In such an important period, not only in the history of Spain but of the world, nothing would have been the same without the appearance of a figure with as much power, ingenuity, intelligence, cunning, strategy, love and faith, as the figure of Elizabeth I of Castile. A woman who knew how to assume the power of a kingdom designed by men and for men, make it bigger and lay the foundations for a new dynasty that would be the most powerful in the world, the Austrians. Let’s know a little about her life, her values and her vision of the future, how many children he had or how many reigned in Europe.
The Catholic Monarchs | The Trastamaras
Elizabeth I of Castilewas born on April 22, 1451, in Medina del Campo, is the daughter of the Castilian king Juan II. Upon the death of King Juan, she was succeeded by his son and Isabel’s brother, Enrique IV of Castile, who after various disputes, died with the only offspring of his daughter. Joan, fruit of his second marriage with Juana de Portugal. Juana was named princess of Asturias, but a hoax began to be heard by the court, Juana was not the king’s daughter, she was an illegitimate daughter of her mother Juana de Portugal and Beltrán de la Cueva. With the premature death of Enrique, Juana “the Beltraneja” without support, she was separated and sent to Portugal.
With the death of Alfonso of Castile better known as Alfonso the Innocent, next in the line of succession and brother of Enrique, everything seems to be favorable for Isabel, who she never dreamed of becoming queen of Castilebut a pride that he never gave up.
On the other hand we have the Crown of Aragonalso belonging to the Trastámara house, in this case represented by Ferdinand II from Aragon born in you areprovince of Zaragoza, on March 10, 1452.
Ferdinand II was the son of John II, nicknamed the Great and Juana Enríquez, by express wish of Juana Enríquez, Fernando was born in Aragonese territory, given the disputes over the kingdom between Juan II and his brother Carlos. Ferdinand, only 6 years old receives the title of Duke of Montblanc, Count of Ribagorza and Lord of Balaguer, titles that automatically make him heir to the throne of Aragon.
The Catholic Monarchs | Elizabeth and Ferdinand
Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon they got married in Valladolid on October 19, 1469, in the Palacio de los Viveros, spending the night in the Castillo de Fuensaldaña. At first the marriage was about to end. not be celebratedBoth were first cousins and needed a dispensation from the pope to allow this union, but at a time when the papacy was another way of exercising politics, Paul II refused to grant it. A false bull served them to deceive.
The marriage was carried out in secret, the marriage certificate being issued by the apostolic notary Diego Rangel and included in a public document by the Bishop of Segovia, D. Juan Arias, who acts as the executing judge of the false bull of consanguinity dispensation.
Known by the nickname of the Catholic kings after Popes Innocent VIII and Alexander VI granted and ratified, respectively, said title, which would pass to their descendants. The kingdom of Aragon and Castile reigned jointly, the kingdom of Castile being much more important, each monarch had his own full authority to reign only in his own kingdom.
uniting interests, managed to conquer Granada, last Muslim bastion of the Iberian Peninsula, the discovery of Americathe unification under a marriage of what a short time later would be united in a single crown.
The Catholic Monarchs | Their children
During their long marriage, that lasted 36 years, elizabeth gave birth Five sons who reached adulthood, four women and one man. However, these were not the only children that Ferdinand the Catholic had, since he fathered different illegitimate children both before and after marrying Isabel.
In fact, after Isabel’s death in 1504, Fernando quickly remarried the French princess Germana de Foix, with whom he had a son, little Juan, who would only survive his birth for a few hours.
The Catholic Monarchs – Their Children | Isabel
the first daughter of the marriage received the name of Isabel and it was the legitimate heir of his parents during the years that separated his birth, in 1470, from the arrival in the world of his brother Juaneight years later.
Castile and Portugal had clashed militarily during the famous conflict that followed the death of Henry IV of Castile and that had caused a bloody war for the throne between Isabel I and her niece Juana “La Beltraneja”, Among whose supporters was her uncle and husband, the King of Portugal, Alfonso V “the African”. After the war and wishing to strengthen ties with the neighboring kingdom, The Catholic kings they married their firstborn with the prince Alfonso, heir to the Portuguese thronemarriage that took place in 1490.
According to the testimonies that we have left from the time, it seems that the couple fell madly in love, but their marriage did not last long, because Alfonso died suddenly just a year later, after falling off the horse he was riding.
