son Charles was recognized as
his mother's successor in her ancestral kingdom. But Navarre was not a
congenial territory for King John, who was of a restless, impulsive
disposition; and he was so bored by the provincial gayety of Pamplona
that after a very short stay he could endure it no longer, and set off
for Italy, leaving Blanche in entire control as before. Navarre was a
sort of halfway ground between France and the various governments of
Spain, and was often the centre of much intrigue and plotted treachery;
but John was so completely overshadowed now by Luna's almost absolute
power, that he knew there was no field for his activity at home.
Blanche, however, was confronted more than once by the most delicate
situations, as her good city of Pamplona was constantly filled with the
agents of foreign powers; but so firm was the queen's character, and so
careful were her judgments, that she was able to administer her
government until her death, in 1441, with much success and very little
criticism.

The next woman to occupy a conspicuous place in the annals of Aragon and
Navarre is Dona Juana Henriquez, the second wife of this same John II.
Dona Juana was the daughter of Don Fadrique Henriquez, Admiral of
Castile, who had become the most influential man in the kingdom during a
moment of temporary disgrace for Alvaro de Luna; and at this time of his
success, for factional reasons, John considered that an alliance with
the admiral might further his own plans with respect to Castile. This
second wife was not a woman of high birth, and was totally unaccustomed
to the new surroundings in which she found herself placed; but with the
quick adaptive power which is possessed by women to so marked a degree,
Juana was soon able to hold her own at court and to make a good showing,
in fact, on any occasion. She was a very beautiful woman, of the
traditional Spanish type, with dark eyes and dark hair, and a very
engaging manner, and to her cleverness she joined a great ambition which
made her unceasing in her efforts for her husband's advancement. She was
inclined to be haughty and domineering in tone, was not overscrupulous,
as might have been expected of one who had lived in the atmosphere of
the Castilian court at this time, and the sum total of her efforts did
little more than to perpetuate the period of strife and turmoil. The
admiral, Don Fadrique, was in control for but a short time; and upon the
return to power of Alvaro, J