Arévalo is a municipality in Spain, it is situated in the province of Ávila and is part of the autonomous community of Castile and León . The name came from the Celtic word arevalon , meaning "place near the wall."
107-457: The city is the capital of La Moraña. Queen Isabella I of Castile was raised here as a young girl. The government of Spain has declared this city a Historic-Artistic (more important than Soria) site due to its many examples of Mudéjar art. The city is the hometown and birthplace of an author simply known as the Young Man of Arévalo , one of the most famous known crypto-Muslim authors after
214-411: A castle that was adorned with gold and silver. Isabella's basic education consisted of reading, spelling, writing, grammar, history, arithmetic, 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 since King Henry forbade this. Her half-brother
321-572: A dynastically unified Spain , Isabella and Ferdinand are known as the Catholic Monarchs . After a struggle to claim the throne, Isabella reorganized the governmental system, brought the crime rate down, and unburdened the kingdom of the debt which her half-brother King Henry IV had left behind. Isabella's marriage to Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469 created the basis of the de facto unification of Spain. Her reforms and those she made with her husband had an influence that extended well beyond
428-529: A continent in that southern part; full of animals and more populous than our Europe, or Asia, or Africa, and even more temperate and pleasant than any other region known to us. Vespucci's letter was a publishing sensation in Europe that was immediately and repeatedly reprinted in several other countries. Peter Martyr, who had been writing and circulating private letters commenting on Columbus's discoveries since 1493, often shares credit with Vespucci for designating
535-612: A deep reverence for religion under the supervision of her mother. When the king's wife, Joan of Portugal , was about to give birth to their daughter Joanna , Isabella and Alfonso were summoned to court in Segovia to come under the direct supervision of the king and to finish their education. Alfonso was placed in the care of a tutor while Isabella became part of the queen's household. Some of Isabella's living conditions improved in Segovia. She always had food and clothing and lived in
642-482: A few weeks after Columbus's return from his first voyage, Martyr wrote letters referring to Columbus's discovered lands as the "western antipodes" ("antipodibus occiduis", letter of 14 May 1493), the "new hemisphere of the earth" ("novo terrarum hemisphaerio", 13 September 1493). In a letter dated 1 November 1493, he refers to Columbus as the "discoverer of the new globe" ("Colonus ille novi orbis repertor"). A year later, on 20 October 1494, Peter Martyr again refers to
749-584: A large open ocean between China on the east side of the map, and the inchoate largely water-surrounded North American and South American discoveries on the western side of map. Out of uncertainty, they depicted a finger of the Asian land mass stretching across the top to the eastern edge of the map, suggesting it carried over into the western hemisphere. E.g. the Cantino Planisphere denotes Greenland as "Punta d'Asia"—"edge of Asia". Some maps, e.g.,
856-467: 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. As mentioned previously, Isabella had little care for personal bribes or favors. Because of this, this second type of councillor, usually of the nobility, was only allowed to attend the council of Castile as an observer. Isabella began to rely more on
963-665: A new and much more balanced sharing of the Atlantic at Tordesillas in 1494. As the orders received by Columbus in his first voyage (1492) show: "[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." Thus, by sponsoring the Columbian adventure to the west, the Spanish monarchs were trying
1070-472: A new bridge constructed , the plaza of the villa, (in Spanish, Plaza de la Villa), the municipal library, the museum of el cereal, the history of Arévalo museum , the nature center in la Plaza del Real, and the Tuesday market in the fairground. Arévalo celebrates the festival of its patron saint San Victorino on 7 July, with its traditional parade of cabezudos, the opening of its fairground, and bullfights in
1177-622: 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. Although Isabella made many reforms that seem to have made
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#17327730752931284-550: 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. At the end of the Reconquista , only Granada was left for Isabella and Ferdinand to conquer. The Emirate of Granada had been held by
1391-541: A pivotal role in shaping the Spanish linguistic legacy in the New World. In 1492, she endorsed the first grammar of the Castilian language titled Gramática de la lengua castellana , written by Elio Antonio de Nebrija, the father of Spanish grammar. This grammar was intended to spread the Spanish language across the newly discovered lands, aligning with Spain's imperial ambitions, as Nebrija himself declared it would teach
1498-499: A reality. If Isabella married Afonso, Henry's daughter Joanna would marry Afonso's son John II and thus, after the death of the old king, John and Joanna could inherit Portugal and Castile. Isabella refused and made a secret promise to marry her cousin and very first betrothed, Ferdinand of Aragon. After this failed attempt, Henry once again went against his promises and tried to marry Isabella to Louis XI 's brother Charles, Duke of Berry . In Henry's eyes, this alliance would cement