Isabel was forced to return to Castile and revealed her wish to her parents to enter a convent or, at least, to remain a widow for the rest of her days. However, this did not happen that way, because after the sudden end of this marriage, the Catholic Monarchs once again needed to reconcile positions with the kingdom of Portugal, a need that became even more urgent after the discovery of America and the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillaswhich delimited the areas of Portuguese and Castilian influence overseas.
A new marriage union was thus forged, where the groom would be on this occasion the already king Manual of Portugalwho would go down in history with the nickname of “the Fortunate”.
Manuel wanted his marriage to be arranged with Isabel rather than with any of his younger sisters. Manuel had met Isabel during her short marriage to her Alfonso, so he knew of her outstanding intelligence and the prudence she used to display.
Isabel was very popular in Portugal and Manuel was also very aware that, if his only brother died without heirs, Isabel and her descendants would be the next people called to the throne. succession of the thrones of Castile and Aragon. For this mixture of political reasons and personal preferences, Manuel asked the Catholic Monarchs for Isabella’s hand and, despite the latter’s wishes, she was granted, celebrating the wedding in 1497.
Shortly after the wedding I would die in Castile the only son of the Catholic Monarchs, Juanwhich made Isabel the direct heir to his parents. Isabel and Fernando asked the couple to move first to Castile and then to Aragón, so that Isabel could be sworn in as the legitimate heir to these kingdoms. At those moments, Elizabeth was pregnantay would give birth in Zaragoza to a child who received the name of Miguel, but died a few hours after delivery.
Elizabeth was buried in the convent of Santa Isabel de los Reyes de Toledo and her newborn son became simultaneous heir to the Crowns of Castile, Aragon and Portugal. Manuel soon returned to his home kingdom, leaving little Miguel in the care of his grandparents and beginning to negotiate a new marriage with another daughter of the Catholic Monarchs, Princess Mary. Nevertheless, Miguel barely exceeded a year of life and died in the year 1500. His small coffin rests today next to her grandparents in the magnificent Royal Chapel of Granada, where Juana I and Felipe I “el Hermoso” also rest.
The Catholic Monarchs – Their Children | Juan
John, Prince of Asturias. The only male child of the Catholic Monarchs was born in Seville in 1478, eight years after the arrival in the world of his sister, Isabel. His birth was greatly celebrated, because after years of marriage the monarchs had a son who could succeed them, at a time when the possibility of a female succession was conceived as full of uncertainties and political and dynastic problems. Thus, the birth of Prince Juan was greatly celebrated in the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, considering that the future of the dynasty was thus assured.
Prince Juan was carefully educated by his parents to one day assume the leadership of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon as the first sole king of both Crowns. He was raised as a true renaissance prince, trained with the help of humanist experts such as Pedro Mártir de Anglería. A fan of music, literature and history, practically all his biographers agree that he showed great intelligence which, together with his careful cultural training and the close surveillance to which his mother especially subjected him so that he gradually formed matters of government, made many courtiers put him as an example of a “perfect prince”.
When the marriage was arranged with the Archduchess of Austria, Margaret with the prince john, many praised the beauty of that woman, about two years younger than him and with whom he completely understood. Despite the fact that he began a marriage due to political alliances, it was learned that they fell in love in a short time.
Unfortunately, that love did not last long, because the young prince fell ill with smallpox. Despite his intelligence and activity, the weakness of his health that he presented since childhood and the different times he had been ill was known.
It was learned that the doctors were talking to the Queen Elizabeth the Catholicto try to separate the couple for a time, because the archduchess had a lot of sexual ardor, to the point where she practiced marital activity frequently and the doctors concluded that weak health and too much activity, without possibility of rest, it could be making the prince john.
Later, because his health did not improve, he was attacked by violent fevers that would end up causing his death on October 4, 1497being the archduchess pregnant. Although the creature would not survive after her birth, because she was born premature.
The Catholic Monarchs – Their Children | Joan
the infant juan was born in 1479, being the third of the children of Isabel and Fernando. Like the rest of her sisters, she received an extremely careful education following humanist precepts, studying dance, music, history, literature, philosophy, canon law, religious tradition and various languages, including Greek and Latin, marveling at everyone who knew her for her command of this language, which she could use to carry on entire conversations.
Likewise, he was also in continuous contact with the world of politics and royal obligations, accompanying his parents and brothers both in courtly acts and in other types of responsibilities, camping with his family on the outskirts of Granada before his fall.
His marriage, like that of his brothers, was sealed for political reasons. She was the one who married the brother of Margaret, the unfortunate wife of Prince John, Philip of Habsburg and ruler of the…