Isabella I of Castile and León: A Harsh Banishment

About Me

I was born on April 22, 1451 in Madrigal de las Alas Torres, Ávila. I was named after my mother, Isabella of Portugal who was married to John II of Castile, my father. When I was only three years old, my father died leaving the kingdom to my half brother Henry IV who made my life miserable. My mother and brother Alfonso had to move to Arévalo and though living was difficult there, my desire to learn about Castilian politics kept me from going insane. After many complications considering the true successor of the throne, I was named Queen of Castile and León on January 20, 1479. My marriage to Ferdinand II of Aragon not only expanded our power, but also our territory. Together, we unfied Spain permanently and have our kingdom was based on Catholicism. Therefore, our monarch turned into a Catholic Monarch. There were many disagreements and chaos that happened to my kingdom because of my desire of a Catholic centered Spain. I had six children, four daughters and two sons. Isabella, John, Joanna, Maria, Catherine, and Peter but he died young. Each on of them married into another territory which only benefited us by expanding it. Catherine was the first wife of King Henry VIII of England, Joanna’s son Charles V became Holy Roman Emperor as well as King of Spain. My husband, Ferdinand, and I agreed on everything together. We ruled together equally without any unbalanced decisions. I am widely known as the queen who financed Columbus and his voyage in search of a westward route to India. Spain could be known as the country that started the mass of explorations around the world. I was ambitious as a queen though not power hungry. Like I stated before, Ferdinand and I ruled equally which meant that if there was a fault in one of our decisions, the other would help to found what to do so that we could improve or finalize that final decision. Maybe for that reason, our country became stronger and more stable than it had before. I was also very curious even as a young child. I always wanted to learn about new things, even when Henry tried to keep me away from his political problems that he was having when he ruled, I always ended up knowing because of my curiosity. Sometimes I could also be daring of trying new things. When Henry would not approve of my marriage with Ferdinand, I ran away to him so that we could even though I knew what the consequences would have been. Another time was when I had to banish all the Jews and Muslims from Spain because of the contradictory religion. My work of stabilizing Spain also brought great benefits to not only the country, but to future generations as well. For example, Charles V, Joanna’s son, ruled with great authority and power because of such a strong foundation to start from. I would say that I wasn’t a bad queen but I also wasn’t a great queen either, every person has their faults here and there but I am just glad that I had my dear husband Ferdinand to rely on.

It wasn't my intention to expel the Jews and Muslims from Spain. Yes, I wanted a Catholic country but no, I didn't expect to see more than 200,000 Jews and Muslims getting banished from Spain. This all started with a friar by the name of Tomás de Torquemada. He convinced Ferdinand to take harsh measures in order to solve the problems of having other religions in our country. A decree, the Alhambra Decree or Edict of Expulsion, was made so that no Jew or Muslim were allowed to live in Spain, some converted but most were excommunicated. March 31, 1492 was a day where things got very complicated in Spain. It was sad to see so many of my people go, but it had to be done. After the banishment, Ferdinand and I was named Catholic monarchs by Pope Alexander VI. However, I didn't really favor Pope Alexander because he seemed very secularized and controversial to his beliefs. After the expulsion of the Jews and Muslims, Ferdinand and I continued to have a Catholic Spain and we sought to keep Spain under one religion, Roman Catholicism. Having the whole country being united in one religion could have been the cause of uprisings and chaos that happened because of religious reasons.

2 comments:

cinNovember 29, 2010 at 6:23 PM
Dear Queen Isabella of Castile and Leon, this is Francesco Gonzaga of Mantua, husband of Isabel d'Este. I really admire what you have done for Spain. I have already heard from many of my kinsmen that you are a fantastic queen. I understand the difficulties of ruling a country and the decision a monarch has to make to benefit his state. As you probably know, my beloved wife, Isabel d'Este is also a very independent woman, she has ruled Mantua succesfully many times while I was gone on duties as a condotierro. However, I feel like that she is somewhat not as mature (she is a woman afterall), so I would really apprecaite if you can perhaps tutor my wife on how to be a wonderful queen like you.
chrisDecember 3, 2010 at 6:13 PM
I am so very sorry for your, should i say, "accidental" banu=ishment of the Jews. I would have probably not wanted them to stay there becasue i would fear of religious wars. So i hope you do not feel too bad about this. The Jews can always find another place in which they can worship. God be with you my friend.

Henry VII