< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > young Isabella</h1>
Queen Isabella was born in April 1451 in Madrid by Gar de Las Artas Torres. Her parents were Juan II of Castile and Queen Isabella of Castile of Portugal.
When Isabella was three years old, her father died and her mother was unconscious due to excessive grief. Isabella's maternal grandmother took on the responsibility of educating Isabella.
Educated well in rhetoric, art, philosophy, and history, Isabella taught herself classes in Latin, mathematics, chess, dance, music, and religion.
She speaks Spanish, Latin, Greek and French, and she also studied law, mathematics, classical literature, history, etc. She is considered one of the most educated women in Europe.
Queen Isabella
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > marriage to Ferdinand</h1>
Royal marriage was not a romantic affair, but a way of securing social status during this historical period. Marriage is about securing titles and increasing family wealth. Thus, at a very young age, Enrique IV helped Isabella find a marriage partner in order to gain greater political benefits.
In 1465, they tried to persuade Isabella to marry Alfonso V of Portugal. Isabella insisted on choosing her husband, saying she would not accept a purely political match.
After several different marriage proposals, the objects were different nobles and European royalty. In 1469, Isabella decided to marry Ferdinand of Aragon.
This marriage combined Aragon and Castile, which also laid the foundation for later Spain.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > a secret wedding</h1>
Isabella hadn't seen Ferdinand before the wedding. However, before deciding on the wedding, she already had some specific knowledge of her future husband (age, interests, status, etc.).
The wedding ceremony took place in secret on 19 October 1469 in Valladolid. Enrique IV did not know about this. Although he was Isabella's older brother, he wanted his daughter Juana to succeed to the throne.
Isabella's marriage was not approved by the Pope at that time, so Isabella had to forge a marriage license certificate.
Isabella's marriage to Ferdinand ensured Isabella's royal status.
Isabella and Ferdinand
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Castilian order of succession</h1>
Originally, the possibility of Isabella becoming queen was slim. Because she has a half-brother and a younger brother Alfonso. Both men succeeded to the throne in order before Isabella.
However, during the reign of Henrique IV, the people were unpopular, and the nobles were not satisfied with the king. A rebellion broke out in the country, with the rebels supporting Alfonso as King of Castile, and civil war broke out between Alfonso and Henrique IV for the throne. During the war, Alfonso died suddenly at the age of 14. The cause of death may have been a disease, and some rumors suggest that it may have been poisoning in order to remove the threat of the Castilian throne.
In December 1474, King Henrique IV died of illness. Buried in the Royal Monastery of St. Mary's in Extremadura Guadalupe. Both heirs died, and Isabella became castile's next heir.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the first queen of Spain</h1>
On December 13, 1474, at the age of 23, Isabella was crowned Queen of Castile, and the coronation ceremony was held at the Church of St. Michael.
Ferdinand was dissatisfied with Isabella's private ascension to the throne, and the couple became suspicious. In order to appease Ferdinand to stabilize his marriage to Ferdinand, Isabella established the two-king model, with their names written on some documents, declarations, and currencies, and Ferdinand's name in front, while Isabella was the actual ruler of Castile, and Ferdinand only gained part of the real power.
King Alfonso V of Portugal disagreed with Isabella's coronation. So he married another heir, Juana, in 1475, insisting that Juana was the true queen.
For the Castilian throne, Alfonso V led Portuguese soldiers into castile, and the War of the Throne broke out. The War of the Castilian Succession lasted for four years and did not officially end until 1479, when the two sides signed a treaty.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Iberia is ruled by Islam</h1>
Since the Muslim invasion of Spain from North Africa in 711, Islam has appeared on the Iberian Peninsula along with Christianity and Judaism. This period clearly shows how the three cultures have successfully coexisted.
By the time Isabella ascended the throne in 1474, Islam had ruled for more than seven hundred years in different parts of Spain. Yet the powerful state is now in steep decline. There is infighting between different Muslim rulers. There were also ongoing battles between Christian and Muslim armies.
Isabella's goal was to spread Christianity in her own kingdom. Her immediate priority was to resolve the Christian-Muslim conflict. She had the pope's support, which was in her personal and political interests. Isabella gained confidence and developed her own strategy.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the Granada War</h1>
On Christmas Day 1481, Abu Hassan of Granada attacked and occupied the castilian town of Saará and imprisoned the local population.
In February 1482, the Castilian army retaliated by attacking and occupying Al Ama, and the war between the two sides began.
Al Ama was the first town to be conquered by Isabella, who defeated the Muslim army. January 2, 1492, after 10 years of the Battle of Granada. Isabella and Ferdinand captured the city with the help of Grand Marshal Gonzalo. Muslim rule in Iberia was over.
Babdir surrendered
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="42" > Isabella's child</h1>
Isabella had 5 children with Ferdinand, the queen was shrewd and meticulously planned her political actions, and all her children were married to European royalty. Despite the many shrewd deals she made, things didn't turn out the way she had hoped. Life is not designed and is much more complex than expected.
In 1470, Isabella and Ferdinand's first child, Princess Isabella, was born, and she was initially married to prince Alfonso of Portugal, but died shortly after the marriage. He later remarried Alfonso's uncle, King Manuel I of Portugal. She died in childbirth at the age of 27, and the child she gave birth to died prematurely.
