Date of birth: April 22, 1451
Died: November 26, 1504
Age: 53 years old
Place of birth: Madrigal de las Altas Torres
Place of death: Medina del Campo
Activity: Queen of Castile and Leona
Marital status: was married
Promotional video:
Isabella of Castile - biography
The favorite historical heroes of the Spaniards are Kings Ferdinand and Isabella, the unifiers of the country. But if Ferdinand did not stand out in any way against the background of the rulers of his time, then his wife was a completely unusual person. No wonder the descendants called her "Madonna of the Monarchs."
Isabella of Castile left an indelible mark not only in the history of Europe and America, but also in … chess. Before her, the queen, in Persian "minister", was a weak piece that moved only one square. In honor of her, who adored chess, the queen began to be called queen and began to move in any direction, acting boldly and decisively. Isabella herself always did this, while carefully - like in chess - calculating her moves.
She had to learn patience and caution since childhood. In her time, in the place of Spain, there were several feudal kingdoms, the rulers of which had long entered into family marriages, which led to degeneration. Born in 1451, Princess Isabella of Portugal's mother showed clear signs of madness. Not quite normal was Enrique's half-brother, the son of Juan II of Castile from his first marriage, who became king after his father's death.
He married twice, but never got an heir, for which he received the nickname Impotent (or more euphoniously Powerless). In fact, Enrique simply hated women - from his youth he was in love with his page, Juan Pacheco, whom he eventually made the marquis. Then the favorite was ousted from power by the king's second wife, beautiful and insidious Juana of Portugal.
While all these events were taking place, Isabella lived with her mother in her native province of Avila. According to Castilian laws, women did not have the right to the throne, and the young Infanta was awaited by a monastery or forced marriage in the interests of the crown. They taught her very little: to read, to embroider and to pray, and she sincerely fell in love with all three classes. In her prayers, she asked the Mother of God to quickly take her out of the gloomy castle of Alvaro from the spy servants and her completely mad mother.
She was heard: at the age of ten, Enrique ordered to bring the girl and her brother Alphonse to Segovia, to the royal court. The queen was supposed to give birth to his long-awaited heir, but instead of the desired son, the daughter of Juan, nicknamed Bertrando-hoy, appeared: everyone was sure that her father was not Enrique, but the young courtier Bertrand de la Cueva.
In anger, the king sent the traitor away, which sparked a civil war; in the general confusion, Alphonse was proclaimed king, but the young prince was quickly poisoned.
His supporters offered the throne to Isabella, but she refused to seek power by force. She much more enjoyed praying in the quiet palace chapel and reading ancient classics in her father's library. After reading about the queens of antiquity - Semiramis, Cleopatra, Theodora - she promised herself to surpass them.
And first of all, expel from Spain the Moors, who have owned part of the peninsula for more than 700 years. By that time, only Granada remained under their rule, but Isabella intended to erect the cross there, although this would require the unification of the efforts of the Spanish kingdoms - Castile, Aragon, Navarra. They had never been one before, and the very word "Spain" has not been used since Roman times. But if God tells Isabella to resurrect this forgotten country, so it will be.
In 1468, at the "Bulls of Gisando" - prehistoric stone statues near Alava - Enrique and Isabella signed an agreement under which she became the heir to the throne. For this she agreed to obey the king in choosing a husband, but very soon broke her promise. The bridegroom proposed to her, the King of Portugal Alphonse V African, was not young, small in stature and dark-skinned, and Isabella rejected him (later Juana Bertraneja became his wife. - Ed.). And then she refused several more suitors, including the brothers of the English and French kings. She had her own candidate in mind - the Aragonese prince Ferdinand, who was slightly younger than her. An alliance with him would allow her not only to unite Spain, but also to preserve the necessary freedom of action in marriage.
Enrique, angered by her stubbornness, flatly refused to pass her off as Ferdinand. They had to act in secret: with the help of the Archbishop of Toledo, Isabella offered the groom a marriage contract, according to which he pledged to rule together with her and recognize her as the only ruler of Castile. Ferdinand - or rather, his father Juan II of Aragon - agreed to this, although he secretly hoped to take possession of his future wife into his hands. In October 1469, the prince and his retinue secretly arrived in the Castilian city of Val Yadolid under the guise of merchants.
