The remaining Muslims and Turkish Khazar Jews (not Hebrews) of Iberia were forced to leave Iberia or die; or convert to Roman Catholic Christianity. Many of the Khazar Jews who were expelled from Spain and Portugal immigrated to Holland, where they set up the Dutch West Indies Company, a prime mover in the Atlantic slave trade. Ironically, eight months after the last Moorish city fell: it was in the nearby town of Palos, on the evening of August 3, 1492. That Christopher Columbus would depart from Palos on his journey to the Americas. One result of which, would be the Spanish and Portuguese Atlantic Slave trade.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almohad
Excerpt:
However, the Christian states in Iberia were becoming too well organized to be overrun by the Muslims, and the Almohads made no permanent advance against them.
In 1212 Muhammad III, "al-Nasir" (1199–1214), the successor of al-Mansur, after an initially successful advance north, was defeated by an alliance of the four Christian princes of Castile, Aragón, Navarre, and Portugal, at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in the Sierra Morena. The battle destroyed Almohad dominance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Las_Navas_de_Tolosa
Excerpt:
Previous movements
There were some disagreements among the members of the Christian coalition: French and other European knights were not used to the Iberian summer heat, but more importantly, they did not agree with Alfonso's merciful treatment of Jews and Muslims that were previously defeated in the conquest of Malagón and Calatrava la Vieja. Previously, they had caused problems in Toledo, (where the different armies of the Crusade gathered), with assaults and murders in the Jewish Quarter. More than 30,000 men deserted and returned to their homes across the Pyrenees.
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/christopher-columbus.htm
Excerpt:
1) 1493 Christopher Columbus arrives at Palos in Spain on 15 March, 1493
2) He brings the news to Europe of the New World
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Expulsion
Excerpt:
Jews did not enjoy any of the guarantees of Magna Carta[3] of 1215.
Economically, Jews played a key role in the country. The church at the time strictly forbade usury, or the lending of money for profit. This created a vacuum in the economy of Europe that only Jews were able to fill (canon law was not considered to apply to Jews, and Judaism permits loans with interest between Jews and non-Jews).[4] As a consequence, some Jews made large amounts of money. However, taking advantage of their unique status as his direct subjects, the King could expropriate Jewish assets in the form of taxation. He levied heavy taxes on Jews at will without having to summon Parliament.[5] The Jewish community acted as a kind of giant monetary filter: Jews collected interest on money lent to the people which the King could take at his pleasure.
http://www.bl.uk/treasures/magnacarta/basics/basics.html
Excerpt:
But the real legacy of Magna Carta as a whole is that it limited the king's authority by establishing the crucial principle that the law was a power in its own right to which the king was subject.
(Jews did not enjoy any of the guarantees of Magna Carta[3] of 1215.)
http://realhistoryww.com/world_history/ancient/Misc/True_Negros/The_True_Negro_2a.htm
Excerpt:
Beginning of the End
In Iberia, many of the ousted White nobles took refuge in the unconquered north Asturian highlands. From there they aimed to reconquer their lands from the Moors: this war of reconquest is known as the Reconquista. It began in about 900 A.D. when a small Christian enclave of Visigoths in northwestern Spain, named Asturias; initiated conflicts between Christians and Muslims. Soon after, Christian states based in the north and west slowly; in fits and starts, began a process of expansion and reconquest of Iberia over the next several hundred years. The end for the Moors came on January 2, 1492: the leader of the last Moorish City "Granada" (located in southern Spain) - surrendered to armies of a recently united Christian Spain (after the marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile). This ended the 800 year reign of the Moors in Iberia.http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/monstran.htm
Excerpts:
1)
A PICTURE OF THE CATHOLIC JESUS!
