Early Years
Born April 22, 1451, in the town of Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Isabel was the daughter of John II, King of Castile, and his second wife, Isabella of Portugal. As a child, she grew up at Arevalo under the care of her mother and maternal grandmother, Isabel of Barcelos, and received an education worthy of her rank. Her mother also ensured she received pious religious instruction. Her father died when she was three and her brother Alfonso was two years old. When her older half-brother Henry IV became king, Isabella stood second in line to the throne.
Isabella’s father and grandfather constantly dealt with contentious nobles who weakened Castilian royal power. By the time of Henry IV’s reign, they looked to strip the king’s authority completely. Henry created even more scandal for himself when he married as his second wife, Joan of Portugal. Following the birth of a daughter named Juana, rumors immediately flew around court that the child was the daughter of Henry’s favorite Beltran de la Cueva. People derisively called her Juana la Beltraneja. While there is no proof of an affair between Joan and Beltran, the rumors were enough to question Juana’s claim to the throne.
When Isabel’s brother Alfonso died in 1468, she used her considerable political skills and her belief in her royal prerogative to compel Henry IV to name her as his heir, with the caveat that she could not marry without his permission. Isabel soon began secret negotiations to marry Fernando of Aragon, and his father named him King of Sicily to impress the Castilian nobles. In 1469, Isabel and Fernando signed an agreement to share power and secretly married with a dispensation from the pope. Henry IV declared Isabel guilty of treason.
Isabel Becomes Queen of Castile and Leon
Because of pressure on the king from the nobles, Isabel avoided being imprisoned. Isabel and Fernando continued to gain the support of the nobles, and she gave birth to her first daughter, Isabella, in 1470. Henry IV died in 1474, and Isabel became queen of Castile and Leon. The War of Castilian Succession began when Afonso V, King of Portugal, married Juana la Beltraneja and fought to place her on the throne. In 1476, Fernando defeated Afonso’s forces and Isabel suppressed a rebellion in Segovia.
Isabel gave birth to her only surviving son Juan, Prince of Asturias, in 1478. In the following year, the Treaty of Alcaçovas ended the War of Castilian Succession, and Fernando succeeded his father as king of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia, and Majorca and as count of Barcelona. Isabel’s daughter Juana was born on November 6, 1479. The couple now had full authority and control of their empire, becoming the epitome of the medieval royal power couple.
Isabel ruled with gentleness and prudence, and Fernando commanded their troops. According to their agreement regarding the government of their dominions, they both held equal authority. This principle found expression in their motto: Tanto monta, monta tanto—Isabel como Fernando. (As much as the one is worth so much is the other-Isabella and Fernando). Their absolute and authoritarian reorganization of the government included the establishment of a permanent military force to protect people and property from the violence of the nobles, an improved administration of justice, the establishment of a chancery at Valladolid, the promulgation of royal edicts, the abolition of the private right to coin money, regulation of currency laws, and a program to curtail the power of the nobles.
The Reconquista and the Inquisition
Their plans for the Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors and the Inquisition were now ready for implementation. In 1478, they formed a tribunal to strengthen Catholicism, reinforce piety, and punish those deemed heretical or insincere in their conversion. Later called the Spanish Inquisition, it served its purpose and additionally acted as a type of secret police that created fear and terror.
The Reconquista comprised the siege of towns and domains governed by the Moors. The war opened with the conquest of Alhama in March 1482. There were worrying defeats at Axarquia and Loja, but they were successful at Coin, Malaga, Vélez, Baza, Guadix, and Almeria. Isabel played a prominent role during the fighting, acting as quartermaster, making sure the army had the supplies it needed, dealt with the government of the kingdom as Fernando headed the army, and frequently visiting the camps to raise the spirit of the troops.
Her children traveled continually with her. She gave birth to her daughter Maria in June 1482 and her last and final surviving daughter Catalina in December 1485. Isabel and Fernando continued to expand and organize their empire and would begin the siege of the last Moorish bastion of Grenada in 1491. Political turmoil paved the way for the monarchs.
The Emir Muley Hassan and his son Boabdil were struggling internally for control. When the Emir died, Boabdil faced opposition from his uncle Abdallah el Zagal. Isabel and Fernando moved the court to Medina del Campo, which functioned as their base for conquering Grenada. The siege begun. A fire broke out in Isabel’s tent when a servant knocked over a lamp and the queen and her children barely escaped death. This led to the construction of the city of Santa Fe, a signal to the people of Granada that Isabel and Fernando would not abandon their enterprise.
Columbus’ Sponsorship, Artistic and Religious Patronage
Grenada surrendered on January 2, 1492; the monarchs granted the Moors religious freedom; and they finally established the monarchy’s territorial unity. On March 31, they issued an edict calling for the expulsion of the Jews (170,000 to 180,000 people). During the siege, Christopher Columbus had presented his mission to sail west and find a route to China, India, and the spice islands of Asia. Isabel instantly recognized the potential of this undertaking and agreed to sponsor him. With the funds, he built and provisioned three caravels, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria and sailed on August 3, 1492, from Palos. On October 12, he landed in the Bahamas. This was the beginning a Spain’s great empire in the New World and the seemingly unending flow of gold to Europe.
Isabel and Fernando reigned over a standard Renaissance court. In the later Middle Ages and early Renaissance, medieval queens were even more prominent in patronizing and transmitting art of all types-painting, architecture, secular and ecclesiastical literature, drama and music, and Isabel was no exception. Isabel realized early in her reign that her education had not been as thorough as she needed for her to rule effectively and she made a commitment to study Latin, even making sure her daughters knew the language as well.
