Isabella of Castile

Isabella of Castile (April 22, 1451 – November 26, 1504) was queen of Castile and Leon. She and her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon, laid the foundation for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Carlos I of Spain (Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor).

Name

The Castilian version of her name was Ysabel or Isabel, which traces etymologically to Hebrew Elisth or 'Elizabeth'. In Germanic countries, she is usually known by the Italian form of her name, 'Isabella.' Likewise, her husband is Fernando in Spain, but Ferdinand elsewhere. The official inscription on their tomb renders their names in Latin as "Helizabeth" and "Fernandus".

Pope Alexander VI named Ferdinand and Isabella "The Catholic Monarchs." She is also known as Isabel la Católica.

Genealogy

Isabella was great-great-granddaughter of both Henry II of Castile and his half-brother Peter I of Castile and their respective wives (Joan of Villena and Maria de Padilla). She was also great-great-granddaughter of Peter IV of Aragon and his wife Leonor of Portugal, daughter of King Afonso IV of Portugal, as well as of her half-brother Peter I of Portugal and his mistress Teresa Lourenço. Through John of Gaunt she was great-great-granddaughter of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault and through his first wife of Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster and his wife Isabel de Beaumont. Finally she was great-great-granddaughter to Nuno Alvares Pereira, Count de Barcelos and his wife Leonor Alvim, Countess of Barcelos.

She was great-granddaughter of John I of Castile and his wife Eleanor of Aragon, a sister of Kings John I of Aragon and Martin I of Aragon. She was also great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and his second wife Constanza of Castile, a daughter of Peter I of Castile. Her third set of great-grandparents were King John I of Portugal and his wife Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt from his first wife Blanche of Lancaster. Her final set of great-grandparents were Afonso, Duke de Braganza, a son of John I of Portugal by Inez Perez, and his wife Beatriz Pereira, countess of Barcelos.

Her paternal grandparents were King Henry III of Castile and Catherine Plantagenet of the House of Lancaster, a half sister of King Henry IV of England. Her maternal grandparents were Prince João of Portugal, Grand Master of Santiago, who was a brother of Henry the Navigator, and his wife Isabella de Bragança.

Her parents were King John II of Castile and his second wife Queen Isabella of Portugal.

She was the last monarch of the Trastamara dynasty established by Henry II of Castile.

Early years

Isabella was born in Madrigal de las Altas Torres on April 22, 1451. Her brother Alfonso was born three years later. When her father, John II, died in 1454, her much older half-brother Henry IV became king. As soon as he ascended to the throne, he sequestered his half-siblings to Segovia and his stepmother to Arévalo, in virtual exile.

Henry IV, whose first marriage to Blanca of Navarre was not consummated and had been annulled, remarried to have his own offspring. He then married Joana of Portugal. His wife gave birth to Joan, princess of Castile. When Isabella was about ten, she and her brother were summoned to the court, to be under more direct supervision and control by the king. In the Representation of Burgos the nobles challenged the King; among other items, they demanded that Alfonso, Isabella's brother, should be named the heir to the kingdom. Henry agreed, provided Alfonso would marry his daughter, Joan. A few days later, he changed his mind.

The nobles, now in control of Alfonso and claiming him to be the true heir, clashed with Henry's forces at the Battle of Olmedo in 1467. The battle was a draw. One year later, Alfonso died at the age of fourteen, and Isabella became the hope of the rebelling nobles. But she refused their advances, acknowledging instead Henry as king, and he, in turn, recognized her as the legitimate heir, after she managed to convince him that he had been impotent when he had fathered Joan (by now, married off to the King of Portugal). Henry tried to get Isabella married to a number of persons of his choice, yet she evaded all these propositions. Instead she chose Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Aragon. They were married October 19, 1469 in Ocaña (another source suggests Valladolid, which was perhaps the place of betrothal).

Accession

When Henry IV died on December 10, 1474, Isabella acted quickly. She had herself crowned Queen of Castile at Segovia three days later. While she and Ferdinand began to reorganize the court, Afonso V of Portugal crossed the border and declared Joan the rightful heir. Ferdinand beat the invaders back at the Battle of Toro in 1476, and the challenge to the crown of Castile was rejected. In a series of separate marches, Ferdinand and Isabella went on to subjugate renegade and rebellious towns, fortresses, and points of power that had developed over time. In 1479, Ferdinand's father then died, and they became King and Queen of Aragon. In 1480, the couple assembled the Cortes of Toledo where, under their supervision, five royal councils and 34 civilian representatives produced a codex of laws and edicts as the legal groundwork for the future Spain. This established the centralization of power with the royals and set the basis for economic and judicial rehabilitation of the country. As part of this reform, and in their attempt to unify the country, Ferdinand and Isabella solicited Pope Sixtus IV to authorize the Inquisition. In 1483, Tomás de Torquemada became the first Inquisitor General in Seville.