Key words: the Eucharsist, the host, the mass, body, blood, consecrated host, altar, priest, transubstantiation, Jesus, Sacrifice, Victim, Jesus Christ, Roman Catholic Jesus, transubstantiation, adoration, blessed sacrament, monstrance, worship Can you tell where the Catholic Jesus is in these pictures? See that little white circle in the middle of the sunbursts? That is a cracker. Catholics call it Jesus or the "holy" Eucharist. They eat their Jesus. But before they eat him, they have to bow down in front of this gold thing that holds their Jesus and worship him. The gold thing is called a monstrance. But before they bow down in front of the monstrance (graven image) with their Jesus (idol) in it, they like to parade him through the streets and "adore" him in their solemn processions. You see, their Jesus can't walk. He has to be borne about by men. THIS is the Catholic Jesus that we write about here at Jesus is Lord--he is plainly not the Jesus of the Bible.
You don't believe that they actually worship and "adore" this thing called the Eucharist? Look at what pope John Paul II (a.k.a. Karol Joseph Wojtyla--his real name) said about the Eucharist in his 1980 Encyclical Letter on the Mystery and Worship of the Eucharist--
The mass is the center of Catholicism and the Eucharist (that little round wafer above) is the center of the mass."Adoration of Christ in this Sacrament of love must also find expression in various forms of Eucharistic devotion: personal prayer before the Blessed Sacrament [the Eucharist], hours of adoration, periods of exposition - short, prolonged and annual (Forty Hours) - Eucharistic benediction, Eucharistic processions, Eucharistic Congresses."
"...[E]ucharistic worship is the center and goal of all sacramental life."2) [1] Look at the picture above one more time. Would you call that Eucharist cracker an image? Let me help you. An image is, according to Webster's,
im-age (im'ij) n. an imitation or representation of a person or thing, drawn, painted, photographed, etc.; esp., a statue; a sculpted figure used as an idol.The person is Jesus, the idol is the Eucharist cracker and surrounding monstrance. "But," a Catholic would say to me, "we don't worship idols, we worship Jesus." Well, let's look at Webster's again for the definition of an idol:
i-dol (i'dl) n. an image of a god, used as an object or instrument of worship. [Didn't Karol say to worship the Eucharist?]; any object of ardent or excessive devotion or admiration [Didn't Karol say, "Eucharistic DEVOTION"?] I like the following definition best which is also found in Webster's New World Dictionary (1982):
an impostor!
[2] Do you think that images like this monstrance and Eucharist are what Moses was warning about when he said:
Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee. (Deuteronomy 4:23)
[3] The above passage says that God had forbidden the people to make a graven image. Where is this at in the Bible? Maybe Exodus 20:4-5?
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.
[4] What you just read was the SECOND of the ten commandments. Is it any wonder why the Catholic religion deletes it? Is it not apparent to you?
God HATES images. ANY KIND OF IMAGE:
"Neither shalt thou set thee up any image; which the LORD thy GOD hateth." -Deut. 16:22
A Catholic heathen wrote this in response to the article you're reading:
"THE HOST [eucharist cracker] IS NOT AN IMAGE OF GOD,
BUT GOD HIMSELF!!!!!!!!"
Enough said right there. He's telling the world that a cracker is able to contain God
and that the God of the universe will enter it at the COMMAND of a priest.
Blasphemy, idolatry, disrespect, and cannibalism supreme.
Blasphemy, idolatry, disrespect, and cannibalism supreme.
The Catholic religion is no more Christian than any other cult. David Koresh, Jehovah's Witness, Mormonism, Catholicism--no difference. Invariably someone will tell me that I hate Catholics. "Anti-Catholic" is the term they are using now. But judge for yourself: is telling the truth hate? Is telling a child, "2+2=4 not 7" hate? Nay, rather it is correction so that the person will have a right understanding. Catholic reader, get out of that sacramental system of man-made traditions that will guarantee you nothing but hellfire. Repent of your sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The Bible says so.
Click here to see belief in the Eucharist in action.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra_Decree
Excerpt:
The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion) was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain (Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon) ordering the expulsion of Jews from the Kingdom of Spain and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.[1]
The edict was formally revoked on 16 December 1968,[2] following the Second Vatican Council. Today, the number of Jews in Spain is estimated at 50,000.[3]
http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/the_inquisition/
Excerpt:
| The basic accusation of the Inquisition was that Jews who converted to Christianity were still secretly Jewish. | <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
In Part 45, when we discussed the Crusades, we covered the war of the Church against the Muslims in the Middle East. Now we turn to the war of the Church against Muslims in Europe. This war went on for quite some time in fits and starts—from the time the Muslim Moors arrived in Spain in 711. It took a long time for the Christians to vanquish them. The first Muslim stronghold to fall was Toledo in 1085; the last was Granada in 1492.
