How the marriage of young cousins united Spain and brought her untold riches

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Are there many in the history of such marital unions, when a husband and wife act like a real team, one after another, solve the most difficult problems and win resounding victories? The marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon determined a lot in the history of Spain and the whole world: it was thanks to the “Catholic kings” that the American continent was discovered, the Inquisition gained power and the Reconquista was completed - and this is not all.

Prince, princess and their secret wedding

We are talking about the middle of the 15th century - then it all began. In 1451, Isabella of Castile was born, and in the next, 1452, Ferdinand (Fernando) of Aragon. At that time, the Iberian Peninsula was divided among themselves by five states: the largest territory was occupied by Castile, in addition to it, on the territory of the future Spain were located Aragon, Navarre, the Granada Emirate, which was then under the rule of Muslim Arabs, and Portugal.

The peers of Isabella and Ferdinand - the future "Catholic kings" - were Leonardo da Vinci and Christopher Columbus, and soon after their birth - in 1453 - the Turks captured Constantinople. The times were difficult - both in the Spanish lands and in Europe in general.

Isabella's father was King Juan II, he transferred the throne to her older half-brother Enrique, who turned out to be a weak and rather inconsistent monarch. In those days, the procedure for the transfer of royal power was determined by the order of the ruling monarch. The king's only child, Enrique, was the daughter of Juan, who, according to rumors, was not born of him, but of the Queen's favorite, Beltran de la Cueva, which undermined her right to the Castilian throne. The princess herself received the nickname "Beltraneja", that is, "the offspring of Beltran." It was not that King Enrique intended to deprive his younger sister of the throne, but his decisions were inconsistent; and in addition, he tried to control Isabella and control her (for example, by agreeing on the candidacy of the groom), which presented certain difficulties - the girl was well-versed in the situation and listened to her own inner voice, and not to the instructions of her brother.

From childhood, Isabella felt like one of the important figures on this chessboard of political intrigue and understood that she would have to conclude a marriage with a certain calculation. Among the candidates for the princess's husband were a Portuguese king with whom good relations should have been maintained; Isabella rejected him due to the large age difference. There were proposals from other European states, but Isabella chose Ferdinand of Aragon, her distant cousin, a second cousin. Both came from the Trastamara dynasty, were great-grandchildren of King Juan I. This candidacy was not agreed by King Enrique, but the ruler was presented with a fait accompli: the wedding was played in secret. The groom, disguised as a merchant, arrived in Valladolid, where on October 19, 1469, a marriage was concluded between eighteen-year-old Isabella and seventeen-year-old Ferdinand.

The marriage between representatives of the Aragonese and Castilian branches of the dynasty was not something out of the ordinary - on the contrary, such unions were concluded quite often. But the case that the two heirs to the throne of these kingdoms became the bride and groom was the first.

Isabella and Ferdinand: the beginning of reign, wars and reforms

True, it was unsettled in Castile. Isabella tried to enlist the support of the nobility, incredibly influential in the Iberian Peninsula; it was the feudal lords who determined the policy of the states. She also tried to improve relations with her brother-king. When Enrique IV died in 1474, Isabella immediately proclaimed herself queen of Castile, despite Juana's niece claiming the throne. Supporters of rivals unleashed a civil war - the war for the Castilian inheritance. It lasted four years.

The Portuguese king Afonso V entered the war and married Juana. He, in turn, also proclaimed himself king of Castile, but thanks to the military successes of Ferdinand and the diplomatic talents of Isabella, who knew how to attract allies and persuade opponents, this confrontation ended in the victory of the "Catholic kings". In 1479, Ferdinand added the crown of Aragon to the status of co-ruler of Isabella of Castile, inheriting the throne from his father.

The goal of the spouses was not power in itself, especially since it was given with difficulty, and the benefits were not at all on the surface. They received Castile in the form of a state with an empty treasury, torn apart by civil strife and speeches of representatives of the nobility against each other and against the royal power. Therefore, a serious approach to the organization of state power, the implementation of reforms was required - all this was done by the Isabella-Ferdinand tandem. By the way, the title "Catholic kings" under which they will go down in history, these rulers received from Pope Alexander VI only in 1496. There was no permanent capital at that time. The monarch spouses were constantly on the move, changing residences, staying in different castles and monasteries. This contributed to a more lively control over the life of the country and increased the popularity of kings among his subjects, but also created certain difficulties in terms of organizing power in the state. Internal reforms were carried out by the king and queen. In the cities, governing bodies were created and judges were appointed.

Isabella and Ferdinand established Saint Hermandada, a kind of police force. Previously, similar detachments of armed townspeople were created to ensure order in the cities. These groups arose at the initiative of the residents themselves. In this case, Saint Ermandada was financed by the kings themselves. She was given broad powers, including those related to the protection of roads, which reduced the number of attacks on trade routes and had a beneficial effect on the economy of Castile. Those who were part of the detachments were no longer elected - they were appointed, and in addition to her original function, Saint Ermandada performed another, no less important: to influence the feudal lords, to restrain their territorial and administrative ambitions.

Isabella and Ferdinand constantly sought to expand their power in both kingdoms. Oddly enough, the number of their supporters only increased, despite the fact that the kings constantly crossed the road to the interests of the feudal lords. But in 1482, the attention of the Castilian nobility was redirected to the Emirate of Granada, a territory that was ruled by Muslims. The Arabs came to the lands of the Iberian Peninsula in the VIII century, and since that time the struggle for the return of the Spanish lands - the Reconquista - continued. To complete it, it was only required to capture the Granada Emirate, a mountainous region of the Iberian Peninsula.

This was necessary in order to expand the territory of the state, to strengthen the power of the monarchs, and, in addition, to enable the lords to switch their ambitions to participate in a potentially profitable successful campaign. And so it happened - the war, however, stretched out for ten years, but still ended with the victory of the Catholic kings. The next step was the introduction of the Inquisition in Castile.

The Inquisition, Columbus's Journey and the Colony

To investigate crimes against the Catholic Church in Castile, with the permission of the Pope, the Inquisition began to operate. Punished for the secret confession of Judaism, for heresy, blasphemy, polygamy. Inquisitors were appointed by the kings themselves. The Jews were then asked to convert to Catholicism or leave Spain - as a result, up to ten thousand Jews left the country. In the same year, 1492, the kings supported Christopher Columbus's project to travel to new lands. This navigator made several expeditions, obtained overseas colonies for Castile and Aragon, which soon made Spain an incredibly rich and influential European country.

Formally, Castile and Aragon remained separate states for the time being - but the policy of Isabella and Ferdinand was the same, this contributed to the unification of Spain into one strong state, which will be completed after their death. The five children born in this marriage also became an instrument of expanding this influence. The second daughter and only son entered into the so-called "mirror" marriages - with the son and daughter of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The first and fourth daughters went to Portugal, and the fifth became the wife of the English king Henry VIII. This whole system of marriage alliances was directed mainly against France.

Isabella died in 1504, leaving a lengthy and detailed will. And Ferdinand after her death entered into a new marriage - dictated by political considerations. He married Germaine de Foix - it was a political move to annex the Navarre territories to Aragon.

During the reign of Catholic kings, the Renaissance culture was established in Spain, one of the brightest representatives of which left to descendants riddles that have never been solved.