The events of 1492

1492 was an important year for Isabella, seeing the conquest of Granada and hence the end of the 'Reconquista' (reconquest), her successful patronage of Christopher Columbus, and her expulsion of the Jews and Muslims.

Granada

The Kingdom of Granada had been held by the Moors since their invasion of Spain in the 8th century. Protected by natural barriers and fortified towns, it had withstood the long process of the reconquista. However, in contrast to the determined leadership by Isabella and Ferdinand, Granada's leadership was divided and never presented a united front. It took ten years to conquer Granada, culminating in 1492.

When the Spaniards, early on, captured Boabdil, one of the rulers, they set him free - for a ransom - so that he could return to Granada and resume his reign. The Spanish monarchs recruited soldiers from many European countries and improved their artillery with the latest and best cannons. Systematically, they proceeded to take the kingdom piece by piece. In 1485 they laid siege to Ronda, which surrendered after extensive bombardment. The following year, Loja was taken, and again Boabdil was captured and released. One year later, with the fall of Málaga, the western part of the Moorish kingdom had fallen into Spanish hands. The eastern province succumbed after the fall of Baza in 1489. The siege of Granada began in the spring of 1491. When the Spanish camp was destroyed by an accidental fire, the camp was rebuilt, in stone, in the form of a cross, painted white, and named Santa Fe (i.e. 'Holy Faith'). At the end of the year, Boabdil surrendered. On January 2, 1492 Isabel and Ferdinand entered Granada to receive the keys of the city and the principal mosque was reconsecrated as a church. The Treaty of Granada signed later that year was to assure religious rights to the Islamic believers - but it did not last.

Columbus

Queen Isabella rejected Christopher Columbus's plan to reach the Indies by sailing west three times before changing her mind. His conditions (the position of Admiral; governorship for him and his descendants of lands to be discovered; and ten percent of the profits) were met. On August 3, his expedition departed. He returned the next year and presented his findings to the monarchs, bringing natives and gold under a hero's welcome. Spain entered a Golden Age of exploration and colonization. In 1494, by the Treaty of Tordesillas, Isabella and Ferdinand divided the Earth - outside of Europe - with Portugal.

Isabella tried to defend the American aborigines against the abuse of the colonists. In 1503, she established the Secretary of Indian Affairs, which later became the Supreme Council of the Indies.

Expulsion of the Jews and Muslims

With the institution of the Roman Catholic Inquisition in Spain, with the Dominican friar, the converso Tomás de Torquemada, as the first Inquisitor General, the Catholic Monarchs set a policy of "religious cleansing". On March 31, 1492, they issued the Alhambra Decree for the expulsion of the Jews (See main article on Inquisition) as well as Muslims in Spain. Approximately 200,000 people left Spain. Others converted, often only to be persecuted further by the Inquisition investigating Judaizing conversos (Marranos). The Muslims of the newly conquered Granada had been initially granted religious freedom, but pressure to convert increased, and after some revolts, a policy of forced expulsion or conversion was also instituted after 1500 (see Moriscos).

Later years

Isabella, a very religious person, received with her husband the title of Reina Católica by Pope Alexander VI, a pope of whose secularism Isabella did not approve. Along with the physical unification of Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand embarked on a process of spiritual unification, trying to bring the country under one faith (Roman Catholicism). As part of this process, the Inquisition became institutionalized. After an uprising in 1499, the Treaty of Granada was broken in 1502 and Muslims were forced to either be baptized or to be expelled. Isabella's confessor, Cisneros was named Archbishop of Toledo. He was instrumental in a program of rehabilitation of the religious institutions of Spain, laying the groundwork for the later Counter-Reformation. As Chancellor, he exerted more and more power.

Isabella and her husband had created an empire and in later years were consumed with administration and politics; they were concerned with the succession and worked to link the Spanish crown to the other rulers in Europe. Politically this can be seen in attempts to outflank France and to unite the Iberian peninsula. By early 1497 all the pieces seemed to be in place: Juan, the Crown Prince, married Margaret of Austria, establishing the connection to the Habsburgs. The eldest daughter, Isabelle, married Manuel I of Portugal, and Juana was married to another Habsburg prince, Philip. However, Isabella's plans for her children did not work out. Juan died shortly after his marriage. Isabella died in childbirth and her son Miguel died at the age of two. Queen Isabella's titles passed to her daughter Juana the Mad ('la Loca') whose marriage to Philip the Handsome was troubled. Isabella died in 1504 in Medina del Campo, before Philip and Ferdinand became enemies.

Isabella is entombed in Granada in the Capilla Real, which was built by her grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (Carlos I of Spain), alongside her husband Ferdinand, her daughter Juana and Juana's husband Philip; and Isabella's 2-year old grandson, Miguel (the son of Isabella's daughter, also named Isabella, and King Manuel of Portugal). The museum next to the Capilla Real houses her crown and scepter.