As the Christian re-conquest gained momentum, Jews in these newly re-conquered Christians territories began to suffer from increasingly harsher persecutions.
In their blood-thirsty vengeance against the Muslims, the Spanish Christians included the Jews, whom they put in the category of infidels.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Trast%C3%A1mara
Excerpt:
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I of Castile
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Isabella I" redirects here. For other uses, see Isabella I (disambiguation).
For other people named Isabella of Castile, see Isabella of Castile (disambiguation).
| Isabella I | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A detail of the painting Our Lady of the Fly, attributed to Gerard David and/or someone of the circle of Jan Mabuse | |
| Reign | 11 December 1474–26 November 1504 (29 years, 351 days) |
| Anointment | 13 December 1474 (Segovia) |
| Predecessor | Henry IV |
| Successors | Joanna and Philip I |
| Regent | Ferdinand V |
| Tenure | 20 January 1479 – 26 November 1504 |
| Spouse | Ferdinand II of Aragon |
| Issue | |
| Isabella, Queen of Portugal John, Prince of Asturias Joanna of Castile Maria, Queen of Portugal Catherine, Queen of England | |
| House | House of Trastámara |
| Father | John II of Castile |
| Mother | Isabella of Portugal |
| Born | 22 April 1451 Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Spain |
| Died | 26 November 1504 (aged 53) Medina del Campo, Spain |
| Burial | Capilla Real, Granada, Spain |
| Signature |  |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Contents |
[edit] Life and reign
[edit] Early years
These were times of turmoil for Isabella. Isabella lived with her brother and her mother in a castle in poor conditions where they also suffered from shortage of money. Although her father arranged in his will for his children to be financially well taken care of, her half-brother Henry did not comply with their father's wishes, either from a desire to keep his half-siblings restricted or ineptitude.[4] Even though the living conditions were lackluster, under the careful eye of her mother, Isabella was instructed in lessons of practical piety and in the deep reverence for religion.[5]
When King Henry's wife, Queen Joan of Portugal, was about to give birth, Isabella and her brother were summoned to court (Segovia) and taken away from their mother to be under more control and direct supervision by the king and finish their educations. Alfonso was put under the care of a tutor while Isabella became part of the Queen's household.[6]
Conditions of Isabella's life improved in Segovia. She always had food and clothing and lived in a castle that was adorned with gold and silver. Isabella's basic education consisted of reading, spelling, writing, grammar, mathematics, art, chess, dancing, embroidery, music, and religious instruction. She and her ladies-in-waiting entertained themselves with art, embroidery, and music. She lived a relaxed lifestyle, but she rarely left Segovia as Henry forbade her from doing so. Her brother was keeping her from the political turmoils going on in the kingdom, though Isabella had full knowledge of what was going on and her role in the feuds.
The noblemen who were anxious for power confronted the King, demanding that his younger half brother Infante Alfonso be named his successor. They even went as far as to ask Alfonso to seize the throne. The nobles, now in control of Alfonso and claiming him to be the true heir, clashed with Henry's forces at the Second Battle of Olmedo in 1467. The battle was a draw. Henry agreed to make Alfonso his heir, provided Alfonso would marry his daughter, Joanna.[7] Soon after Alfonso was created Prince of Asturias, the title given to the heir of Castile and Leon, he died, likely of the plague. The nobles who had supported him suspected poisoning. As she had been named in her brother's will as his successor, the nobles asked Isabella to take his place as champion of the rebellion. However, support for the rebels had begun to wane, and Isabella preferred a negotiated settlement to continuing the war.[8] She met with Henry and, at Toros de Guisando, they reached a compromise: the war would stop, Henry would name Isabella his heir instead of Joanna, and Isabella would not marry without Henry's consent but he would not be able to force her to marry against her will.[9] Isabella's side came out with most of what they desired, though they did not go so far as to officially depose Henry: they were not powerful enough to do so, and Isabella did not want to jeopardize the principle of fair inherited succession, since it was upon this idea that she had based her argument for legitimacy as heir.
