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56-474: The best-known example of this title is the Catholic Monarchs ( Los Reyes Católicos ), which is used solely in reference to Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon . Neither King Juan Carlos I nor Felipe VI have used the title, but they have not renounced it either. The monarchs of other countries have received similar titles from the pope: This Catholic Church –related article

112-754: A decree of expulsion of Jews, known formally as the Alhambra Decree , which gave Jews in Spain four months to either convert to Catholicism or leave Spain. Tens of thousands of Jews emigrated to other lands such as Portugal, North Africa, the Low Countries, Italy and the Ottoman Empire . Although the Catholic Monarchs pursued a partnership in many matters, because of the histories of their respective kingdoms, they did not always have

168-486: A few ways. One of those is that they traveled from town to town throughout the kingdom to promote loyalty, rather than possessing any single administrative center. Another is that each community and region was connected to them via loyalty to the crown, rather than bureaucratic ties. Along with the desire of the Catholic Monarchs to extend their dominion to all the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, their reign

224-515: A male heir, leaving just one daughter, Joanna . However, her paternity was questioned; it was rumored that his wife, Queen Joan of Portugal (Afonso's sister) had an affair with a nobleman named Beltrán de La Cueva . The death of Henry ignited a war of succession , with one faction supporting Joanna and the other supporting Isabella , Henry's half-sister. Afonso V was persuaded to intervene on behalf of Joanna, his niece. He betrothed himself to her, proclaimed himself king of Castile and led troops into

280-656: A traditional rivalry with France , which had been a traditional allies with Castile. Castile's foreign interests were focused on the Atlantic, making Castile's funding of the voyage of Columbus an extension of existing interests. Castile had traditionally had good relations with the neighboring Kingdom of Portugal, and after the Portuguese lost the War of the Castilian Succession , Castile and Portugal concluded

336-870: A unified viewpoint in foreign policy. Despite that, they did have a successful expansionist foreign policy due to a number of factors. The victory over the Muslims in Granada allowed Ferdinand to involve himself in policy outside the Iberian peninsula. The diplomatic initiative of King Ferdinand continued the traditional policy of the Crown of Aragon, with its interests set in the Mediterranean, with interests in Italy and sought conquests in North Africa. Aragon had

392-497: A week. From the start, they had a close relationship and worked well together. Both knew that the crown of Castile was "the prize, and that they were both jointly gambling for it". However, it was a step toward the unification of the lands on the Iberian peninsula , which would eventually become Spain. They were second cousins; to marry they needed a papal dispensation . Pope Paul II , an Italian pope opposed to Aragon's influence on

448-501: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Los Reyes Cat%C3%B3licos The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile ( r.  1474–1504 ) and King Ferdinand II of Aragon ( r.  1479–1516 ), whose marriage and joint rule marked the de facto unification of Spain . They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile ; to remove

504-612: The Council of Castile established in 1480. The Council of Castile was intended "to be the central governing body of Castile and the linch-pin of their governmental system" with wide powers and with royal officials who were loyal to them and excluded the old nobility from exercising power in it. The monarchs created the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 to ensure that individuals converting to Christianity did not revert to their old faith or continue practising it. The Council of

560-518: The Council of the Indies , the Council of Finance , and the Council of State . The Catholic Monarchs set out to restore royal authority in Spain. To accomplish their goal, they first created a group named the Holy Brotherhood . These men were used as a judicial police force for Castile, as well as to attempt to keep Castilian nobles in check. To establish a more uniform judicial system ,

616-636: The Duke of Alba . The fight was fierce and confusing but the result was a stalemate: While the forces of Cardinal Mendoza and the Duke of Alba won over their opponents led by the Portuguese king—who left the battlefield to take refuge in Castronuño —the troops commanded by Prince John defeated and persecuted the troops of the Castilian right wing and recovered the Portuguese royal standard, remaining ordered in

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672-586: The Holy Roman Empire , a powerful, far-reaching European territory which assured Spain's future political security. Their only son, John , married Margaret of Austria , seeking to maintain ties with the Habsburg dynasty, on which Spain relied heavily. Their fourth child, Maria , married Manuel I of Portugal , strengthening the link forged by Isabella's elder sister's marriage. Their fifth child, Catherine , married Arthur, Prince of Wales and heir to

