Born: 22 April 1451, Spain
Died: 26 November 1504
Country most active: Spain
Also known as: Isabella I; Isabella of Spain; Isabella the Catholic; Isabella of Castile; Queen Isabella; Isabella Queen of Castile and León
This biography, written by Catherine Capel, is shared with permission from Team Queens, an educational history blog run by a collective of historical scholars. All rights reserved; this material may not be republished without the author’s consent.
Isabella (b. 1451) was the only daughter of Juan II of Castile and Isabella of Portugal. She had two brothers – an older half-brother, Enrique IV, and a younger brother Alfonzo of Castile.
When Enrique came to the throne in 1454, Isabella, her mother, and her younger brother all moved to reside in Arévalo until Enrique’s second wife, Juana of Portugal, gave birth to a baby girl. Enrique then insisted his siblings should return to court.
When it came to arranging her marriage, Isabella had the right to veto any spousal choices that she did not approve of. Her choice was Fernando II, King of Aragon and Navarre. The agreed power sharing dynamic between the two regnant monarchs meant that each would govern their respective kingdoms in their own right.
The couple would go on to have five children who would reach adulthood, including their youngest daughter Catherine of Aragon, mother to Mary I of England.
Isabella’s reign as Queen of Castile began in December 1474 and she became Queen of Aragon when Fernando ascended to his throne in 1479.
Her reign was most notable for aspects such as the strengthening of governmental institutions in Castile, her support of Christopher Columbus’ expedition to the Americas, and the establishment of a Spanish Empire. Isabel and Fernando were also behind the expulsion of Muslims and Jews from their kingdoms to solidify them as Catholic nations.
Isabella died in 1504 and was buried in the Royal Chapel of Granada, designed by her grandson, Holy Roman Emperor Carlos V. She was buried alongside her husband, her daughter Juana and Juana’s husband Philip I, and Isabella’s grandson Miguel.
Recommended Reading
Giles Tremlett, Isabella of Castile: Europe’s First Great Queen (London: Bloomsbury, 2017)
M. Lunefeld, “Isabella I of Castile and the Company of Women in Power,” Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques 4 (1977): 59-79
Theresa Earenfight, “Two Bodies, One Spirit: Isabella and Ferdinand’s Construction of Monarchical Partnership,” in Queen Isabel I of Castile: Power, Patronage, Persona, ed. Barbara F. Weissberger, 3-18 (Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2008).
The following is excerpted from Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women, written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company.
Isabella (1451-1504), Queen of Castile, daughter of John II. In 1469 she married Ferdinand of Aragon, and when the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile were united, Ferdinand and Isabella assumed the royal titles of Spain, and by this union the foundation of Spain’s future greatness was laid. Isabella was beautiful in person, of pleasing manners and kindly heart, though of inflexible will, proud, ambitious, and exceedingly punctilious. She was always present in meetings of the council, and insisted on the use of her name with that of Ferdinand in all public documents. Spain undoubtedly owed to Isabella’s clear intellect, resolute energy and unselfish patriotism much of that greatness which for the first time it acquired under “the Catholic Sovereigns.” The moral influence of the queen’s personal character over the Castilian court was incalculably great; from the debasement and degradation of the preceding reign she raised it to being “the nursery of virtue and of generous ambition.” She did much for letters in Spain by founding the palace school, but the very sincerity of her piety and strength of her religious convictions led her more than once into errors of state policy, and into more than one act which offends the moral sense of a more refined age; her efforts for the introduction of the Inquisition, and for the proscription of the Jews, are evidences of her bigotry. She was a loving wife, and is justly revered by Spaniards as the purest glory of their royal annals. Queen Isabella’s chief title to fame rests upon the well-known part she took in promoting the great project of Columbus. When all others had heard with incredulity the scheme of Columbus, she recalled the wanderer to her presence with the words, “I will assume the undertaking for my own crown of Castile, and am ready to pawn my jewels to defray the expenses of it, if the funds in the treasury should be found inadequate.” Through her influence, Ferdinand was prevailed upon to assist Columbus.
The following is excerpted from Woman: Her Position, Influence and Achievement Throughout the Civilized World. Designed and Arranged by William C. King, published in 1900 by The King-Richardson Co. Copyright 1903 The King-Richardson Co.
Isabella of Castile was born in Madrigal, April 22, 1451. She was the daughter of John II of Castile by his second wife, Isabella of Portugal, and was therefore descended, through both parents, from the famous John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster.
Until her twelfth year, Isabella lived with her mother in retirement in the small town of Arevalo. After numerous intrigues on the part of her royal sponsors to contract political marriages that were distasteful to her, she finally married, in 1469, Ferdinand V, king of Aragon, whose suit both policy and affection inclined her to accept.
After the death of her brother Henry IV, in 1474, she ascended the throne of Castile, to the exclusion of her elder sister, Joanna, who had the rightful claim to the crown. During the lifetime of her brother, Isabella had gained the favor of the estates to the kingdom to such a degree that the majority, on his death, declared for her. From the others, the victorious arms of her husband extorted acquiescence, in the battle of Toro, in 1476.
After the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile were thus united, Ferdinand and Isabella assumed the royal title of Spain. Thenceforward, their fortunes were inseparably blended. For some time they held a humble court at Dueñas, and afterward they resided at Segovia.
