Today in 1469 Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile got married. After her father, King John II of Castile died, Isabella was pressured by her brother King Henry IV to marry King Alfonso V of Portugal, but she refused, not wanting to take her brother’s advice too much since she knew her nobles didn’t trust him.
She secretly sent out a member of the royal court to look for suitors for her. He brought back news of Ferdinand, the handsome, young prince of Aragon. Isabella gained support for this marriage as it would bring unity between the two kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, perhaps even unifying the whole of Spain one day. They married four days after they met.
Diplomatically, Ferdinand held less power because Aragon was much smaller than Castile. But privately, Isabella assured him that they would make decisions together and developed the motto, “the one as much as the other”. Their marriage was at first political, but they grew to love and trust each other. They would complete the Reconquista of Spain, eventually capturing Granada and the Alhambra in 1492.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Episode 067: Henry VII and his foreign policy
Episode 122: Christine Morgan on The Spanish Princess
Episode 47: Tudor Times talks about Katherine of Aragon
From the shop:
The Andalucian Princess Collection
Catherine of Aragon Andalucian Princess Bath Rug
Ps. All products are made on-demand and can take a few weeks to ship.
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.