Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon were one of the most famous married couples in history. Isabella was beautiful. “She had blue eyes and chestnut hair.” “She was just striking” (Isaacs). By the time she was 18, she wore beautiful gowns and jewels. “She wore them throughout her life” (Isaacs). Ferdinand and Isabella ruled Spain in a joint ruling, converted Muslims to Christianity, sponsored Christopher Columbus’s journey to a New World, had a family and Isabella even had time for education. Isabella and Ferdinand were devout Catholics that pushed and strived for Christianity in Spain. Despite their extreme measure to push for Christianity, their time in reign was the Golden Age of Spain. To begin, Isabella was the daughter of King John II of Castile. Isabella was born April 22, 1451. Ferdinand was the son of King John I of Aragon. He was born in 1452. Isabella was three years old when her father died. Henry IV, her half-brother, became king. “He named Isabella his successor.” Henry was not very fond of Ferdinand. When Isabella married Ferdinand in 1469, Henry IV withdrew his support. In 1474, Henry died; making his daughter Juana, take the throne. After the war of a succession ended in 1479, Isabella became the Queen of Castile (“Queen Isabella”). She was the Queen of Castile from 1474 to 1505. “Isabella had to fight a civil war to secure her throne. Their marriage began a 35 year joint ruling of a unified Spain, by the Catholic Monarchs” (Isaacs). For instance, in 1481, the “Catholic Kings” were what Ferdinand and Isabella were known as. The kingdom of Castile and Aragon were ruled together, but not as countries. It was a union of crowns (Isaacs). “The two kingdoms maintained their separate l... ... middle of paper ... ...s in its Golden Age. Isabella and Ferdinand formed the Kingdom of Spain. Spain was not completely unified by the time they died, but it was well on its way to becoming Europe. Works Cited Bard, Mitchell G. “Ferdinand & Isabella.” Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, n.d. Web. 1 May 2014. Bard, Rachel. “Queen Isabella of Castile.” Medievalqueen.com. MedievalQueens.com, 2013. Web. 4 May 2014. “Ferdinand and Isabella Marry.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 2 May 2014. Isaacs, Lynn. “ Queen Isabella I of Spain.” Prof. Pavlac’s Women’s History Site. King’s College, 31 May 2008. Web. 1 May 2014. “Queen Isabella.” Historynet.com. Weider History Group, 2013. Web. 2 May 2014. “When Worlds Collide the Untold Story of the Americas after Columbus.” Red Hill Productions. Pbs.org, 2010.Web. 30 April 2014.
Although the couple were really especially known for sending explorers like Christopher Columbus abroad, that actually is not their most effective achievement. Their most effective achievement was 10-year bloodbath of a war that was called the Granada War. Their main focus was to rid Spain entirely of its Muslim population. Ferdinand and Isabella took their Christian faith to the next level just to do so. In January of the year of 1442 they were successful, as they were able to wipe out the Muslims (PBS).
Howarth, William. "Putting Columbus in his place." Southwest Review, Spring/Summer 92, Volume 77, Issue 2/3, p153.
Later on “Mary I married Phillip II of Spain and he became the King of Spain, and Mary I became
Elizabeth I was born in Greenwich Palace on September 7, 1533 to Henry VII and Anne Boleyn, the king’s second wife. Elizabeth inherited the throne from her half-sister, Mary Tudor, after her death in 1588, and she was coronated on January 15, 1559 (Rowse). Elizabeth set out to make changes and compromises to the contrasting choices of rule of her two predecessors and half-siblings, Edward VI and Mary Tudor. During her reign from 1588-1603, Queen Elizabeth I greatly impacted the arts, religion, and government of England.
Mary Tudor of England, Born on February 18, 1516, was always a precious lady.(Gairdner) According to the article “Queen Mary”: “Mary wanted to restore the catholic faith, and reunite England with Rome.” Queen Mary I was quite successful, she managed to rearrange “the royal household, and it was thought right to give Mary an establishment of her own along with a council on the borders of Whales, for the better government of the Marches.”(Gairdner) In real life Queen Mary was in fact a very kind hearted and happy lady, who in fact loved music, dancing, and gossiping with her court and followers. She often dressed in brightly colored cloths and very expensive jewelry.(Eamon) According to Amy Pollick’s article “Dispelling Myths about Queen”, “Mary did lay a solid governmental foundation.” Mary had a good head on her shoulders. She planned to further the peace and prosperity in England. (Pollick) Some of what caused her to “rebel from her father” was him depriving her of her faith, security, and happiness as a child. (Pearsall) In the book “Kings and Queens” it is stated that Mary married King Philip of Spain, but they had no children. (Pearsall) “He lived in England for only a year before returning to spain.” After that Mary began to bring back the old religion and faith of her time. Although the persecutions may have been exaggerated (Gull). From the same so...
Queen Isabella made religion her priority. She married a king of Aragon Ferdinand and had five kids. four daughters and one son. Catherine of Aragon, Joanna of Castile, Isabella of Aragon, Maria of Aragon. Her and Ferdinand fought for Spain to be Catholic-only, and went to all extremes to try to make this happen. Isabella and Ferdinand instituted Inquisition in Spain in 1480, and this brought about many changes in the church. She was Queen of Spain over for 30 years. Queen Isabella was one of the most important and loved Monarchs in Spain. Queen Isabella worked with Columbus with voyages. She also had empathy for the Native Americans and she set a lot of them free, and return them to their homes. Queen Isabella of Spain, supported the ideal of humanism through her leadership of Spain.