[edit] Marriage for political gain
When Alfonso V died in 1458, all of his territories, including the island of Sicily, were left to his brother John II. John now had a stronger position than ever before and no longer needed the security of Henry's friendship. Henry was now in need of a new alliance. He saw the chance for this much needed new friendship in Charles IV of Navarre, another son of John II of Aragon.[11] Charles was constantly in dispute with his father and because of this he secretly entered into an alliance with Henry IV of Castile. A major part of the alliance was that a marriage was to be arranged between Charles and Isabella. The fact that Isabella was only ten years old and Charles was nearly forty was never considered an issue. When John II learned of this arranged marriage he was outraged. Isabella had been destined for his favorite son, Ferdinand, and in his eyes this alliance was still valid. John II had his son Charles thrown in prison with charges of plotting against his father's life and the marriage never came to be.[12]
In 1464 an attempt was made to marry Isabella to Alfonso V of Portugal, Henry's brother-in-law. Through the medium of the Queen and Count of Ledesma, a Portuguese alliance was made. Isabella, however, was wary of the marriage and refused to consent.[13]
A civil war broke out in Castile over King Henry's inability to act as sovereign. Henry now needed a quick way to please the rebels of the kingdom. As part of an agreement to restore peace, Isabel was to be betrothed to Pedro Giron, Maestre de Calatrava and brother to the King’s favorite Don Juan Pacheco. In return the Master would pay into the impoverished royal treasury an enourmous sum of money. Seeing little other choice to find the peace he desperately needed, Henry agreed to the marriage. Isabella was aghast and prayed to God for the marriage to never come to pass. Her prayers were answered when Don Pedro suddenly fell ill and died while on his way to meet his fiancée.[14]
When Henry recognized Isabella as his heir on 19 September 1468, he also promised that his sister should not be compelled to marry against her will, while she in return agreed to obtain his consent.[9] It seemed that finally the years of failed attempts at political marriages were over. There was talk of a marriage to a brother of Edward IV of England but this alliance was never seriously considered.[9] Once again in 1468, a marriage proposal arrived from Alfonso V of Portugal. Going against his promises made in September, Henry tried to make the marriage a reality. If Isabella married Alfonso, Henry's daughter Joanna would marry Alfonso's son John II and thus, after the death of the old king, John and Joanna could inherit Portugal and Castile.[15] Isabella refused and made a secret promise to marry her cousin and very first betroth, Ferdinand of Aragon.
On 18 October 1469, the formal betrothal took place.[17] Because Isabella and Ferdinand were second cousins they stood within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity and the marriage would not be legal unless a dispensation from the Pope was granted. With the help of Rodrigo Borgia (later Alexander VI) Isabella and Ferdinand were presented with a supposed Papal Bull by Pius II authorizing Ferdinand to marry within the third degree of consanguinity, making their marriage legal.[17] Isabella escaped the court of Henry with the excuse of visiting her brother Alfonso's tomb in Ávila. Ferdinand, on the other hand, crossed Castile in secret disguised as a merchant. Finally, on 19 October 1469 they married in the Palacio de los Vivero in the city of Valladolid.
[edit] War with Portugal
See also: Battle of ToroSee also: Battle of Guinea
See also: War of the Castilian Succession
Isabella’s reign was off to a rocky start from the very beginning. Because of her brother's choice to name Isabella as his successor, when she ascended to the throne in 1474, there were already several plots against her. The Marquis of Villena and his followers maintained that the Infanta Joanna, daughter of Henry IV, was the rightful queen.[18] Shortly after the Marquis made his claim, a long time supporter of Isabella, the Archbishop of Toledo left court to plot with his great-nephew the Marquis. The Archbishop and Marquis made plans to have the Infanta Joanna marry her uncle, King Alfonso V of Portugal and invade Castile to claim the throne for themselves.[19]
In May of 1475, Alfonso and his army crossed into Spain and advanced to Plasencia and here he married the young Joanna.[20] A long and bloody war for the Castilian succession took place hereafter. The war went back and forth for almost a year until 1 March of 1476 when the Battle of Toro took place. A battle where both sides claimed[21][22] and celebrated[22][23] the victory: the troops of Afonso V were won[24][25] by the Castilian centre-left commanded by the Duke of Alba and Cardinal Mendoza while the forces led by Prince John of Portugal defeated[26][27][28][29] the Castilian right wing and remained in possession[30][31] of the battlefield.
