Origin
Isabella I of Castile (Isabella the Catholic) (born April 22, 1451 - death November 26, 1504) - Queen of Castile and Leon since 1474, from the Trastamara dynasty, daughter of King Juan II and his second wife. Wife and co-ruler of King Ferdinand V (II) of Aragon (1479-1516), during the reign of which the beginning of the unification of Spain into a single state was laid.
Childhood. Succession to the throne
Isabella's childhood was spent in solitude in the mountainous Castile, where her elder brother, King of Castile Enrique IV (Henry IV), sent her along with her younger brother Alfonso. Initially, the girl was not prepared to run the state, it was assumed that the line of the eldest son Enrique would rule, that is, after his death, his children would become the owners of the Castilian throne. Her father died when the Infanta was three years old, she grew up with her mother - Isabella of Portugal.
Appearance
In the appearance of Isabella of Castile, the following can be noted: her eyes were, like most other representatives of the Trastamara dynasty, greenish-blue, short in stature, blonde hair, physique not particularly graceful. Contemporaries noted in her appearance a certain innate nobility and dignity.
Promotional video:
Christopher Columbus in his diary described the queen in this way: graceful, plastic, well-mannered and also a beautiful woman. Most of all, Columbus was struck by her inner emancipation and the power of imagination.
Marriage to Prince Ferdinand
1469 Isabella marries her cousin, Prince Ferdinand of Aragonese. With three contenders for her hand (including the Portuguese king), Isabella's choice fell on Ferdinand. She insisted on marrying him without the blessing of her brother, King Enrique. Over time, this marriage will lead to the dynastic union of Castile and Aragon, and to the de facto unification of Spain. Subsequently, they will receive the honorary title of Catholic Kings from the Pope.
Isabella with her husband Ferdinand.
War with Portugal
Enrique was for a long time angry with his sister for her unauthorized marriage, did not want to recognize her right to the throne. He died in 1474, never reconciling with her. After the death of the monarch, some of the nobles took the side of his daughter Juana, while others supported Isabella. King Alfonso V of Portugal stood up for his niece Juana and in May 1475 appeared with a large army in Castile. After a year of fruitless struggle, the decisive battle of Thoreau took place in March 1476; the Portuguese troops were utterly defeated and scattered; 12,000 Portuguese were killed in battle or taken prisoner.
Ascension to the throne
Then the war continued for another three years. Isabella personally commanded the army, guided the sieges herself, and fearlessly endangered her life in battle. An increasing number of cities and nobles went over to her side. 1479 - realizing the futility of the struggle, Alphonse renounced his claims to Castile. Isabella was recognized as queen everywhere. Before that, after the death of his father, Ferdinand ascended the throne of Aragon. Their joint rule of Spain began. However, according to the agreement concluded 10 years ago, which was strictly observed by the spouses, each of them remained the ruler of his kingdom.
Queen Isabella of Castile (late 15th century).
Domestic and foreign policy
The first concern of the Queen of Castile after the recognition of her rights was to restore order in the state, which had been shaken by unrest and revolts for many decades; the second is the conquest of the Granada Moors in the south of the peninsula. Isabella of Castile took a firm grip on their resolution and acted with such energy that she was able to achieve complete success in an amazingly short time. The young queen understood that without the establishment of a strong judiciary, she would never be able to break the willfulness of the nobles, and first of all she took up the reform of the judicial system.
1485 - a new criminal code was adopted, which was very different from the previous one in its severity. Even the most insignificant crimes were now punishable by self-harm and even death. The Queen was careful to ensure that these laws were enforced with merciless severity. The nobles opposed the introduction of the Germandes into their domains, not wanting to let go of the judicial power, but Isabella acted so skillfully and firmly that soon the new device was approved by the Cortes throughout the kingdom. This gave the queen the opportunity to curb the willfulness of the nobles, to end their wars among themselves and to subordinate them to the royal will. Isabella I willingly took on the role of judge and with tireless zeal suppressed any resistance.
So, as soon as the queen's hands were untied, she went to Andalusia, where a uniform war had been going on for many years between supporters of the Guzman family and the Ponce de Leon family. All royal cities and castles were captured here by the nobles of one or another party. Both of them, waging wars among themselves, were equally disobedient to the royal power. The queen settled in Seville, began to accept complaints against the nobles, handed them harsh sentences and intimidated them to such an extent that they surrendered the castles to the queen, returned state estates to the treasury, and private lands - to their rightful owners. 4,000 people fled abroad for fear of being brought to justice.