Isabelle and Ferdinand. miniature of the turn of the 15th century
The archbishop also secretly married them in the city cathedral. Before the wedding, they saw each other for the first time - and were not disappointed. Ferdinand was short, but slender and handsome, and Isabella had a delicate complexion, brown hair and amazing greenish-blue eyes. Whether they loved each other is hard to say - both before and after marriage, Ferdinand had mistresses and illegitimate children. The couple communicated ceremoniously and rather coldly, as required by Spanish etiquette, but were extremely attached to each other and always observed equality, following the motto placed on their common coat of arms: Tanto Monta, Monta Tanto, Isabel como Fernando - “both are equally important. Isabella and Ferdinand."
Upon learning of their marriage, Enrique became angry and deprived his sister of the inheritance, promising the throne to Juana Bertraneja. In addition, his emissaries complained to the Pope that the newlyweds were too closely related, which was true. The pope refused to allow the marriage, but Isabella ordered the necessary document to be forged. A year later, they had their first child with Ferdinand - Isabella, the future Queen of Portugal. After her, four more children were born: Prince Juan, who died in his youth, Juana, who became the Duchess of Burgundy, Maria, the future Queen of Portugal, and Catherine, who became Queen of England, the ill-fated wife of Henry VIII.
After the death of Enrique the Powerless in 1474, a crowd gathered in the main square of Segovia. Some demanded to give power to Isabella, others to Juana, and still others rejected the "woman's kingdom" altogether, offering the throne to Ferdinand. In the midst of the debate, Isabella stepped firmly to the audience and presented a will, in which her brother recognized her as his heir. Without letting anyone come to their senses, she convened the Cortes (council of estates.), Which obediently swore allegiance to the new queen.
Here is what Rafael Sabatini has to say about the events in Segovia:
… During the war with Portugal, the Catholic suzerains entrusted their eldest daughter, Princess Isabella, with the care of Andrés de Cabrera - Seneschal of the castle in Segovia - and his wife, Beatrice de Bobadilla. Cabrera, a demanding and impartial man, at one time dismissed Lieutenant Alonso Maldonado, replacing him with his wife's brother Pedro de Bobadilla. Maldonado conspired to avenge himself. He asked Bobadilla for permission to take some boulders from the castle on the pretext that he needed them for his own home, and sent several of his men to These people, hiding weapons under their clothes, entered the castle, stabbed the sentry and captured Bobadilla himself, while Maldonado and the rest of his people captured the castle. The inhabitants, hearing the noise, fled to the fortress tower together with the Infanta,which by that time was five years old. Fortified there, they repelled the onslaught of Maldonado. Having stumbled upon this obstacle, the rebel ordered to put Bobadilla forward and threatened the besieged that if they did not surrender, he would immediately execute the prisoner.
To this threat, Cabrera firmly replied that in no case would he open the gates to the rioters.
Meanwhile, many townspeople flocked to the castle, alarmed by the noise and armed just in case. Maldonado skillfully instilled in them that, in order to protect their interests, he had opposed the unbearable tyranny of the Governor of Cabrera, and urged him to defend freedom hand in hand with him and to complete the business so excellently begun. The common people for the most part took his side, and Segovia found itself in a state of real war. In the streets there were continuous battles, and soon the gates of the city itself were in the hands of the rebels.
It is believed that Beatrice de Bobadilla herself, having escaped unrecognized from the castle, escaped from Segovia and brought the queen news of what had happened and the resulting danger to her daughter.
Hearing about it. Isabella immediately rushed to Segovia. The leaders of the rebellion, learning of her appearance, did not dare to go so far in disobedience as to close the gates in front of her. Nevertheless, they had the audacity to go out to meet her and try to prevent the entry of her retinue. The Queen's advisers, seeing the mood of the crowd, urged her to be circumspect and yield to their demands. But her pride was only flushed by this careful advice.
“Remember,” she exclaimed, “that I am the queen of Castile, that this city is mine, that there can be no conditions for my entry into it. I will enter, and with me are all those whom I consider necessary to see near me."