But despite its uncertain[32][33] outcome, the Battle of Toro represented a great political victory[34][35][36][37] for the Catholic Kings, assuring them the throne since the supporters of Juana disbanded and the Portuguese army, without allies, left Castile. As summarized by the historian Justo L. González: "Both armies faced each other at the camps of Toro resulting in an indecisive battle. But while the Portuguese King reorganized his troops, Ferdinand sent news to all the cities of Castile and to several foreign kingdoms informing them about a huge victory where the Portuguese were crushed. Faced with these news, the party of “la Beltraneja" [Juana] was dissolved and the Portuguese were forced to return to their kingdom."[38] With great political vision, Isabella took advantage of the moment and convoked courts at Madrigal (April, 1476) where her daughter was sworn heiress of Castile's crown. That was equivalent to legitimizing Isabella’s own throne.
In August of the same year, Isabella proved her abilities as a powerful ruler on her own. A rebellion broke out in Segovia and Isabella rode out to suppress it, as her husband was off fighting at the time. Going against the better judgment of her male advisors, Isabella rode by herself into the city to negotiate with the rebels. She was successful and the rebellion was quickly brought to an end.[39] Two years later, Isabella also secured her place as ruler a bit more with the birth of her son John, Prince of Asturias on June 30, 1478. To many, the presence of a male heir legitimized her place as ruler.
Meanwhile the Castilian and Portuguese fleets fought for the hegemony in the Atlantic ocean and for the wealth of Guinea (Gold and Slaves) where was fought the decisive naval Battle of Guinea.[40]
At Alcáçovas, Isabella and Ferdinand had conquered the throne but the Portuguese exclusive right of navigation and commerce in all the Atlantic ocean south of the Canary caused that Spain stayed practically "out" of the Atlantic and deprived from the Gold of Guinea, which induced anger in Andaluzia.[40] Spanish academic António Rumeu de Armas stated that with the Peace treaty of Alcáçovas,1479, the Catholic monarchs "... buy the peace at an excessively expensive price... [49] and historian Mª Monserrat Léon Guerrero added that they " find themselves forced to abandon their expansion by the Atlantic... "[50]
It would be Columbus who would free Castile from this difficult situation of blocked overseas expansion, because his New World discovery led to a new and much more balanced sharing of the Atlantic at Tordesilhas in 1494. The orders received by Columbus in his first voyage (1492) are elucidative: “…[the Catholic Monarchs] have always in mind that the limits signed in the “share” of Alcáçovas should not be overcome, and thus they insist with Columbus to sail along the parallel of Canary.”[50] Thus, when sponsoring the Columbine adventure to the West the Monarchs were trying the only remaining way of expansion. As it is known, they would be extremely successful on this issue. Isabella had proven herself to be a fighter and tough monarch from the start. Now that she had succeeded in securing her place on the Castilian throne, she could now begin to make the reforms that the kingdom desperately needed.