Children

Isabella had five children with Ferdinand:

Isabella of Asturias (b. October 1, 1470; d. August 23, 1498) — first married Afonso of Portugal, and, after his death, Manuel I of Portugal; died in childbirth; her child died two years later.
John, Prince of Asturias (b. June 28, 1478; d. October 4, 1497) — married Margaret of Austria (1480–1530), died after six months of marriage without offspring
Juana of Castile, "La Loca" (b. November 6, 1479; d. April 13, 1555) — married Philip the Handsome
Maria of Aragon (b. June 29, 1482; d. March 7, 1517) — married Manuel I of Portugal after Isabella's death.
Catherine of Aragon (b. December 15, 1485; d. January 7, 1536) — first married Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, and, after his death, his brother Henry VIII, King of England. Mother of Queen Mary I of England.

Influence

Isabella and her husband established a highly effective coregency under equal terms. He utilized a prenuptial agreement to lay down their terms. During their reign they supported each other effectively in accordance to their joint motto of equality: Tanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernando ("They amount to the same, Isabella and Ferdinand"). Their achievements are remarkable - Spain was united, under the crown power was centralized, the reconquista was successfully concluded, a legal framework was created, the church reformed. Even without the benefit of the American expansion, Spain would have been a major European power. Columbus' discovery set the country on the course for the first modern world power.

The dark side of their reign also had long-term consequences. The Inquisition and their intolerant treatment of religious minorities was harsh and cruel. A negative historic model was set.

Isabella and contemporary politics and religion

In the twentieth century, the regime of Francisco Franco claimed the prestige of the Catholic Monarchs. As a result, Isabella was despised by those opposed to Franco, and is often blamed as the principal instigator of the Spanish Inquisition by separatists. Of course, this sort of animosity is based on a belief in the inherent evil of the Inquisition, which, according to current scholars, was the most lenient, enlightened judicial body of its day. In fact, Isabella's Inquisition helped the monarchy root out individuals disloyal to Spain and secretly hoping to destroy the country.

Some Catholic Spaniards have attempted to have Isabella declared as Blessed, with the aim of later having her canonized as a Saint. Their justification is that Isabella was a protector of the Spanish poor and of the Native Americans from the rapacity of the Spanish nobility; in addition, miracles have reportedly been attributed to her. This movement has met with opposition from Jewish organizations, Liberation theologians and Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger, due to the fact that Isabella had many Moors killed after her entrance to Cordoba. In 1974, Pope Paul VI opened her cause for beatification. This places her on the path towards possible sainthood. In the Catholic Church, she is thus titled Servant of God.

Isabella was the first named woman to appear on a United States coin, an 1893 commemorative quarter, celebrating the 400th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage. In the same year she was the first woman and only foreign ruler to be featured on a U.S. postal stamp, also in celebration of Columbus. She appears in the Spanish court scene replicated on the 15-cent Columbian (above) and in full portrait, side by side with Columbus, on the $4 Columbian, the only stamp of that denomination ever issued and one which collectors prize not only for its rarity (only 30,000 were printed) but its beauty, an exquisite carmine with some copies having a crimson hue. Mint specimens of this commemorative have been sold for more than $20,000.

Isabella in fiction

Ferdinand and Isabella appear in Lope de Vega's play Fuente Ovejuna (c. 1611), represented positively as supporters of a group of villagers in their struggle against their feudal overlord.
In film, Isabella has been played by Lola Flores, in Juana la Loca, de vez en cuando (1983) and by Sigourney Weaver, in Conquest of Paradise (1992).
Isabella has been featured in the PC video game Civilization IV. In the game, Isabella is the lone civilization leader of the Spanish Empire.
Isabella is featured in the PC video game Age of Empires III. In the game, Isabella is one of the leaders representing their European Countries. Isabella, of course, represents Spain.
Isabella appears as the mother of Catherine, the titular heroine of the novel The Constant Princess, by Philippa Gregory.
Christopher Columbus negotiates with Isabella and her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon, in Orson Scott Card's Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus.

References

Miller, T. The Castles and the Crown. Spain 1451-1555 (New York: Coward-McCann, New York, 1963)
Carroll, Warren H. Isabel Of Spain: The Catholic Queen.
Meyer, Carolyn. Isabel: Jewel of Castilla, Spain, 1466 (The Royal Diaries)

External links

El obispo judío que bloquea a la "santa". A report in Spanish about the beatification at El Mundo.
Isabella I in the Catholic Encyclopedia
Medieval Sourcebook: Columbus' letter to King and Queen of Spain, 1494
Music at Isabella's court
University of Hull: Genealogy information on Isabella I

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