Isabel, Queen of Castile and Leon

Queen of Castile y Leon

For six days and nights, Fernando and Isabel and their guests celebrated the royal wedding. However, when King Enrique received word of the marriage, he was furious. One by one he tore Isabel's few possessions, towns from which she received taxes, from her. Fernando and Isabel were without money and Fernando was away from his wife for many months at a time fighting wars in Sicily or Aragon, family possessions. On October 2, 1470, a daughter named Isabel was born to the couple. A daughter was not worth as much as a son, and King Enrique was delighted, who had changed the succession to Juana 'la Beltraneja'. Four years later, King Enrique became seriously ill and died on December 11, 1474. His councilors urged him to name his heir, but Enrique remained silent. When Isabel heard the news, she grieved for the loss, but there was not a moment to spare if she was to claim the throne. Fernando, who was fighting in Zaragoza, could not be summoned in time. On December 13, 1474, Isabel was crowned Queen of Castile in Segovia's Plaza Mayor by her counselor, Archbishop Carrillo. Fernando returned from Zaragoza not soon after and found himself 'king consort' to Isabel. Although somewhat upset, he and his wife forged a loving partnership.

Archbishop Carrillo, who had known Isabel as an obedient princess, now found her as an independent and strong-willed queen. Feeling that he had not been rewarded for his aid with the couple in their marriage and coronation, he turned his allegiance to King Afonso V of Portugal, who was now betrothed to his niece, Juana 'la Beltraneja'. King Afonso declared war on Castile to protect his niece's rights, who was 'the rightful queen'. Castile defeated Portugal, and Isabel forgave Carrillo, who was at her mercy.

Throughout her life, Isabel was taunted by Juana 'la Beltraneja'. Juana would never accept the fact that she was not the Queen of Castile, and when Isabel ordered her to stop using that title and she defied her queen, Juana was banished to a convent, where even in within the convent walls she signed her letters 'Yo la reina', 'I the queen'.

In 1481, Isabel and Fernando set out to do what no other monarch had done. The Moors, Jewish and Muslim people from North Africa, had settled in the Iberian peninsula in the 8th century A.D. Being devout Catholics, Isabel and Fernando led the Reconquista, the Reconquest, to take the land from the Moors, known as Granada. Isabel planned and funded campaigns, even selling her jewels, while Fernando led the troops. One by one the Moorish lands were added onto Castile y Leon. In January of 1492, the Reconquista was complete.

The Inquisition

However, the Reconquista was a dark era also. Consumed with religious beliefs, Isabel and Fernando set out to rid their kingdoms of Muslims and Jews, making their kingdoms pure and full of devout Catholics. Though the Moors contributed the most to the economy, Isabel saw those not devout to Catholicism as sinners and heretics. She decided to begin the Inquisition, with the power to arrest and punish those accused of heresy. Her confessor from her childhood, Tomas de Torquemada, was named the Inquisitor General, a title he neglected at first but was forced upon him by Isabel. The Inquisition was a terrible period of Isabel's reign. Neighbors turned against each other. Anyone could be accused, and you would never know who had accused you. You were guilty until proven innocent, and most people were tortured until they confessed to heresy, many times of which the accused were innocent but would do anything to cease the torture. Trials for heresy, an auto da fe, were public in which those accused were publicly humiliated. Punishment for heresy was death, which thousands fell victim to and were publicly burned alive. When Cristoforo was preparing to leave for his first voyage, Isabel declared on March 31, 1492, that all Jews had four months to be baptized into the Catholic faith, or else they would be forced to leave Castile y Leon and Aragon. Some agreed but most fled. England and France closed their borders to those expelled from Castile y Leon and Aragon, so most were forced to find refuge into Portugal. Italy, Greece, and Turkey also opened their doors to the refugees. Others found their way to the New World. Isabel believed that she was doing God's work, but the horror and cruelty of the Inquisition stains her reign of many achievements. During her reign, Isabel created a new Espana, many of the Spanish kingdoms joined together. She financed voyages that led to the discovery of the New World, and created one of the most cultured and powerful kingdoms in Europe.