[edit] Reform
[edit] Regulation of crime
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[edit] La Santa Hermandad
Isabella’s first major reform came during the cortes of Madrigal in 1476 in the form of a police force, La Santa Hermandad. While 1476 was not the first time that Castile had seen the Hermandad, it was however the first time that the police force, also known as the Holy Brotherhood, was used by the crown.[52] During the late medieval period, the expression hermandad had been used to describe groups of men who came together of their own accord to regulate law and order by patrolling the roads and countryside and punishing malefactors. These brotherhoods, however, had usually been suppressed by the monarch. Before 1476, the justice system in most parts of the country was effectively under the control of dissident members of the nobility rather than royal officials. To fix this problem, during the Cortes of 1476, a general Hermandad was established for Castile, Leon, and Asturias. The police force was to be made up of locals who were to regulate the crime occurring in the kingdom. It was to be paid for by a tax of 1800 mavedus on every one hundred households.[53] In 1477, Isabella visited Estremadura and Andalusia to introduce this more efficient police force there as well.[54][edit] Other criminal reforms
Keeping with her reformation of the regulation of laws, in 1481 Isabella charged two officials with restoring peace in Galicia. This turbulent province had been the prey of tyrant nobles since the days of Isabella’s father, John II. Robbers infested the highways and oppressed the smaller towns and villages. These officials set off with the Herculean task of restoring peace for the province. The officials were successful. They succeeded in driving over 1,500 robbers from Galicia.[55][edit] Finances
From the very beginning of her reign, Isabella fully grasped the importance of restoring the Crown's finances. The reign of Henry IV had left the kingdom of Castile in great debt. Upon examination, it was found that the chief cause of the nation’s poverty was the wholesale alienation of royal estates during Henry’s reign.[56] In order to make money, Henry had sold off royal estates at prices well below their value. The Cortes of Toledo of 1480 came to the conclusion that the only hope of lasting financial reform lay in a resumption of these alienated lands and rents. This decision was warmly approved by many leading nobles of the Court but Isabella was reluctant to take such large actions. It was decided that the Cardinal of Spain would hold an enquiry into the tenure of estates and rents acquired during Henry IV’s reign. Those that had not been granted as a reward for services were to be restored without compensation; while those that had been sold at a price far below their real value were to be brought back at the same sum. While many of the nobility were forced to pay large sums of money for their estates, the royal treasury became ever richer. Isabella’s one stipulation was that there would be no revocation of gifts made to churches, hospitals, or the poor.[57] Another issue of money was the over production of coinage and the abundance of mints in the kingdom. During Henry’s reign the number of mints regularly producing money had increased from just five to one hundred and fifty.[56] Much of the coinage produced in these mints was nearly worthless. During the first year of her reign Isabella established a monopoly over the royal mints and fixed a legal standard to which the coinage must approximate. By shutting down many of the mints and taking royal control over the production of money, Isabella restored the confidence of the public in the crown’s ability to handle the kingdom’s finance.[edit] Government
Traditionally, the main advisory body to the rulers of Castile was the Royal Council. The Council, under the monarch, had full power to resolve all legal and political disputes. The Council was responsible for supervising all senior administrative officials, such as the Crown representatives in all of the major towns. It was also the supreme judicial tribunal of the kingdom.[61] In 1480, during the Cortes of Toledo, Isabella made many reforms to the Royal Council. Previously there had been two distinct yet overlapping categories of royal councilor. One formed a group which possessed both judicial and administrative responsibilities. This portion consisted of some bishops, some nobles, and an increasingly important element of professional administrators with legal training known as letrados. The second category of traditional councilor had a less formal role. This role depended greatly on the individuals’ political influence and personal influence with the monarch. During Isabella’s reign, the role of this second category was completely eliminated.[62] As mentioned previously, Isabella had little care for personal bribes or favors. Because of this, this second type of councilor, usually of the nobility, was only allowed to attend the council of Castile as an observer.
