El naranjal y la garza

Year 1496. The Infanta Juana goes to Flanders to marry Archduke Philip of Habsburg. The trobado game travels with her, a poetic deck that Queen Elizabeth has given her. The cards portray the ladies who play them with four lots: a tree, a bird, a proverb and a romance. Juana is represented by the orange tree, alluding to the wedding, and her elegant heron, which exalts her beauty. The bride leaves Castile ready to fulfill the dynastic designs of the kings. From her She takes with her two of her most beloved ladies, Doña María Manuel, an ephemeral rose; and Doña Ana de Beaumont, evergreen cypress. The story follows the three women from their arrival in Flanders until the appointment, in 1500, of Juana as heir to the crowns of Castile and Aragon. In these five years the trobado game serves as illicit oracle and consolation. The cards entertain friends on rainy days, predict the fate of love and guide them through the tangle of court intrigues. The Flemish palaces are authentic hotbeds of machinations that put Juana's marriage and the future of the Trastámara dynasty to the test. The Catholic Monarchs want to isolate France, but Felipe disagrees and sees in his Castilian wife the perfect instrument to oppose the will of his in-laws. These are, for Juana, her decisive years: she goes from being an obedient young woman to a princess who must be controlled. The death of her brothers has made her an unexpected heiress and a gateway for the Habsburgs in Spain. And the trobado game tells us everything.