728-526: The Treaty of the Bulls of Guisando . Henry instead recognised Joanna of Castile , born during his marriage to Joanna of Portugal , but whose paternity was in doubt, since Henry was rumoured to be impotent. When Henry died in 1474, Isabella asserted her claim to the throne, which was contested by thirteen-year-old Joanna. Joanna sought the aid of her husband (who was also her uncle), Afonso V of Portugal , to claim

784-655: The papal bull Dum Diversas , which granted Afonso V the right to reduce "Saracens, pagans and any other unbelievers" to hereditary slavery. This was reaffirmed and extended in the Romanus Pontifex bull of 1455 (also by Nicholas V). These papal bulls came to be seen by some as a justification for the subsequent era of slave trade and European colonialism. When the campaigns in Africa were over, Afonso V found new grounds for battle in neighboring Castile . On 11 December 1474 King Henry IV of Castile died without

840-588: The sobriquet the African ( Portuguese : o Africano ), was king of Portugal from 1438 until his death in 1481, with a brief interruption in 1477. His sobriquet refers to his military conquests in Northern Africa . Afonso was born in Sintra , the second son of King Edward of Portugal by his wife Eleanor of Aragon . Following the death of his older brother, Infante João (1429–1433), Afonso acceded to

896-595: The Catholic Monarchs an efficient army loyal to the Crown was created, commanded by Castilian Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba , known as the Great Captain . Fernández de Córdoba reorganised the military troops on a new combat unit, tercios reales , which entailed the creation of the first modern army dependent on the crown, regardless of the pretensions of the nobles. Through the Capitulations of Santa Fe , navigator Christopher Columbus received finances and

952-664: The Catholic Monarchs created the Royal Council , and appointed magistrates (judges) to run the towns and cities. This establishment of royal authority is known as the Pacification of Castile and can be seen as one of the crucial steps toward the creation of one of Europe's first strong nation-states. Isabella also sought various ways to diminish the influence of the Cortes Generales in Castile, though Ferdinand

1008-466: The Crusade was created under their rule to administer funds from the sale of crusading bulls. In 1498 after Ferdinand had gained control of the revenues of the wealthy and powerful Spanish military orders , he created the Council of Military Orders to oversee them. The conciliar model was extended beyond the rule of the Catholic Monarchs, with their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor establishing

1064-558: The Duke of Coimbra (despite being his half-brother), eventually became the king's favourite uncle and began a constant struggle for power. In 1442, the king made his uncle Afonso the first Duke of Braganza . With this title and its lands, he became the most powerful man in Portugal and one of the richest men in Europe. To secure his position as regent, Pedro had Afonso marry his daughter, Isabella of Coimbra , in 1445. On 9 June 1448, when

1120-634: The Mediterranean and to the rise of monarchies strong enough to challenge the Pope, refused to grant one, so they falsified a papal bull of their own. Even though the bull is known to be false, it is uncertain who was the material author of the falsification. Some experts point at Carrillo de Acuña , Archbishop of Toledo , and others point at Antonio Veneris. Isabella's claims to it were not secure, since her marriage to Ferdinand enraged her half-brother Henry IV of Castile and he withdrew his support for her being his heiress presumptive that had been codified in

1176-527: The Navigator , but after Henry's death in 1460, he did nothing to continue Henry's work. Administratively, Afonso V was a passive king. He chose not to pursue the revision of laws or development of commerce, preferring instead to preserve the legacy of his father Edward and grandfather John I . In 1469, Afonso Vgranted Fernão Gomes the monopoly of trade in the Gulf of Guinea. In 1452, Pope Nicholas V issued

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1232-501: The Treaty of Alcáçovas. The treaty set boundaries for overseas expansion which were at the time disadvantageous to Castile, but the treaty resolved any further Portuguese claims on the crown of Castile. Portugal did not take advantage of Castile's and Aragon's focus on the reconquest of Granada. Following the reestablishment of good relations, the Catholic Monarchs made two strategic marriages to Portuguese royalty. The matrimonial policy of

1288-524: The battlefield where they collected the fugitives of Afonso. Both sides claimed victory, but Afonso's prospects for obtaining the Castilian crown were severely damaged. After the battle, Afonso sailed to France hoping to obtain the assistance of King Louis XI in his fight against Castile. But finding himself deceived by the French monarch, he returned to Portugal in 1477. Disillusioned, he abdicated for

