What was the significance of the marriage of Isabella and Ferdinand to Spanish history?

Isabella and Ferdinand II were a good match and they unified Spain. They were known as Catholic Monarchs and Spain have changed in many ways. Their marriage was one of the most important marriages in the history of Spain and possibly the world.
Isabella I was born on April 22, 1451 in Madrid. His parents were John II of Castile and his second wife, Isabella of Portugal. His brother, Henry IV, was the heir to the throne of Castile, but on 19 September 1468 in the Agreement Bulls Guisando his brother did Isabella I heir to his throne and she became queen of Castile, with the support Castilla nobles in 1474 (Isabella I). Ferdinand II of Aragon was born on March 10, 1452. His parents were John II of Aragon and Juana Enriquez. He was named heir to the throne of Aragon in 1461. (Ferdinand II).
Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile married on October 19, 1469 in Valladolid after meeting and its engagement. This marriage would unify Spain. They were second cousins, joint rulers and had great respect for the other. It seemed that much love. Ferdinand made Isabella his heir to the throne of Aragon in 1475 (Ferdinand II)…show more content…
The reconquest was a battle of the series between Christians and Moors for control of the Iberian Peninsula. Spain won with the powerful monarchs. Together Spain were united under a single government in 1478 through the creation of the Spanish Inquisition. This would convert to Catholicism Jews and Muslims or people of these religions would be forced to leave Spain. In 1492, 160,000 Jews left Spain and four years later followed the Muslims Jews. Also in 1492, Christopher Columbus set out to discover a new world and the Catholic Kings accepted (History of Spain). Supporting Columbus was one of the smartest decisions they could have done. Columbus's discovery of the new world, the United States did. Isabella I supported this trip. "I will give everything, even my jewelry to finance this

Introduction

Ever hear of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile?  You might remember them as a footnote in your history text books. Briefly being mentioned as the patrons of Christopher Columbus, financing his voyages to the New World. Well what if I were to tell you that they were not just some footnote, but rather two of the most significant people to ever live. 

History

Now you might be wondering why, I have them on a list of the most significant people in history, so let me set the scene. In 1470, the Iberian Peninsula was divided into 5 kingdoms; 

Portugal, Castile, Navarre, Aragon, and Nasrid. To be as brief as possible the political situation at the time was rather complicated. Castile was pursuing closer relations with Portugal, and in an attempt to cement an alliance the King of Castile, Henry IV, attempted to marry his sister Isabella to a Portuguese prince. Angered by Henry’s actions (for he had promised that Isabella would not be married off without her consent), Isabella worked in secret with the King of Aragon to arrange a marriage between herself and Ferdinand II, the son of the King of Aragon. Eventually, she would eloped to Aragon in order to marry Ferdinand. She remained there until her brother died in 1474. Because Henry did not have an heir, Isabella was named Queen of Castile. Within the first year of her reign, Isabella was forced to wage a war against the Portuguese, who had used the uncertain succession as an opportunity to claim the throne of Castile. Following her victory in the war in 1479, she and Ferdinand (who ascend the throne of Aragon shortly before the end of the war) ruled their kingdoms in a period of relative peace until 1482. In 1482, the two declared war on the last Arab kingdom in Iberia, the Kingdom of Nasrid. They defeated the Kingdom of Nasrid in 1492, just in time to fund the first voyage of Columbus to the New World. Isabella reigned until her death in 1504, Ferdinand reigned for an additional 12 years. During these 12 years, Ferdinand was able to become the King of Naples, he died in 1516, leaving his daughter Joanna I as the first ruler of a unified Spain.

Significance

Now that I have gone over the history of Isabella and Ferdinand, I can explain why I chose to include on this list. The first thing that we have to take into account is that the two of them funded Columbus’s voyage to the New World. While Columbus was certainly not the first European to discover the Americas, he was the first to find gold in the new continents. The discovery of gold would lead Isabella and Ferdinand to establish colonies in the New World to exploit the resources of the New World.

Consequently, the discovery of vast sums of American gold allowed the Spanish to become rich enough and powerful enough to dominate Europe as the sole hegemonic power for nearly a century. During this Spanish Golden Age, the Spanish monarch and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (grandson of Isabella and Ferdinand), and his son Philip II (great-grandson of Isabella and Ferdinand) would play a role in nearly every major European conflict, allowing Spain to influence the outcome of some of the world’s most important events.

While a great chunk of Ferdinand and Isabella’s significance can be traced to their support of Columbus, it is also important to examine the prenuptial agreement that Ferdinand and Isabella made before their marriage. This agreement stated that any children born of their match would inherit both kingdoms, in effect meaning that upon their deaths the two kingdoms would be united into one. The union of these two kingdoms would have never happened organically if it were not for Isabella and Ferdinand’s marriage, meaning that the nation of Spain would have never existed without Isabella and Ferdinand.

In conclusion, Isabella and Ferdinand are so significant to history because they created the Kingdom of Spain, funded Columbus’s voyages to the New World, and strengthened Spain to such a degree that it was able to dominate European politics until 1588 and greatly influence European affairs until 1648.

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