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Isabella of Castile was a powerful queen as Europe passed from the Late Middle Ages to the Renaissance. When she was eighteen she already favored jewels and beautiful gowns which she wore throughout her life. She had beautiful blue eyes and chestnut hair and was just striking. Isabella was queen of Castile from 1474 to 1505, and she had to fight a civil war to secure her throne. Her marriage to Ferdinand II of Aragon began a thirty five year joint rule of a unified Spain by the Catholic Monarchs. Ferdinand and Isabella succeeded as joint sovereigns to the throne of Castile on the death of Isabella's half brother Henry IV in December of 1474. From 1481 the "Catholic Kings," as Ferdinand and Isabella were known, ruled both kingdoms jointly, but it was a union of crowns not countries. The two kingdoms maintained their separate laws, institutions and governments. In 1478, they established the Spanish Inquisition as a royal council under royal control. In 1492 The Inquisition persuaded the Catholic Kings to expel the Jews whose conversion to Christianity was doubtful. 

It was typical of Isabella's political vision that she agreed to finance the expedition of Christopher Columbus which brought the New World and wealth to Spain. If it weren't for Queen Isabella of Spain, Christopher Columbus would never been able to set sail. Isabella took an interest in the Native Americans of the new lands and when some of them were brought back to Spain as slaves she had them returned and freed, she wanted the Indians to be treated fairly. 

Isabella had five children: Isabel, John, Joan, Maria, and Catherine. Of her five children, two of them were deceased before Isabella, also her grandson and heir passed on, which brought many sorrows during her last few years. Also her daughter Joanna Juana la Loca was mentally unstable and her son Charles, after Ferdinand's death, became Holy Roman Emperor. Catherine was the first wife of Henry VIII of England and mother of Mary I of England.

Through all of this Isabella found the time for education, which was very important to her. She learned Latin at age thirty five. Also, she wanted scholars to set up palace schools at her court. She also educated her sons and daughters. Isabella lived a life as a mother, wife, Catholic and queen. Her dream was for continued rule for her family, which was successful, and greatness for her country.

 http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/isabel.html