Isabella I of Castile
Queen of Castile and León, co-ruler of Spain, and Catholic Monarch who completed the Reconquista and sponsored Columbus's voyage.
via Wikipedia: Marie de' Medici · see source
Isabella I (22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also known as Isabella the Catholic, was Queen of Castile and León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon from 1479 until her death as the wife of King Ferdinand II. Reigning together over a dynastically unified Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand are known as the Catholic Monarchs. Her reign marked the end of the Reconquista and also the start of the Spanish Empire, allowing Spain to become a major force in European politics.
Quick Facts
- Role
- Queen of France and Navarre
Lore & Background
Isabella was born in Madrigal de las Altas Torres to King John II of Castile and his second wife, Isabella of Portugal, on 22 April 1451. At the time of her birth, she was second in line to the throne after her older half-brother Henry. Her younger brother Alfonso was born two years later, demoting her to third in line. When her father died in 1454, her half-brother ascended as King Henry IV.
Isabella and Alfonso were left in King Henry's care and moved to Arévalo. Living conditions were poor, and they suffered from a shortage of money. Isabella was instructed in lessons of practical piety and deep reverence for religion under her mother's supervision. Later, she and Alfonso were summoned to court in Segovia, where her education included archery, arithmetic, baking, chess, cooking, court etiquette, dancing, drawing, equestrian skills, falconry, French, good manners, grammar, history, hunting, Italian, music, needle arts, painting, philosophy, Portuguese, rhetoric, reading, spelling, writing, singing, and religious instruction.
In 1464, a faction of nobles demanded that Alfonso be named Henry's heir, leading to civil war. After Alfonso's death in July 1468, the nobles asked Isabella to take his place, but she preferred a negotiated settlement. She met with Henry at Toros de Guisando, where Henry named her his heir presumptive instead of his daughter Joanna, and Isabella agreed not to marry without Henry's consent. Earlier, at age six, she had a betrothal to Ferdinand of Aragon, but this did not last. Later attempts to marry her to Charles of Viana or Afonso V of Portugal failed.
Reader's Guide
Isabella's marriage to Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469 created the basis of the de facto unification of Spain. With Ferdinand's help, she won the War of the Castilian Succession, securing her position as Queen of Castile. She reorganized the governmental system, brought the crime rate down, and unburdened the kingdom of the debt left by her half-brother Henry IV. Her reforms and those made with her husband had an influence that extended well beyond the borders of their united kingdoms.
Isabella and Ferdinand are known for being the first monarchs to be referred to as the queen and king of Spain. Their actions included completion of the Reconquista, the Alhambra Decree ordering the mass expulsion of Jews from Spain, initiating the Spanish Inquisition, financing Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage to the New World, and establishing the Spanish Empire, making Spain a major power in Europe and the world and ushering in the Spanish Golden Age.
Together with her husband, Isabella was granted the title of 'Catholic Monarch' by Pope Alexander VI. Her beatification process was opened in 1958, and in 1974 she was granted the title of Servant of God.
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