With these words, Isabella sent an escort ahead and drove into the city through a gate captured by her supporters, and then forced her way to the castle.
An angry crowd flocked there: it pressed against the gate, trying to break inside.
The queen, ignoring the admonitions of the Spanish cardinal and Count Benavente, who were with her, ordered the gates to be opened and everyone who could fit in. People poured into the courtyard of the castle, noisily demanding to hand over the seneschal. A fragile, beautiful young queen, lonely and fearless, came out to meet, and when the astonished silence fell, she calmly addressed the crowd:
"What do you want, people of Segovia?"
Conquered by her purity, in awe of her greatness, they forgot their anger. Already humble, residents complained about Cabrera, accusing him of harassment and asking Isabella to remove the governor.
The queen immediately promised to grant this request, which led to a sharp turn of events: from the crowd, all the few minutes ago spewing threats and curses, now shouts of cheers were heard.
She ordered representatives to be sent to her, who would state the reasons for dissatisfaction with the rule of Cabrera, and to return to their homes and works, leaving her to judge the administration.
When Isabella got acquainted with the charges against Cabrera and was convinced of their groundlessness, she declared his innocence and reinstated him in office, and the defeated people humbly obeyed her decree …"
However, her husband, Isabella's failed husband, Alphonse of Portugal, stood up for Juana's honor. The new war lasted for several years, until Alphonse, along with Bertraneja, was expelled. However, Isabella had to endure a new struggle for power - this time with her own husband. Arriving in Castile, he began to behave like a sovereign ruler, and Isabella had to strictly point him to the place.
Isabella and Ferdinand. Lifetime portraits
To Ferdinand's credit, he resigned himself and began to help his wife in every possible way in her bold innovations. Having put things in order in the government, the "Catholic kings" began to establish it throughout the country. Civil wars and the powerlessness of Enrique led to a rampant crime. To deal with it, Isabella established "Ermandada" - the first police in Europe, which consisted of armed local residents. Having limited the independence of the feudal lords and cities, the queen took up the church, gently transferring it from submission to Rome into her own.
In 1480, the Inquisition was founded, headed by Isabella's confessor, the Dominican monk Thomas Torquemada. In Spain, the Inquisition persecuted mainly heretics and opponents of power. However, without much fanaticism: for 20 years, "bloody" Torquemada burned up to ten thousand people, while the witch hunt in other European countries claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Having built a "vertical of power", the queen set about realizing her goal - the conquest of Granada. The army, led by Ferdinand, moved to the important port of Malaga, collecting a record number of guns for the siege. Isabella participated in the siege and more than once appeared on horseback and in armor before the army to inspire it. Once a spy of the enemy rushed at her with a dagger, but the loyal squires managed to stab him. As a result, Malaga fell, and the army moved to the last stronghold of the Moors - Granada.
Her emir Boabdil dragged out negotiations, trying to get help from the Moroccan sultan. During the long siege, Isabella made a vow not to wash herself until the fortress fell. It is not known whether she expected the wait three years. They say that over time, her underwear acquired a yellowish tint, which the Spaniards have since called the color "isabel". In January 1492, Boabdil, having lost hope, left his fortress, the Alhambra. On the hill from which he looked at his hometown for the last time, there is a village called "Moor's Sigh".
The queen was now relieved to wash herself. According to legend, in memory of this "royal bath", the soap, which in the time of Isabella the Spaniards began to make from olive oil and ashes of local herbs, was called "Castilian". It quickly conquered the whole of Europe, because it was fragrant and, most importantly, white, and not brown, like what has been made from time immemorial from the so-called "wood oil" - also olive oil, but obtained not from the pulp of olives, but from seeds … By the way, thanks to Isabella, olives, most of which were collected just in Granada, began to be used in Spain not only for the production of oil and marinades, but also in confectionery. At the queen's court, they were served as a dessert, boiled in honey.
