Isabella I or Isabella the Catholic, 1451–1504, Spanish queen of Castile and León (1474–1504), daughter of John II of Castile. In 1469 she married Ferdinand of Aragón (later King Ferdinand II Ferdinand II or Ferdinand the Catholic, 1452–1516, king of Aragón (1479–1516), king of Castile and León (as Ferdinand V, 1474–1504), king of Sicily (1468–1516), and king of Naples (1504–16).
..... Click the link for more information. of Aragón and Ferdinand V of Castile). At the death (1474) of her half brother Henry IV Henry IV, 1425–74, Spanish king of Castile and León (1454–74), son and successor of John II. His weakness opened the way to civil strife and anarchy.
..... Click the link for more information. of Castile, the succession to Castile was contested between Isabella and Juana la Beltraneja Juana la Beltraneja (hwä`nä lä bĕltränā`hä)
..... Click the link for more information. , who was supported by Alfonso V Alfonso V, 1432–81, king of Portugal (1438–81), son of Duarte and Queen Leonor. During his minority there was a struggle for the regency between the queen mother and Alfonso's uncle, Dom Pedro, duke of Coimbra.
..... Click the link for more information. of Portugal. The civil war ended with Isabella's victory in 1479, the year in which Ferdinand became king of Aragón. Isabella and Ferdinand, known as the Catholic kings, ruled Castile and Aragón jointly. Although the union of their crowns was personal rather than institutional, their reign in effect marked the beginning of the unified Spanish kingdom. Isabella's principal aim was to assert royal authority over the lawless Castilian nobility. To this end she revived the medieval hermandad hermandad (ārmändäth`) [Span.
..... Click the link for more information. and confiscated the lands of many magnates. She also took over the administration of the holdings of the powerful religious military orders (by making Ferdinand their grand master) and established the Inquisition Inquisition (ĭn'kwĭzĭsh`ən), tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church established for the investigation of heresy.
..... Click the link for more information. under royal control. She was a prime mover in the expulsion (1492) of the Jews from Spain, the conquest (1492) of Granada, and the forced conversion of the Moors. She showed foresight in her patronage of Christopher Columbus Columbus, Christopher, Ital. Cristoforo Colombo (krēstô`fōrō kōlôm`bō), Span.
..... Click the link for more information. . The Catholic kings furthered learning and the arts and promoted great building activity. The style of the period is called isabelino after the queen; it combines Gothic, Mudejar, and Renaissance features. Isabella bequeathed Castile to her daughter Joanna Joanna (Joanna the Mad), 1479–1555, Spanish queen of Castile and León (1504–55), daughter of Ferdinand II and Isabella I. She succeeded to Castile and León at the death of her mother.
..... Click the link for more information. , with Ferdinand as regent.

Bibliography

See biographies by I. L. Plunket (1915) and W. T. Walsh (1987); W. H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic (3 vol., 1838; abr. ed. 1962); J. H. Mariéjol, The Spain of Ferdinand and Isabella (1892, tr. 1961); R. B. Merriman, The Rise of the Spanish Empire, Vol. II (1918, repr. 1962); J. H. Elliott, Imperial Spain: 1469–1716 (1963).

Isabella I

known as Isabella the Catholic Spanish Isabel la Católica

Isabella I, portrait by an unknown artist; in the Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid, Spain.

(credit: Archivo Mas, Barcelona)

(born April 22, 1451, Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Castile—died Nov. 26, 1504, Medina del Campo, Spain) Queen of Castile (1474–1504) and of Aragon (1479–1504). Daughter of John II of Castile and León, she married Ferdinand V in 1469. Her reign began with civil war over her succession (1474–79), but in 1479 the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon came together in the persons of their rulers, though they remained separately governed. In a long campaign (1482–92), Isabella and Ferdinand succeeded in conquering Granada, the last Muslim stronghold in Spain. In 1492 Isabella approved support of Christopher Columbus's journey to the New World. That same year she was involved in the expulsion of the Jews under the Inquisition. Along with her spiritual advisers, she reformed the Spanish churches.