The relationship of 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, which led 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 ended the Reconquista, the discovery of America took place.
It was under him that Spain entered a 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 lasting power 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, as well as 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 for many years there were completely different, including hostile religions.
She was a strong enough ruler, at times showing unjustified cruelty, but there were acts 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 disparate independent kingdoms. Moreover, if Aragon and Castile were Christian states, then the Muslim faith prevailed in neighboring Granada, since the Moors mainly lived there. Isabella was brought up as a true Christian, the family cultivated rejection of the Gentiles. Therefore, even in childhood, 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 self-serving man, ascended the throne.
Engagement with Ferdinand
An important milestone in her life was an engagement with the young heir to the throne of Aragon. For the first time, Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon met in 1469. They immediately liked each other. The future queen was initially told a lot about the future bridegroom, so she managed to love him in absentia. What happens infrequently, reality has not deceived her. Ferdinand was tall and charming, very confident.
The first years of family 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 gave birth to their firstborn. It was a girl. Four years later, Isabella's brother, Henry, passed away. After that, she officially became the queen of Castile. It was after this that the two largest Spanish states reunited. There was a good opportunity to speak out against the Muslim Granada, which openly annoyed many, including in the royal palace.
A brief biography of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon confirms that they hastened to use this opportunity to the maximum. Their interests and values of life completely coincided, therefore, from 1480, the combined army fought against the Moors.
War with the moors
Contemporaries of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon noted that they could not take part in wars for a long time because of the rulers' addiction to campaigns and risky adventures. Isabella herself bore, along with men, many of the hardships of military life, but at the same time 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, the queen did not look like a warlike lady at all. On the contrary, she was a very fragile woman with pale skin and attractive brown hair.
Royal offspring
The children of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon constantly accompanied their parents in all military campaigns. They lived modestly, the younger ones were wearing the clothes of the elders, in luxury they did not swim at all.
The queen did not leave them in the palace, from an early age accustoming them to hardships and hardships. She herself devoted a lot of time to their upbringing, especially religious, as she was fanatically devoted to God. Especially the royal couple had their hopes in the son of Juan, foreseeing that he would become their successor.
Isabella also sincerely loved her daughter Juan, who often reminded her of her mother. The girl was just as nervous and hot-tempered. But her fate was tragic. Juan 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 distant castle, in which she died in complete non-existence.
Isabella's son, Juan, died tragically. At the age of 19, his life ended unexpectedly for everyone. After this, Isabella became especially irritable and gloomy. And relations with Ferdinand went wrong.
Problems in family life
The marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon was only initially cloudless. Over time, two strong natures began to compete, conflicts constantly arose. After the death of the son, the couple became very distant from each other. Ferdinand had a lover, whom he practically did not hide from his wife, and Isabella completely began to devote herself to religion, turning into a real 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 over the dead children, she turned into a decrepit woman who was completely uninteresting and not needed by her husband.
The only consolation she found was that her romantic dream, about which she dreamed as a child, came true.
Victory over Granada
On January 2, 1492, a momentous event in Spanish history took place. The Moors surrendered to Granada. Ferdinand and Isabella solemnly entered the palace, located in the Alhambra. From this day began the history of a single Spanish nation.
Moreover, the queen managed to destroy the religious diversity that she hated. Catholicism finally entrenched on Spanish soil. An edict was issued according to which the entire non-Christian population should have left Spain as soon as possible. Jews and Muslims after that were under the heavy oppression of the Inquisition.
By the way, the revival of the Inquisition in 1480 became the darkest page of her reign. Since then, for several hundred years, Spain has come to be known as a country irreconcilable to other faiths, all non-Catholics have been repressed.
Money for Columbus Expeditions
Another great achievement of this 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 go sailing to the west.
He traveled all European yards in search of help, but none of the monarchs wanted to spend money on this project. For the first time, Columbus came to see Isabella in 1485. But at that time, in the midst of a war with the Moors, 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, fired up with his ideas. But the more cold-blooded and prudent Ferdinand only calculated how much this expedition could cost. He stated that this was too expensive a project, but Isabella objected sharply to him. She was ready to take all the expenses on herself. Recently, they often disagreed on a variety of issues.
Mariner's discovery of new lands
True, it was not easy to find the money. The Spanish treasury was severely devastated after the war. For a long time she could not decide to get involved in this risky enterprise. The last argument of Columbus was the desire to appeal to the French king, if she refuses. True, Isabella did not know that he had already addressed him, and he refused.
According to legend, Isabella had to pawn her own jewelry in order to find money to finance the expedition. But, most likely, this is just a beautiful fiction. As a result, money was found, and on August 3, 1492, Columbus sailed 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 find out about this until the very end of his life.
He returned to Spain without the promised wealth, but his stories about the new lands so impressed Isabella that she agreed to finance all of his subsequent expeditions. As a result, it was possible to organize a colony on the island of Hispaniola. So Europeans entrenched in the new continent. He named the colony in honor of 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 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 that went down in world history.