Queen Isabella of Castile was a hard headed, forceful, intelligent ruler. With the help of her powerful husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon, they were able to conquer and control much of Europe. When Isabella and Ferdinand married, it unified Spain. Isabella was educated at a young age and was well maintained while living with her older half-brother, Henry, King of Castile. After the deaths in Isabella’s family, she decided to quickly marry her second cousin, Ferdinand. The two had to ask of help from the Valencian cardinal Rodrigo Borgia to authorize the marriage, and make their marriage legal. They eloped quickly and then were married on October 19, 1469 in Valladolid.
Ask any elementary school kid in the United States and they will probably be able to tell you that Queen Isabella sent Christopher Columbus on the voyage in which he found America. An iconic figure of the Renaissance, she is often discussed on the subject matter of exploration; however, her prestige and significance go far beyond that. Also commonly known as Queen Isabella the Catholic, she reigned from 1474 to 1504 and together with her husband King Ferdinand II of Aragón, united the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula and helped pave the way for Spain’s golden age. Yet despite the importance of her marriage to Ferdinand, Isabella was a sovereign queen in her own right, wielding immense power and accomplishing tasks of great proportions in spite of gender norms and political adversity against women.
The age of exploration brought about a great change in the social and political workings of not only Spain, but the entirety of Europe. Suddenly there was a grand new opportunity on the horizon; people that would normally live stagnant lives in their respective jobs in the community could now go to a brand new world to start over. Columbus, despite ending up dying a relatively sound but by no means wealthy man, started this trend of creating a name for yourself through exploration. Though he never reached the status of governor or duke, he was presented with the opportunity to become one, and that was enough for the
A quote from an article on Britannica.com says: “the two sovereigns were certainly united in aiming to end the long process of Reconquista by taking over the kingdom of Granada--the last Muslim stronghold in Spain.” The conquest of Granada began in 1482, lasting until 1492. The conquest was no easy win, and it lasted for a long time, also straining Castile’s finances. Some features of the campaign were medieval, and some of them were new. Isabella had a keen eye to the goings of war. She seems to have been responsible for improved methods of supply, and the establishment of a military hospital. In 1491 she and Ferdinand set up headquarters in Santa Fe, close to Granada, until Granada finally fell on January 2nd of the following
In 1469 King Ferdinand II of Aragon married Queen Isabella I of Castile. Together they had a daughter named Joanna I of Castile. King Ferdinand then overthrew and conquered the Kingdom of Granada, doing so King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella united the three kingdoms of Aragon, Castile and Granada into one called España or Spain in English. Queen Isabella died and King Ferdinand passed on the crown to Joanna. Joanna’s husband Philip I of Castile desperately wanted the spanish crown and therefore proclaimed Joanna as mad and incapable of ruling over Spain, Philip became King Regent. Soon Phillip died of fever and was only king for a few short months. Joanna who was declared insane was not popular with the people of Spain, consequently the
Hernán de Pulgar, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile’s chronicler, wrote “Although they are monarchs, they are human beings”. Just like any people. Ferdinand and Isabella had beliefs, emotions, opinions and made mistakes. Ferdinand and Isabella were given the name “Catholic Monarchs” by Pope Alexander VI in 1496 due to their beliefs and how they promoted Christianity in their reign. Ferdinand and Isabella were very ambitious leaders who wanted themselves and Spain to be very powerful, as the Castilian monarchy controlled most of western Spain while the Aragonese monarchy controlled some of eastern Spain. Having recently gotten power by uniting Aragon and Castile, their power was still unstable, and many threats were coming towards
Isabella I and Ferdinand II were the heirs to two important cities and when they married they brought together the two and created a strong kingdom. While their marriage might not have been approved of, the power couple brought a new dynamic to Spain, had strong views on religion and did their best to make sure everyone had the same beliefs as they did. In their reign they conquered cities that had different religious views and gave many people the ultimatum of converting or leaving the kingdom. They were even able to sponsor one of the most famous journeys across the Atlantic made by Christopher Columbus. Their marriage for better or worse changed how Spain was run and who lived there.
Ferdinand was born in Sada Palace, in the Kingdom of Aragon to John II of Aragon. When Ferdinand of Argon and Isabella of Castile married they did so with an understanding “that they amount to the same and to the same they amount”. This agreement was legalized by the courts through a prenuptial agreement. This was significant in that it would bring a union between the crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Castile. The marriage between Isabella and Ferdinand was not a romantic one in nature. This is what my generation would refer to as a power couple. The kingdom of Aragon also included important kingdoms such as Valencia, Sicily, and Naples. Throughout this paper I will discuss the power of the Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand.
Thinking about the Catholic heir she could bring to England, Mary wed her cousin Phillip of Spain in 1554. Although Phillip did not want to marry the queen, he did to gain to political power (Rowse 48). People started to worry when their queen married a Spaniard because they did not trust foreigners; as a result, the country went into a state of alarm (“Mary...