1344-431: The bottom of the coat of arms, were a yoke ( yugo ) and a sheaf of arrows ( haz de flechas ). Y and F are the initials of Ysabel (spelling at the time) and Fernando. A double yoke is worn by a team of oxen, emphasizing the couple's cooperation. Isabella's emblem of arrows showed the armed power of the crown, "a warning to Castilians not acknowledging the reach of royal authority or that greatest of royal functions,

1400-646: The coast of present-day Venezuela . The colonies Columbus established, and conquests in the Americas in later decades, generated an influx of wealth into the new unified state of Spain , leading it to be the major power of Europe from the end of the fifteenth century until the mid-seventeenth century, and the largest empire until 1810. Isabella's death in 1504 ended the remarkably successful political partnership and personal relationship of their marriage. Ferdinand remarried Germaine of Foix in 1505, but they produced no living heir. Had there been one, Aragonese opposed to

1456-578: The expulsion of Jews who refused to convert to Christianity. After a number of revolts, Ferdinand and Isabella ordered the expulsion of all Jews from Spain. People who converted to Catholicism were not subject to expulsion, but between 1480 and 1492 hundreds of those who had converted ( conversos and moriscos ) were accused of secretly practising their original religion ( crypto-Judaism or crypto-Islam ) and arrested, imprisoned, interrogated under torture, and in some cases burned to death , in both Castile and Aragon. The Inquisition had been created in

1512-538: The funding and authorization for the voyage, the benefits accrued to the Kingdom of Castile. "Although the subjects of the Crown of Aragon played some part in the discovery and colonization of the New World, the Indies were formally annexed not to Spain but to the Crown of Castile." He landed on the island of Guanahani , and called it San Salvador . He continued onto Cuba , naming it Juana, and finished his journey on

1568-602: The island of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, calling it Hispaniola , or La Isla Española ("the Spanish [Island]" in Castilian). On his second trip, begun in 1493, he found more Caribbean islands including Puerto Rico . His main goal was to colonize the existing discoveries with the 1500 men that he had brought the second time around. Columbus finished his last expedition in 1498 and discovered Trinidad and

1624-503: The king came of age, Pedro had to surrender his powers to Afonso V. The years of conspiracy by the Duke of Braganza finally came to a head. On 15 September of the same year, Afonso V nullified all the laws and edicts approved under the regency. In the following year, led by what were later discovered to be false accusations, Afonso declared Pedro a rebel and defeated his army in the Battle of Alfarrobeira , in which his uncle (and father-in-law)

1680-596: The king the nickname of the African or Africano . After the capture of Alcácer Ceguer in 1458, Afonso gave himself the title "king of Portugal and the Algarves", where the plural form of Algarve was meant to refer to both the original Kingdom of the Algarve in southern Portuguese as well as the new territories in Africa. The king also supported the exploration of the Atlantic Ocean led by Prince Henry

1736-479: The kingdom. Because of their close blood-relationship, a formal marriage had to wait for papal dispensation. On 12 May 1475 Afonso entered Castile with an army of 5,600 cavalry and 14,000 foot soldiers. In March 1476, after several skirmishes and much maneuvering, the 8,000 men of Afonso and Prince João , faced a Castilian force of similar size in the Battle of Toro . The Castilians were led by Isabella's husband, Prince Ferdinand II of Aragon , Cardinal Mendoza and

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1792-404: The kingdom. Eleanor attempted to resist, but without support in Portugal she fled to Castile. Pedro's main policies were concerned with restricting the political power of the great noble houses and expanding the powers of the crown. The country prospered under his rule, but not peacefully, as his laws interfered with the ambitions of powerful nobles. Afonso, Count of Barcelos, a personal enemy of

1848-517: The monarchs sought advantageous marriages for their five children, forging royal alliances for the long-term benefit of Spain. Their first-born, a daughter named Isabella , married Afonso of Portugal , forging important ties between these two neighboring kingdoms that would lead to enduring peace and future alliance. Joanna , their second daughter, married Philip the Handsome , the son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I . This ensured an alliance with

