The relationship between Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon is one of the most famous love stories. This royal couple entered into an official marriage in 1469. Ten years later, Ferdinand became King of Aragon, leading to an important dynastic union. The rulers of Castile and Aragon actually became one family, in fact, this is what led to the unification of Spain.
Ferdinand of Aragon
Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon have lived together since 1469. Ferdinand was born in the town of Sos in 1452.
He reigned for forty years, and thanks to happy circumstances, as well as his own talents, he played a key role in medieval European politics. He achieved the official unification of Aragon and Castile, during his reign the Reconquista ended, the discovery of America took place.
It was under him that Spain entered the time of true prosperity. Together with his matchmaker, Maximilian I, he became one of the architects of the "World Empire", which his grandson would later build.
The result of his reign was the formation of a strongauthorities in Spain. He had many enemies, whom he was able to defeat not only with his strength, but also with cunning. He prepared for his heir a colossal state that retained its traditions, laws, and complete autonomy.
Isabella of Castile
Isabella of Castile became one of the founders of the Spanish state. She was a fanatical Catholic, having managed to establish Christianity in a country in which completely different, including hostile, religions existed for many years.
She was a fairly strong ruler, sometimes showing unjustified cruelty, but there were also deeds that adorned her reign. But in general, historians perceive her as a very controversial woman who was a very influential person in European politics.
She was born in the family of Juan II - the Castilian king. When she was born, Spain was going through hard times. The country consisted of scattered independent kingdoms. Moreover, if Aragon and Castile were Christian states, then in their neighboring Granada, the Muslim religion prevailed, since the Moors predominantly lived there. Isabella was brought up as a true Christian, the rejection of non-Christians was cultivated in the family. Therefore, even as a child, she began to dream of expelling them from the country.
At the age of four, she lost her father, her mother was forced to leave the palace, because her stepson, who was a greedy and selfish man, took the throne.
Engaged to Ferdinand
An important landmark event in her life was her engagement to the young heir to the throne of Aragon. Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon first met in 1469. They immediately liked each other. The future queen was initially told a lot about the future groom, so she managed to fall in love with him in absentia. What happens infrequently, reality did not deceive her. Ferdinand was tall and charming, very confident.
The first years of married life
Their beginning of family life was very successful. Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, whose biography is given in this article, already in 1470 had their first child. It was a girl. Four years later, Isabella's brother Heinrich died. After that, she officially became Queen of Castile. It was after this that the two largest Spanish states were reunited. There was a favorable occasion to come out as a united front against the Muslim Granada, which frankly irritated many, including those in the royal palace.
Short biography of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon confirms that they hastened to make the most of this opportunity. Their interests and life values completely coincided, therefore, since 1480, the united army waged war against the Moors.
War with the Moors
Contemporaries of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon noted that it was not possible to participate in wars for a long time because of the rulers' addiction to campaigns and risky adventures. Isabella herself endured, along with men, many hardships of military life, but at the same time she managed to give birth to ten children from her husband. Five of them died in infancy, but the rest were able to survive.
At the same time, outwardly, the queen did not look like a warlike lady at all. On the contrary, she was a very delicate woman with pale skin and attractive brown hair.
Royal Offspring
Children of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon constantly accompanied their parents in all military campaigns. They lived modestly, the younger ones wore the clothes of the elders, they did not bathe in luxury at all.
The Queen did not leave them in the palace, accustoming them to hardships and hardships from an early age. She herself devoted a lot of time to their upbringing, especially religious, as she was fanatically devoted to God. The royal couple in particular had high hopes for their son Juan, foreseeing that he would be their successor.
Isabella also sincerely loved her daughter Juana, who often reminded her of her mother. The girl was just as nervous and quick-tempered. But her fate was tragic. Juana became the wife of Philip of Burgundy, bore him a son, but then mental problems made themselves felt, she lost her mind. When her husband died, she was taken to a remote castle, where she died in complete oblivion.
Tragically died and sonIsabella - Juan. At the age of 19, his life unexpectedly ended for everyone. After that, Isabella became especially irritable and gloomy. Yes, and relations with Ferdinand went wrong.
Problems in family life
The marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon was only at first unclouded. Over time, two strong natures began to compete, conflicts constantly arose. After the death of their son, the couple became very distant from each other. Ferdinand had a mistress, whom he practically did not hide from his wife, and Isabella began to devote herself completely to religion, turning into a real man-hater.
Until the end of her life, she did not recover from grief. Therefore, the love story of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, which began so rosy, has a sad ending. Heartbroken for her dead children, she turned into a decrepit woman who was completely uninteresting and unneeded by her husband.
The only consolation she found was that her childhood romantic dream had come true.
Victory over Granada
On January 2, 1492, a significant event in Spanish history took place. The Moors surrendered Granada. Ferdinand and Isabella solemnly entered the palace, located in the Alhambra. From that day began the history of a united Spanish nation.
Moreover, the queen managed to destroy the religious diversity she hated. Catholicism finally entrenched itself on Spanish soil. An edict was issued according to which allthe non-Christian population had to leave Spain as soon as possible. Jews and Muslims then found themselves under the heavy yoke of the Inquisition.
By the way, the revival of the Inquisition in 1480 was the darkest page of her reign. Since then, for several hundred years, Spain has been known as a country that is irreconcilable to other faiths, all non-Catholics were subjected to repression.
Money for Columbus expeditions
Another great achievement of this married couple was the support of the adventurous traveler Christopher Columbus, who discovered America. They supported his expedition, in which he sought to prove to everyone that the earth is not flat, but spherical, so you can swim to India if you sail west.
He traveled to all European courts in search of help, but none of the monarchs wanted to spend money on this project. Columbus first appeared at the reception of Isabella in 1485. But at that time the war with the Moors was in full swing, the outcome of which interested her more than anything else. She invited him to return when he won the war.
When Columbus returned, Isabella, being an adventurer by nature, caught fire with his ideas. But the more cold-blooded and prudent Ferdinand only calculated how much this expedition could cost. He declared that this was too expensive a project, but Isabella sharply objected to him. She was ready to take on all the expenses. Recently, they often disagreed on a variety of issues.
Discovery of new lands by a navigator
True, finding the money turned out to be quite difficult. Spanishthe treasury was heavily devastated after the war. For a long time she could not decide to get involved in this risky venture. The last argument of Columbus was the desire to turn to the French king if she refuses. True, Isabella did not know that he had already contacted him, and he refused.
According to legend, Isabella had to pawn her own jewelry in order to raise money to finance the expedition. But, most likely, this is just a beautiful fiction. As a result, the money was found, and on August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail on three ships with a crew of 90 people. As we all know, instead of India, he discovered America, which became an even more significant milestone in history. True, Columbus himself did not know about this until the very end of his life.
He returned to Spain without the promised riches, but Isabella was so impressed by his stories about new lands that she agreed to finance all his subsequent expeditions. As a result, it was possible to organize a colony on the island of Hispaniola. So the Europeans entrenched themselves on the new continent. He named the colony after Queen Isabella. After all, it was she who helped him realize his dream.
These are the main achievements of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon. You will find the years of life of the rulers in this article. Isabella, born in 1451, died in 1504 when she was 53 years old. Ferdinand was born in 1452. He died in 1516, when he was 68 years old. This is one of the most famous married royal couples in world history.