The New World

In 1486, the Italian navigator named Cristoforo Colombo (Christopher Columbus), came to Isabel and Fernando with a proposal that he could find a route to the Orient through the West. That same year, the monarchs were busy with the Reconquista, but Cristoforo did meet Isabel and Fernando and they agreed to consider his proposal. For six years Cristoforo waited impatiently while Isabel consulted her counselors, and in 1492, when he was about to leave Castile y Leon to take his proposal to France or England, Isabel summoned him to court and agreed to finance his voyages. On August 3, 1492, Cristoforo set sail with three ships--the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. On October 12, 1492, his crew sighted land, which turned out to not be the Orient, but modern-day San Salvador. Five months later, Cristoforo returned to Castile y Leon with his news. Celebrations greeted him and he was bestowed with the title of 'Admiral of the Ocean Sea'. In October of 1493, Cristoforo set out with 17 ships and 1,500 colonists. He established a settlement at Hispaniola, but could not find the riches he promised Isabel. On a third voyage, he was criticized so badly of running the colony that he was brought home in chains. On his fourth and last voyage, he and his crew suffered terrible hardships on Honduras and Cristoforo returned home sick and penniless. Isabel was called the 'Mother of the Americas' and known as a visionary who changed history.

Family Life

Isabel and Fernando led a large family, all of whom were deeply educated and religious. They produced five children:

1. Isabel, 1470-1498

2. Juan, Prince of Asturias, 1478-1497

3. Juana, Queen of Castile y Leon, 1479-1555

4. Maria, Queen of Portugal, 1482-1517

5. Catalina, Queen of England, 1485-1536

Isabel married Afonso of Portugal in 1490 at the age of 20. Soon after, he died in a hunting accident and she married his uncle, Manoel of Portugal, in 1497. She died a year after in childbirth, giving birth to a son, Miguel, who died at the age of two in 1500.

Juan married Margaret of Austria in 1497 and died of a fever the same year. Juana is better known as Juana la Loca, Juana the Mad. In 1497 she married Philip I, the son of Emperor Maximilian I, a Hapsburg. The ruled Castile y Leon after Isabel's death and had six children. Charles, who was Charles I, King of Spain and Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, and Ferdinand, who was Ferdinand I of Hungary and Bohemia, were among the six. The four others were daughters: Leonor, Isabel, Maria, and Catalina. Maria was born a twin, whose sister was born stillborn. She married Manoel, her sister Isabel's widower, and became Queen Maria of Portugal. They had eight children including King Juan III of Portugal.

Catalina is the most famous of the five children. She married Arthur, Prince of Wales in 1501 at the age of 15, who died a few months later. Eight years later, after living as a widow in England, she married Arthur's brother, Henry, who became Henry VIII of England. Catalina is better known as Catherine of Aragon, Queen Catherine of England. She suffered many miscarriages and stillborns. She never gave birth to an heir for Henry, only a daughter, who became Mary I of England, which was her downfall. Henry divorced her and banished her to a convent so that he could marry his mistress, Anne Boleyn, the mother of Elizabeth I of England. Henry had six wives by the times of his death. Out of Isabel's five children, it seems they all had tragic lives except for Maria. Isabel died in childbirth, Juan died at 19, Juana went insane, and Catalina suffered much as the wife of Henry VIII.

End of the Reign

Queen Isabel died on November 26, 1504, at the age of 53. Her body was wrapped in a Franciscan robe, which she thought would guarantee her entry into heaven. Her tomb is in the Royal Chapel at Granada, next to Fernando's, who died twelve years after his wife in 1516. They were succeeded by their daughter, Queen Juana, and their son-in-law, King Philip I.

Although Isabel accomplished much during her reign, she is remembered most for her funding Cristoforo Colombo, Christopher Columbus. Today she is remembered as a devout woman, and there is a movement to canonize her into the Catholic faith. However, her role in the Inquisition is blocking the way for Isabel's entrance into sainthood.