General Notes

Isabella I (1451-1504), queen of Castile, called la Católica ("the
Catholic"). She was the daughter of John II of Castile and León by his
second wife, Isabella of Portugal. In 1469 Princess Isabella married
Ferdinand of Aragón, known also as Ferdinand V, The Catholic, and on the
death of her brother, Henry IV, Isabella and Ferdinand jointly succeeded
(1474) to the throne of Castile and León. Isabella's succession was
contested, however, by Alfonso V of Portugal, who supported the claim of
Henry's daughter Juana la Beltraneja (1462-1530). Alfonso attacked Castile
and León but was defeated by the Castilian army in 1476. Three years later
Ferdinand succeeded to the throne of Aragón. This union of the two main
Spanish kingdoms laid the foundation of Spain's future greatness. Isabella
and her husband (known together as "the Catholic kings") are remembered for
completing the reconquest of Spain from the Moors, for initiating the
Inquisition, and for their ruthless expulsion of the Spanish Jews. They are
perhaps best known, however, for having sponsored the voyages of Christopher
Columbus.