1904-423: The obstacle that this consanguinity would otherwise have posed to their marriage under canon law , they were given a papal dispensation by Sixtus IV . They married on October 19, 1469, in the city of Valladolid ; Isabella was 18 years old and Ferdinand a year younger. Most scholars generally accept that the unification of Spain can essentially be traced back to the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella. Their reign

1960-497: The other"), came to signify their cooperation." The motto was originally used by Ferdinand as an allusion to the Gordian knot : Tanto monta, monta tanto, cortar como desatar ("It's one and the same, cutting or untying"), but later adopted as an expression of equality of the monarchs: Tanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernando ("It's one and the same, Isabella the same as Ferdinand"). Their emblems or heraldic devices, seen at

2016-487: The papacy retained the right to formally appoint the royal nominees. The Inquisition did not have jurisdiction over Jews and Muslims who did not convert. Since the kingdom of Aragon had existed since 1248, the Spanish Inquisition was the only common institution for the two kingdoms. Pope Innocent VIII confirmed Dominican Tomás de Torquemada , a confessor of Isabella, as Grand Inquisitor of Spain, following in

2072-456: The position of heir apparent and was made the first Prince of Portugal by his father, who sought to emulate the English court's custom of a dynastic title that distinguished the heir apparent from the other children of the monarch. He was only six years old when he succeeded his father in 1438. During his minority, Afonso was placed under the regency of his mother, Eleanor, in accordance with

2128-467: The right to mete out justice" by force of violence. The iconography of the royal crest was widely reproduced and was found on various works of art. These badges were later used by the fascist Spanish political party Falange , which claimed to represent the inherited glory and the ideals of the Catholic Monarchs. Isabella succeeded to the throne of Castile in 1474 when Ferdinand was still heir-apparent to Aragon, and with Aragon's aid, Isabella's claim to

2184-602: The scene of their great triumph in 1492. Joanna's son Charles I of Spain (also Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor) came to Spain, and she kept confined in Tordesillas , was nominal co-ruler of both Castile and Aragon until her death. With her death, Charles succeeded to the territories that his grandparents had accumulated and brought the Habsburg territories in Europe to the expanding Spanish Empire. Afonso V of Portugal Afonso V ( Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐˈfõsu] ; 15 January 1432 – 28 August 1481), known by

2240-466: The throne in January 1479. In September 1479, Portugal and the Catholic Monarchs of Aragon and Castile resolved major issues between them through the Treaty of Alcáçovas , including the issue of Isabella's rights to the crown of Castile. Through close cooperation, the royal couple were successful in securing political power in the Iberian peninsula. Ferdinand's father had advised the couple that "neither

2296-415: The throne of England, in 1501; he died at the age of 15 a few months later, and she married his younger brother shortly after he became King Henry VIII of England in 1509. These alliances were not all long-lasting, with their only son and heir-apparent John dying young; Catherine was divorced by Henry VIII; and Joanna's husband Philip dying young, with the widowed Joanna deemed mentally unfit to rule. Under

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2352-490: The throne was secured. As Isabella's husband was king of Castile by his marriage and his father still ruled in Aragon, Ferdinand spent more time in Castile than Aragon at the beginning of their marriage. His pattern of residence in Castile persisted even when he succeeded to the throne in 1479, and the absenteeism caused problems for Aragon. These were remedied to an extent by the creation of the Council of Aragon in 1494, joining

2408-424: The throne. This dispute between rival claimants led to the War of 1475–79 . Isabella called on the aid of Aragon, with her husband, the heir apparent, and his father, Juan II of Aragon providing it. Although Aragon provided support for Isabella's cause, Isabella's supporters had extracted concessions, Isabella was acknowledged as the sole heir to the crown of Castile. Juan II died in 1479, and Ferdinand succeeded to

2464-555: The tradition in Aragon of Dominican inquisitors. Torquemada pursued aggressive policies toward converted Jews ( conversos ) and moriscos . The pope also granted the Catholic Monarchs the right of patronage over the ecclesiastical establishment in Granada and the Canary Islands, which meant the control of the state in religious affairs. The monarchs began a series of campaigns known as the Granada War (1482–92), which

2520-480: The twelfth century by Pope Lucius III to fight heresy in the south of what is now France and was constituted in a number of European kingdoms. The Catholic Monarchs decided to introduce the Inquisition to Castile and requested the Pope's assent. On 1 November 1478, Pope Sixtus IV published the papal bull Exigit Sinceras Devotionis Affectus , by which the Inquisition was established in the Kingdom of Castile; it