Isabel provided all her children with a fine humanist education. Isabel hired talented tutors to instruct her daughters, such as Beatriz Galindo, known as La Latina. Isabel fostered learning among the universities for men and women. The Spanish court and Salamanca welcomed Italian humanists. Isabel hired the gifted Italian Peter Martyr d’Anghiera to teach the Infante Juan and other noble boys.
In art and architecture, Islamic motifs remained prevalent, but artists and architects amalgamated northern elements into a Gothic style that grew throughout the fifteenth century. Isabel’s fascination with architecture and decoration expanded and the Hispano-Flemish style flourished. As she pursued her building program, her approach developed by expanding on the known Plateresque style, emerging into the Isabelline style, featuring traditional Iberian elements, with soaring Gothic-inspired interiors and golden stone with richly carved sculptural treatments for the exteriors.
A group of talented painters made their living almost exclusively from court patronage in Spain. These included Juan de Flandes, Melchior Aleman, and Michael Sittow. Isabel directly patronized Flandes who arrived from the Netherlands with his delicate and elegant works. Other artists whose paintings were in her collection included Pedro Berruguete, Perugino, Hans Memling, Botticelli, and Dirk Bouts. Because of Isabel’s example, many noble Spanish families followed suit in patronizing the arts.
As Isabel and Fernando pursued their agenda of driving out the Moor and Jewish populations and inaugurating the Inquisition, the ecclesiastics, the kings, and the Cortes raised the topic of reform of the clergy. By the time of their reign, this reform had become royal policy. Isabel wanted to ensure the clergy lived irreproachable lives and received an education, and both monarchs sought the observance of the original monastic orders. A national council at Seville in 1478 adopted an ambitious program to address these issues.
Pope Innocent VIII initially took a hostile attitude to these reforms but ultimately resorted to a policy of collaboration, ordering the reform of the Spanish Benedictines, Cistercians, and Augustinians. Isabel and Fernando advocated for further reform, requesting papal authorization to impose the observance of original monastic rules on convents and to interdict appeals to Rome. The Spanish Pope Alexander VI granted these requests and in 1494 and gave them the title of ‘Catholic King and Queen’ in recognition of their commitment to the Catholic faith as well as their efforts to unify Spain under Catholicism with the Reconquista and the Spanish Inquisition.
Dynastic Alliances and Their Consequences
Isabel and Fernando were very aware of the importance of continuing their dynasty and made significant marriages for their children. Their eldest daughter Isabella married Manuel I, King of Portugal. She gave birth to a son on August 23, 1498, but died because of complications of childbirth. The child, Miguel, went to live with Isabel and would die two years later. Daughter Maria then married King Manuel I and would have several children. One of her descendants, King Philip II of Spain, would eventually unite the crowns of Spain and Portugal in 1580.
In 1496, Isabel and Fernando made a noteworthy alliance, agreeing to marry the Infante Juan to Margaret of Austria, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy. Their daughter Juana was to marry Margaret’s brother Philip, Duke of Burgundy. Juana departed Spain for the Netherlands and married Philip. The ships returned to Spain with Margaret. After a few months of celebrations and wedded bliss, an already ailing Juan died, leaving Margaret pregnant. She gave birth to a stillborn daughter but would remain in Spain for several years before returning to the Netherlands.
The last great alliance made by the Catholic Monarchs would be the marriage of their youngest daughter, Catherine of Aragon, to Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, which took place in November 1501. Arthur died several months later, and Catherine stayed in England hoping to marry Arthur’s brother, Prince Henry. The marriage of Juana and Philip would be an unhappy one, although it would have far-reaching consequences. Juana continued to give birth to several children, including the future queens of Portugal and France, Denmark and Norway, Portugal, and Hungary and Bohemia.
Death of Isabel
Following the deaths of Infanta Isabella and Prince Miguel, Juana was Isabel’s heir to the Castilian throne, and she urged her daughter to come to Spain to receive fealty from the Cortes of Castile. Philip and Juana came to Spain, but Philip did not want to stay and left Juana, who was pregnant, in Spain. Isabel kept up the pressure on Juana, who was between the vise of loyalty to her parents and her husband. She resorted to unusual behavior to get her way and depart and join her husband, leaving Isabel wondering about her ability to rule Castile. She compelled Juana to leave her newborn son Ferdinand to be brought up in Spain.
The many family deaths and worry over the succession led to depression and illness for Isabel. In the fall of 1504, she withdrew from government and went to Medina del Campo where she succumbed to fever, restlessness, insomnia, and dropsy. Knowing death was near, she prepared her will in October with strict instructions on the succession of the throne of Castile. She died on a Tuesday morning, between eleven and twelve o’clock on November 26, at fifty-three. Her death resulted in controlled chaos, but her reign was momentous and a golden age for Spain. Her grandson, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, would eventually absorb the kingdom into the Habsburg Empire.
Further reading: “Isabel the Queen: Life and Times” by Peggy Liss, “Isabella of Castile: Europe’s First Great Queen” by Giles Tremlett, “Isabella the Warrior Queen” by Kirstin Downey, “Queenship in Medieval Europe” by Theresa Earenfight, “Game of Queens: The Women Who Made Sixteenth-Century Europe” by Sarah Gristwood