The representatives of the royal power in Galicia acted with the same ruthlessness, where they sentenced to death many people who were guilty of committing various crimes in the past. 50 castles of recalcitrant nobles were destroyed to the ground. Many fraudsters and robbers fled the country fearing for their lives. It became calm on the roads, the violent knights felt a firm hand on themselves, began to behave calmly, in accordance with the law.
1480 - the Cortes, convened by the queen in Toledo, declared illegal all the royal estates granted to Enrique, all pensions assigned to him were canceled, the nobles were forbidden to mint coins, and other rights of supreme power, illegally appropriated by them, were taken away from them. They were forbidden to build castles and resolve disputes by civil strife. Isabella of Castile tried to reward this loss of political rights with various honors. She attracted the grandees to the court and transferred the highest positions into their hands.
Christopher Columbus before the Catholic kings (after the expedition).
Prosperity
All these measures made it possible to significantly raise the treasury revenues, and this, in turn, contributed many times to the strengthening of royal power. So, in Castile, a solid monarchical system was introduced. Isabella I received large incomes, could reward for loyalty and severely punish for disobedience; the country was calm; trade revived; the minting of the bad coin has ceased.
Fighting dissent. Inquisition
However, along with these positive achievements, the first shoots of despotism appeared. A fierce struggle began against dissent, at first religious, and then political. In 1480, the first tribunal of the Inquisition was established to fight against secret Jews and Muslims. 1483 - Torquemada was appointed Grand Inquisitor. Under him, the number of inquisition tribunals rose to 13. Over the next 18 years, more than 10,000 people were burned; almost the same number were deprived of property and civil rights. In addition, in 1492, Torquemada obtained an order from Isabella to expel all unbaptized Jews. No less than 200,000 of them were forced to leave Spain with great hardships. Those who preferred baptism to a foreign land were all the time under the watchful eye of the Inquisition.
The dark influence of the Inquisition will grow and spread across Europe like a painful tumor, without knowing borders, capturing more and more territories, causing massive psychosis, carrying with it the crippled lives and ashes of hundreds of thousands of people. The smoke of bonfires will cover the skies of Europe for 300 years. Maybe the Inquisition is not the bloodiest event in the history of mankind, judging by the number of victims, but there is little to compete with it in senselessness and insane cruelty, even from a modern point of view.
Portrait of Isabella of Castile in her later years.
Christopher Columbus
1492 - Isabella approved the plan of Christopher Columbus. She understood that there were no guarantees, the academic council, which was assembled for her to discuss the Columbian plan, subjected him to harsh criticism. However, the queen believed in Columbus and this ensured the future short rise of Spain.
On three ships, Columbus with a team of 90 people went on an expedition to find the western route to India. This voyage, as you know, ended with the discovery of America. Columbus founded the first colony of Europeans in the New World on the island of Hispaniola. He named her Isabella, after the queen.
Last years. Death
In the last years of her life, the queen turned from a legendary heroine into a melancholic recluse. She became sluggish and sullen. Of her 4 daughters, the eldest died, the youngest was far away in England, the third in Portugal, the fourth, Juana, the most beautiful and spiritual, was soon destined to go crazy.
Isabella of Castile's health, undermined by fasting and prayer, grew worse over the years. At the age of 50, she made a will, making the eldest daughter Juana (Mad), the wife of the Duke of Burgundy Philip of Habsburg, the heir. Her husband could not become heir because he still had no right to the Castilian throne. Alas, Juana inherited the disease of her ancestors - madness.
Juana I Mad.
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, Isabella saw in her an extension of herself. In deep sadness, she added a clause in her will, according to which, if Juana was unable to take the throne as regent with her - but only as regent, not king - Ferdinand would become. This was the case when the Queen died in November 1504 in Medina del Campo. Buried in the Cathedral of Granada, in the Royal Chapel.
After death
Soon, her husband married again - to the 18-year-old daughter of the Comte de Foix, in the hope that she would have children who could rule Spain. But their only son died in infancy, 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.
He soon died too; the inconsolable Juana drove his embalmed body around the country, assuring him that he was alive and was about to wake up. As a result, Ferdinand took over power, making, in the end, 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.