The birth of Prince Juan on 30 June 1478 was a great joy for the couple, Queen Isabella, who hoped he would become king of Castile and Aragon. However, Juan died at the age of 19. He is thought to have died of tuberculosis and died in Salamanca on 3 October 1497. Before his death, he married Margaret of Austria and had a child, but the child also died prematurely. His death was a huge blow to Isabella.
Isabella's third child, Juana de Castilla, was born in 1479. She later married Philip of the Habsburgs. The couple has 6 children.
In 1502, Princess Juana and Philip were sworn in to Toledo and Zaragoza as heirs to the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon.
Juana was later known as "Juana the Mad Woman". She suffered from a mental illness that may have been caused by the deterioration of her relationship with her husband Philip. Notably, Isabella's mother also suffered from mental illness, so this could be family inheritance.
Another possibility is that after Isabella's death, Philip and Ferdinand, in a bid for the throne, may have exaggerated Juana's mental state in order to gain political control. She later spent the rest of her life in the Convent of Todcilas.
In 1482, Maria de Aragon was supposed to be twins, but only one survived. Maria de Aragon later married King Manuel I of Portugal. They had 10 children. She spent most of her marriage pregnant. Maria de Aragon died in childbirth in 1517.
In 1485, Catherine of Aragon was born, her last child, Isabella. She was the first wife of Henry VIII. They have children, but no sons. Her daughter later became Queen of England.
Henry VIII wanted to marry Anne Boleyn, but Catherine did not agree to the divorce. This conflict led to the separation from the Catholic Church and the creation of the Anglican Church.
She died on 8 January 1536 and was buried as a princess rather than as a queen. Henry VIII did not attend her funeral.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="21" > Columbus discovered the New World</h1>
Since the 1680s, Columbus has been seeking patronage from the King of Portugal (or any European royal family). The aspiring navigator raised funds for his sailing expedition program. Convinced that he would find jewelry, gold, and other treasures during his expeditions, he went to Queen Isabella and sold her his plans.
From 1485 to 1486, Isabella wanted to spread the Catholic faith. She believed that if she sponsored Columbus's voyage program, Christianity could be spread far away. She began applying to the court for funding for her first transatlantic trip.
In 1491, Columbus lived in the Abbey of Rabida. Here Columbus received the support of the monks. The abbot Juan Perez agreed to help Columbus intercede with the Queen. Columbus then received a grant from the Queen to embark on a voyage.
In June 1494, Isabella and the King of Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas. The agreement divided the New World between Spain and Portugal. As European colonialism intensifies and complicates, this global differentiation will change dramatically.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="22" > Columbus's conflict with the queen</h1>
As the voyages progressed, the relationship between the Queen and Columbus became tense. Queen Isabella opposed slavery and even forbade Columbus to do so. However, Columbus did not obey the queen's orders, and Columbus brought back the slaves of Indiana, and Isabella was furious. It was an escalating issue between Columbus and the Queen.
Spreading Catholicism in the New World was a cause that Isabella was passionate about, and it was not a simple task for Columbus. He was obsessed with finding treasure, gold, and commodities.
Isabella gradually lost trust in Columbus, and the queen appointed Ovando as governor of Hispaniola.
Isabella instructed Ovando that they should encourage and reward Indians to talk to Christians, that they should work and be paid like free men, not like slaves, that no one should harm them or cause them any misfortune in any way, and that they should be converted to Christianity with love, not by force.
Columbus
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="16" > Spanish Inquisition</h1>
The Spanish Inquisition was established to preserve Catholic legitimacy and to punish pagans by cruel means.
It took a long time for the Spanish Inquisition to be established. For centuries, Rome advocated religious unity. The pope exerted pressure to expel unbelievers or pagans from Castile and Aragon.
Queen Isabella was a very devout Catholic. She also knew that it was important for her to have The support of Rome politically. Religion and politics were inseparable at the time. So Isabella agreed to set up the Inquisition, which was a stain on her life.
The Inquisition was evil and bloody, but it was one of the most successful acts of forcing infidels to convert to Christianity, ending the religious struggle in Spain and uniting Spain in unity with the outside world.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > alhambra decree</h1>
Granada surrendered to the Catholic king on 2 January 1492. But many Muslims did not leave Granada, and many of them lived in the southern region of Granada to continue their missionary missions.
On March 31, 1492, three months after the conquest of the Kingdom of Granada, the Two Catholic Kings issued the Alhambra Decree, announcing the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain. Jews were asked to sell their things within 3 months, pack up their belongings and leave forever, or convert to Christianity.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Queen Isabella died</h1>
Isabella died on 26 November 1504 at the age of 53. Isabella left a will, using her will as a blueprint for Spain to follow after her death.
Before her death, she asked Ferdinand not to marry again, and Ferdinand agreed, but less than a year after Isabella's death, Ferdinand married a French bride.
In 1516, Ferdinand died and he was buried in Granada. Finally Ferdinand, Queen Isabella, Queen Juana, and King Philip rested in permanent peace.
Isabella devoted her life to Spain, and on the basis of what she laid, Spain rose to become the world's first true superpower. The golden age of art, literature and architecture in Spain is coming.
Her descendants continued her career, and today Isabella's descendants still hold power across Europe.