2576-485: The union would have likely backed their succession as a chance to re-establish independence, leading to civil war. The Catholic Monarchs' daughter Joanna succeeded to the crown of Castile, but was deemed unfit to rule following the death of her husband Phillip the Fair, Ferdinand retained power in Castile as regent until his death, with Joanna confined. He died in 1516 and is buried alongside his first wife Isabella in Granada,

2632-424: The will left by his late father. As both a foreigner and a woman, the queen was not a popular choice for regent. When the cortes met in late 1438, a law was passed requiring a joint regency consisting of Eleanor and Pedro, Duke of Coimbra , the younger brother of the late king. The dual regency was a failure and in 1439, the cortes named Pedro "protector and guardian" of the king and "ruler and defender" of

2688-561: Was aided by Pope Sixtus IV's granting the tithe revenue and implementing a crusade tax so that the monarchs could finance the war. After 10 years of fighting the Granada War ended in 1492 when Emir Boabdil surrendered the keys of the Alhambra Palace in Granada to the Castilian soldiers. With the fall of Granada in January 1492, Isabella and Ferdinand pursued further policies of religious unification of their realms, in particular

2744-641: Was authorised to sail west and claim lands for Spain. The monarchs accorded him the title of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and he was given broad privileges. His voyage west resulted in the European colonization of the Americas and brought the knowledge of its existence to Europe. Columbus' first expedition to the supposed Indies actually landed in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492. Since Queen Isabella had provided

2800-498: Was called by W.H. Prescott "the most glorious epoch in the annals of Spain". Spain was formed as a dynastic union of two crowns rather than a unitary state, as Castile and Aragon remained separate kingdoms until the Nueva Planta decrees of 1707–16. The court of Ferdinand and Isabella was constantly on the move, in order to bolster local support for the crown from local feudal lords . The title of " Catholic King and Queen "

2856-415: Was characterised by the religious unification of the peninsula through militant Catholicism. On receiving a petition for authority, Pope Sixtus IV issued a bull in 1478 to establish a Holy Office of the Inquisition in Castile. This was to ensure that Jews and Muslims who converted to Christianity did not revert to their previous faiths. The papal bull gave the sovereigns full powers to name inquisitors, but

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2912-406: Was killed. Afonso V then turned his attentions to North Africa. During the reign of his grandfather John I , Ceuta had been conquered from the king of Morocco , and now the new king wanted to expand the conquests. The king's army conquered Alcácer Ceguer in 1458 and Arzila in 1471. Tangiers , on the other hand, was won and lost several times between 1460 and 1464. These achievements granted

2968-410: Was later extended to all of Spain. The bull gave the monarchs exclusive authority to name the inquisitors. During the reign of the Catholic Monarchs and long afterwards the Inquisition was active in prosecuting people for violations of Catholic orthodoxy such as crypto-Judaism, heresy, Protestantism, blasphemy, and bigamy. The last trial for crypto-Judaism was held in 1818. In 1492 the monarchs issued

3024-606: Was officially bestowed on Ferdinand and Isabella by Pope Alexander VI in 1494, in recognition of their defence of the Catholic faith within their realms. At the time of their marriage on October 19, 1469, Isabella was eighteen years old and the heiress presumptive to the Crown of Castile , while Ferdinand was seventeen and heir apparent to the Crown of Aragon . They met for the first time in Valladolid in 1469 and married within

3080-455: Was powerful without the other". Though their marriage united the two kingdoms, leading to the beginnings of modern Spain, they ruled independently and their kingdoms retained part of their own regional laws and governments for the next centuries. The coat of arms of the Catholic Monarchs was designed by Antonio de Nebrija with elements to show their cooperation and working in tandem. The royal motto they shared, Tanto monta ("as much one as

3136-468: Was too thoroughly Aragonese to do anything of the sort with the equivalent systems in the Crown of Aragon. Even after his death and the union of the crowns under one monarch, the Aragonese, Catalan, and Valencian Corts (parliaments) retained significant power in their respective regions. Further, the monarchs continued ruling through a form of medieval contractualism, which made their rule pre-modern in

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