Isabella began to rely more on the professional administrators than ever before. These men were mostly of the bourgeoisie or lesser nobility. The Council was also rearranged and it was officially settled that one bishop, three caballeros, and eight or nine lawyers would serve on the council at a time. While the nobles were no longer directly involved in the matters of state, they were welcome to attend the meetings. Isabel hoped by forcing the nobility to choose whether to participate or not would weed out those who were not dedicated to the state and its cause.[63]
Isabella also saw the need to provide a personal relationship between herself as the monarch and her subjects. Therefore, The Isabella and Ferdinand set aside a time every Friday during which they themselves would sit and allow people to come to them with complaints. This was a new form of personal justice that Castile had not seen before. The Council of State was reformed and presided over by the King and Queen. This department of public affairs dealt mainly with foreign negotiations, hearing embassies, and transacting business with the Court of Rome. In addition to these departments, there was also a Supreme Court of the Santa Hermandad, a Council of Finance, and a Council for settling purely Aragonese matters.[64] Although Isabella made many reforms that seem to have made the Cortes stronger, in actuality the Cortes lost political power during the reigns of Isabella and Ferdinand. Isabella and her husband moved in the direction of a non-parliamentary government and the Cortes became an almost passive advisory body, giving automatic assent to legislation which had been drafted by the royal administration.[65]
After the reforms of the Cortes of Toledo, the Queen ordered a noted jurist, Alfonso Diaz de Montalvo, to undertake the task of clearing away legal rubbish and compiling what remained into a comprehensive code. Within four years the work stood completed in eight bulky volumes and the Ordenanzas Reales took their place on legal bookshelves.[66]
[edit] Events of 1492
[edit] Granada
At the end of the Reconquista, only Granada was left for Isabella and Ferdinand to conquer. The Emirate of Granada had been held by the Muslim Nasrid emirate since the mid-thirteenth century.[67] Protected by natural barriers and fortified towns, it had withstood the long process of the reconquista. On 1 February 1482, the king and queen reached Medina del Campo and this is generally considered the beginning of the war for Granada. While Isabella's and Ferdinand's involvement in the war was apparent from the start, Granada's leadership was divided and never able to present united front.[68] However, it still took ten years to conquer Granada, culminating in 1492.The Spanish monarchs recruited soldiers from many European countries and improved their artillery with the latest and best cannons.[69] Systematically, they proceeded to take the kingdom piece by piece. In 1485 they laid siege to Ronda, which surrendered after only a fortnight due to extensive bombardment.[70] The following year, Loja was taken, and again Muhammad XII was captured and released. One year later, with the fall of Málaga, the western part of the Muslim Nasrid kingdom had fallen into Spanish hands. The eastern province succumbed after the fall of Baza in 1489. The siege of Granada began in the spring of 1491 and at the end of the year, Muhammad XII surrendered. On 2 January 1492 Isabella and Ferdinand entered Granada to receive the keys of the city and the principal mosque was reconsecrated as a church.[71] The Treaty of Granada signed later that year was to assure religious rights to the Muslims, which did not last.
During the war, Isabella noted the abilities and energy of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and made him one of the two commissoners for the negotiations. Under her patronage, De Córdoba went on to an extraordinary military career that revolutionized the organization and tactics of the emerging Spanish military; changing the nature of warfare and altering the European balance of power.
[edit] Columbus and Portuguese relations
Main article: Christopher Columbus
Just three months after entering Granada, Queen Isabella agreed to sponsor Christopher Columbus on an expedition to reach the Indies by sailing west (2000 miles, according to Columbus).[72] The crown agreed to pay a sum of money as a concession from monarch to subject.[73]On 3 August 1492 his expedition departed and arrived in what is now known as Watling Island on October 12. He named it San Salvador, after Jesus the Savior.[73] He returned the next year and presented his findings to the monarchs, bringing natives and gold under a hero's welcome. Although Columbus was sponsored by the Castilian queen, treasury accounts show no royal payments to him until 1493, after his first voyage was complete.[74] Spain entered a Golden Age of exploration and colonization, the period of the Spanish Empire. The Portuguese did not recognize that South America belonged to the Spanish because it was on Portugal's sphere of influence and the Portuguese King John II threatened to send an army to claim the land for the Portuguese. In 1494, by the Treaty of Tordesillas, Isabella and Ferdinand agreed to divide the Earth, outside of Europe, with king John II of Portugal.