Three months after the surrender of Granada, March 31, 1492. Isabella and Ferdinand signed the Edict of Alhambra, for which the Queen is most condemned by descendants. It was an edict about the expulsion from both kingdoms - Castile and Aragon - the Jews, who had lived there for centuries. They were allowed to take out only what could be carried away in their hands, and the gold and silver were confiscated completely. Only those who were baptized were able to stay, but the Inquisition was closely watching these "Marranos" - do they secretly perform Jewish rites? At first, Muslims were treated gently, but over time, they also began to be prohibited from professing their faith and owning wealth. Half a century later they were driven out after the Jews; the country lost many skillful and hardworking peasants, artisans and merchants.
In the same 1492, a third important event happened, which at first few people noticed. In August, three small ships sailed from the port of Paloje, commanded by the Italian emigrant Cristobal Colon, who received orders from the queen to find a western route to Asia. Ferdinand said that this dubious venture would be too expensive, but Isabella said firmly: then Castile will finance it herself. According to legend, the queen even sold her jewelry to equip the Colon expedition. Six months later, the sailor, known to us under the name of Christopher Columbus, returned, discovering unknown islands - part of the new mainland, later called America.
Having met with Isabella, he presented her with modest gifts - shells, bird feathers and six half-naked natives. The courtiers considered this a brazen mockery, but the queen gave Columbus money for a new expedition. A generation later, American gold poured into Spain.
The world empire was still ahead, as was the great Spanish literature, painting, theater. However, Isabella patiently prepared for their appearance: she built temples and schools, established book printing, and welcomed poets and artists at the court. During her reign, the first collections of ballads and popular prints appeared - a source of knowledge for an illiterate people. Libraries were intended for literate people, where manuscripts were kept not only in Latin, but also in Hebrew and Arabic; the queen was at enmity with someone else's faith, but not with someone else's knowledge. Under her, Castile became not only the economic, but also the cultural center of Spain, and the local dialect "Castigliano" became the basis of the literary language.
British historian Dorothy Severin writes of the Queen: “She used her power, wealth and influence to ensure that most of the songs published during her reign shared her views on government and showed the benefits of Catholicism. She encouraged famous writers, generously rewarded courtiers and nobles - everyone who created moralistic poems and treatises - and even instructed civil servants to take up the pen."
Mrs. Severin notes that Isabella was no less a wonderful woman and ruler than Elizabeth of England, but Elizabeth is known all over the world today, and Isabella is only known in Spain. The historian sees the reason for this in the fact that Spain lost the battle for world domination to England. True, this happened much later, and if Isabella had lived at that time, it is not known who would have won this fight.
Juan Flanders. The manifestation of the holy spirit
The queen's health, undermined by fasting and prayer, deteriorated over the years. At the age of 50, she made a will, making her eldest daughter Juana, wife of the Burgundian Duke Philip of Habsburg, the heir. Her husband could not become heir because he still did not have the right to the Castilian throne. Alas, Juana inherited the disease of her ancestors - madness.
Juana of Castile
Isabella saw this when her daughter came to her in Spain. It was a terrible blow - the beautiful and cheerful Juana was always her favorite, the queen saw in her an extension of herself. In deep sadness, she supplemented the will with a clause according to which, if Juana was unable to take the throne, Ferdinand would become regent with her - but only regent, not king. And so it happened when, in November 1504, Isabella died in Medina del Campo.
Soon, her husband married again - the 18-year-old daughter of the Comte de Foix, hoping that she would have children who could rule Spain. But their only son died an infant, and Duke Philip announced that the new marriage would deprive his father-in-law of the right to the throne, and he himself began to rule Castile.
Phillip Habsburg and Juana of Castile
He soon died too; the inconsolable Juana drove his embalmed corpse around the country, assuring him that he was alive and was about to wake up. As a result, Ferdinand took over power, finally making Spain truly united. He imprisoned Juana in the castle of Tordesillas, and made her son the heir and ruler of a huge empire, over which the sun did not set.
The dynasty of Ferdinand and Isabella gave way to the Habsburgs. Despite this, the Spaniards have always kept a reverent attitude towards los reyes catolicos - Catholic kings. Especially to Isabella, who, in the era of male domination, boldly argued for a woman's right to live, pray and love by her own choice, and not by someone else's behest.
Biography author: Vadim Erlikhman