With the graces and charms of her sex, Isabella united the courage of a heroine, and the sagacity of a statesman and legislator. She was always present at the transaction of state affairs, and her name was placed beside that of her husband in public ordinances. The conquest of Granada, after which the Moors were entirely expelled from Spain, and the discovery of America, were, in a great degree, her work. When all others had heard with incredulity the scheme of Columbus, she recalled the wanderer to her presence with the words, “I will assume the undertaking for my own crown of Castile, and am ready to pawn my jewels to defray the expenses of it, the funds in the treasury should be found inadequate.” In all her undertakings, the wise cardinal Ximenes was her assistant.
She has been accused of severity, pride, and unbounded ambition; but those faults oftentimes promoted the welfare of the kingdom, as well as developed her virtues and talents. A spirit like hers was necessary to humble the haughtiness of the nobles without exciting their hostility; to conquer Granada without letting loose the hordes of Africa on Europe; and to restrain the vices of her subjects, who had become corrupt by reason of the bad administration of the laws.
By the introduction of a strict ceremonial, which subsists to the present day at the Spanish court, she succeeded in checking the haughtiness of the numerous nobles about the person of the king, and in depriving them of their pernicious influence over him. Private warfare, which had formerly prevailed to the destruction of public tranquility, she checked, and introduced a vigorous administration of justice.
The very sincerity of her piety and strength of her religious convictions led her more than once, however, into great errors of state policy, which have never since been repaired, and into more than one act which offends the moral sense of a more refined age.
In 1492, Pope Alexander VI confirmed to the royal pair the title of Catholic king, already conferred upon them by Innocent VIII. The zeal for the Roman Catholic religion, which procured them this title, gave rise to the inquisition, which was introduced into Spain, in 1480, at the suggestion of their confessor, Torquemada. This was followed by a wholesale proscription of the Jews and other acts of fanaticism which history has been very slow to approve, though all historians agree in applauding her beauty, virtue, piety, learning, and political wisdom.
Isabella died in 1504, having extorted from her husband (of whom she was very jealous) an oath that he would never marry again. She had five children: Isabella, married to Emmanuel of Portugal; Juan, a virtuous prince who died in 1497, aged 20; Juana, who married Philip, Archduke of Austria, and who was the mother of the emperor Charles V; Maria, who espoused Emmanuel after the death of her sister; and Catharine, the wife of Henry VIII of England.
The following is excerpted from “Female Warriors: Memorials of Female Valour and Heroism, from the Mythological Ages to the Present Era,” by Ellen C. Clayton (Mrs. Needham), published in 1879 and shared online by Project Gutenberg.
The same year, 1476, Isabel the Catholic having received intelligence that the Portuguese meditated invading her dominions, resolved to superintend in person the defence of the frontiers. Despite the remonstrances of her council, she set out for Estramadura in the summer of 1477, and, after capturing several fortresses, and placing strong garrisons in Badajoz, Ciudad Rodrigo, and other frontier towns, established her head-quarters at Seville.
Queen Isabel again displayed her wish to be a warrior during the contest between Ferdinand and the Moors. In 1487 and 1489 she encouraged the Spanish soldiers by her presence in the camp. In 1491 Ferdinand commenced the siege of Granada. Isabel arrived towards the close of May. Attired in a magnificent suit of armour, and mounted on a richly caparisoned horse, she rode through the ranks, greeted on all sides with joyful acclamations.
Wishing to obtain a nearer view of the renowned red towers of the Alhambra, the queen rode forward on the 18th June, escorted by the entire Spanish cavalry, to the village of La Zubia, situated at a short distance from Granada. But her curiosity was very near being the cause of her capture. A large body of Moorish troops sallied out from Granada and attacked the body-guard of the queen. Matters were growing serious, when the Marquis de Cadix came to the rescue with twelve hundred lances, and put the Moors to flight.
During the conflict Isabel did not display exactly the courage of a heroine. Struck with abject terror, she remained on her knees all the time, praying earnestly; and made a vow that if she escaped she would erect a monastery on the spot.
The following is excerpted from “400 Outstanding Women of the World and the Costumology of Their Time” by Minna Moscherosch Schmidt, published in 1933.
Daughter of John II of Castile, by his second wife, Isabella of Portugal; descended, through both parents, from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. In 1469, married Ferdinand V, King of Aragon. When her brother died in 1474, Isabella ascended the throne of Castile, and thus the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile were united, and Ferdinand and Isabella assumed the royal title of Spain; thenceforth the fortunes of both kingdoms were inseparably united. They had five children; Isabella, who married Emmanuel of Portugal; Juan, who died at the age of twenty; Juana, who married Philip, Archduke of Austria, and who was the mother of Emperor Charles V; Maria, who married Emmanuel after the death of her sister; and Catherine, wife of Henry VIII of England. Isabella always took part in state affairs; her signature accompanied that of Ferdinand. The conquest of Granada, the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, and the discovery of America, were due, in a very great measure, to her influence and hard work. She pawned her jewels, to help defray the expense of Columbus’ venture across the sea. It has been said of Isabella that she had great pride, a severe character and unlimited ambition, but she was ever on the alert to promote the welfare of the kingdom. She established a strict administration of justice, and endeavored at all times, to keep public tranquility. The sincerity and strength of her religious convictions, however, more than once, lead her into errors of state policy. History does not approve the fanaticism of the Spanish Inquistion and the whole- sale proscription of the Jews; although all historians give credit to this great queen for her virtue, piety, learning, political wisdom and statesmanship.