[edit] Expulsion of the Jews
With the institution of the Roman Catholic Inquisition in Spain, and with the Dominican friar Tomás de Torquemada as the first Inquisitor General, the Catholic Monarchs pursued a policy of religious unity. Though Isabella opposed taking harsh measures against Jews on economic grounds, Torquemada was able to convince Ferdinand. On 31 March 1492, the Alhambra Decree for the expulsion of the Jews was issued (See main article on Inquisition).[75] The Jews had until the end of July, three months, to leave the country and they were not to take with them gold, silver, money, arms, or horses.[75] Traditionally, it had been claimed that as many as 200,000 Jews left Spain, but recent historians have shown that such figures are exaggerated: Henry Kamen has shown that out of a total population of 80,000 Jews, a maximum of 40,000 left and the rest converted.[76] Hundreds of those that remained came under the Inquisition's investigations into relapsed conversos (Marranos) and the Judaizers who had been abetting them.[77][edit] Later years
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Isabella and her husband had created an empire and in later years were consumed with administration and politics; they were concerned with the succession and worked to link the Spanish crown to the other rulers in Europe. By early 1497 all the pieces seemed to be in place: John, Prince of Asturias, married Archduchess Margaret of Austria, establishing the connection to the Habsburgs. The eldest daughter, Isabella, married Manuel I of Portugal, and Joanna was married to another Habsburg prince, Philip of Burgundy. However, Isabella's plans for her children did not work out. John died shortly after his marriage. Isabella, Princess of Asturias, died in childbirth and her son Miguel died at the age of two. Queen Isabella I's crowns passed to her daughter, Joanna of Castile, and her son-in-law, Philip of Habsburg.[78]
Isabella officially withdrew from governmental affairs on 14 September 1504 and she died that same year on 26 November in Medina del Campo, but it is said that she had truly been in decline since the death of her son Prince John in 1497.[79] She is entombed in Granada in the Capilla Real, which was built by her grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (Carlos I of Spain), alongside her husband Ferdinand, her daughter Joanna and Joanna's husband Philip; and Isabella's 2-year old grandson, Miguel (the son of Isabella's daughter, also named Isabella, and King Manuel I of Portugal). The museum next to the Capilla Real holds her crown and scepter.
[edit] Appearance and personality
- Fernández de Oviedo: "To see her speak was divine."
- Andrés Bernáldez: "She was an endeavored woman, very powerful, very prudent, wise, very honest, chaste, devout, discreet, truthful, clear, without deceit. Who could count the excellences of this very Catholic and happy Queen, always very worthy of praises."
- Hernando del Pulgar: "A very good woman; exemplary, of good and commendable customs... nothing incomplete was ever seen in her personality... her works were never badly done, her words were never poor ones" ; "She had great moderation in her movements and in the expression of her emotions... her self-control extended to dissemble the pain of labor, to not say nor show the grief that in that hour women feel and show" ; "Very chaste, full of honesty, never demonstrating dishonesty."
- Ferdinand, in his testament, declared that "she was exemplary in all acts of virtue and of fear of God."
- Fray Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, her confessor, praised "her purity of heart, her big heart and the grandness of her soul".
[edit] Family
Isabella and Ferdinand had five surviving children, four daughters and one son. They also suffered a miscarried son and a stillborn daughter:
- Isabella (1470–1498) married firstly to Alfonso, Prince of Portugal, no issue. Married secondly to Manuel I of Portugal, had issue.
- Miscarried son. Miscarried on 31 May 1475 in Cebreros
- John (1478–1497), Prince of Asturias. Married Archduchess Margaret of Austria, no issue.
- Joanna (1479–1555), Queen of Castile. Married Philip the Handsome, had issue.
- Maria (1482–1517), married Manuel I of Portugal, her sister's widower, had issue.
- Stillborn daughter. Identical twin sister of Maria. Born 1 July 1482
- Catalina/Catherine (1485–1536), married firstly to Arthur, Prince of Wales, no issue. Married his younger brother, Henry VIII of England and was mother of Mary I of England.
[edit] Isabella commemorated
Isabella was the first woman to be featured on U.S. postage stamps,[80] namely on three stamps of the Columbian Issue, also in celebration of Columbus. She appears in the 'Columbus soliciting aid of Isabella', 5-cent issue, and on the Spanish court scene replicated on the 15-cent Columbian, and on the $4 issue, in full portrait, side by side with Columbus.
The $4 stamp is the only stamp of that denomination ever issued and one which collectors prize not only for its rarity (only 30,000 were printed) but its beauty, an exquisite carmine with some copies having a crimson hue. Mint specimens of this commemorative have been sold for more than $20,000.[81] Isabella was also the first named woman to appear on a United States coin, an 1893 commemorative quarter, celebrating the 400th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage.
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