile, daughter of Henry IV and Joan of Aviz, usually given as February 28th, 1462, actually occurred a week after, on March 7th, 1462. The former date is given in a much later source, the Anales of Garci Sánchez, juror of Seville. The latter date comes from the Breve crónica de Juana de Castilla, a brief chronicle that until now was believed to survive only in a single manuscript held in the Biblioteca Nacional de España. However, a second manuscript has now been discovered, held in the Real Academia de la Historia. This paper provides a critical edition of the text, demonstrating that it is contemporary with the events it describes. Taken together with a letter regarding the birth of the princess sent by Queen Joan of Aviz (also edited here), this establishes the veracity of the new date of birth proposed here.