1605-402: 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 bought 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 even richer. Isabella's one stipulation was that there would be no revocation of gifts made to churches, hospitals, or
1712-590: A total population of 80,000 Jews, a maximum of 40,000 left and the rest converted. Hundreds of those that remained came under the Inquisition's investigations into relapsed conversos ( Marranos ) and the Judaizers who had been abetting them. New World The term " New World " is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth 's Western Hemisphere , particularly the Americas . The term arose in
1819-477: Is now named South America, that same map famously labels simply " America ". Martin Waldseemüller 's map of 1516 retreats considerably from his earlier map and back to classical authority, with the Asian land mass merging into North America, which he now calls Terra de Cuba Asie partis , and quietly drops the "America" label from South America, calling it merely Terra incognita . The western coast of
1926-542: The New World on 12 October. 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. Spain then entered a Golden Age of exploration and colonization —the period of the Spanish Empire . In 1494, by
2033-742: The Spanish empire , making Spain a major power in Europe and the world and ultimately ushering in the Spanish Golden Age . Together with her husband, Isabella was granted the title of "Catholic Monarch" by Pope Alexander VI , a Spaniard. Her sainthood cause was opened in 1974, granting her the title Servant of God in the Catholic Church . Isabella was born in Madrigal de las Altas Torres to King John II of Castile and his second wife, Isabella of Portugal , on 22 April 1451. At
2140-622: The Treaty of Tordesillas , Isabella and Ferdinand agreed to divide the Earth, outside of Europe, with King John II of Portugal . The Portuguese did not recognize that South America belonged to the Spanish because it was in Portugal's sphere of influence, and King John II threatened to send an army to claim the land for the Portuguese. Beyond her support for Columbus, Queen Isabella also played
2247-517: The West Indies with what returning sailors told him of the East Indies . Vespucci wrote a preliminary letter to Lorenzo, while anchored at Bezeguiche, which he sent back with the Portuguese fleet, which expressed a certain puzzlement about his conversations. Vespucci ultimately was convinced while on his mapping expedition of eastern Brazil from 1501 to 1502. After returning from Brazil in
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#17327730752932354-479: The forced conversions of Muslims in Spain. It is located at an altitude of 820 meters and is near the junction of the two rivers Adaja and Arevalillo. Its encompassed area is 46.07 km and its population is 13.122. In medieval times, it was the head of the agricultural sector (Comunidad de Villa y Tierra) of the same name. In addition to this there are many other brick monuments from different eras. The palace of
2461-520: The turkey were originally domesticated by pre-Columbian peoples in Mesoamerica . Agriculturalists in the Andean region of South America brought forth the cassava , peanut , potato , quinoa and domesticated animals like the alpaca , guinea pig and llama . Other New World crops include the sweetpotato , cashew , cocoa , rubber , sunflower , tobacco , and vanilla , and fruits like
2568-595: The " Old World " of the Eastern Hemisphere , while the Americas were then referred to as "the fourth part of the world", or the "New World". Antarctica and Oceania are considered neither Old World nor New World lands, since they were only discovered by Europeans much later. They were associated instead with the Terra Australis that had been posited as a hypothetical southern continent. All of
2675-544: The 1506 Contarini–Rosselli map and the 1508 Johannes Ruysch map, bowing to Ptolemaic authority and Columbus's assertions, have the northern Asian landmass stretching well into the western hemisphere and merging with known North America, Labrador, Newfoundland, etc. These maps place the island of Japan near Cuba and leave the South American continent—Vespucci's "New World" proper—detached and floating below by itself. The Waldseemüller map of 1507, which accompanied
2782-419: The Americas as a new world. Peter Martyr used the term Orbe Novo , meaning "New Globe", in the title of his history of the discovery of the Americas, which began appearing in 1511. The Vespucci passage above applied the "New World" label to merely the continental landmass of South America . At the time, most of the continent of North America was not yet discovered, and Vespucci's comments did not eliminate
2889-539: The Americas remained unclear. That there must be a large ocean between Asia and the Americas was implied by the known existence of vast continuous sea along the coasts of East Asia . Given the size of the Earth as calculated by Eratosthenes this left a large space between Asia and the newly discovered lands. Even prior to Vespucci, several maps, e.g. the Cantino planisphere of 1502 and the Canerio map of 1504, placed
2996-445: The Americas until they were introduced by post-Columbian contact in the 1490s. Many common crops were originally domesticated in the Americas before they spread worldwide after Columbian contact, and are still often referred to as " New World crops ". Common beans ( phaseolus ), maize , and squash —the " three sisters "—as well as the avocado , tomato , and wide varieties of capsicum ( bell pepper , chili pepper , etc.), and
3103-770: The Americas, to distinguish them from their counterparts in the "Old World" (Europe, Africa and Asia)—e.g., New World monkeys , New World vultures , New World warblers . The label is also often used in agriculture. Asia, Africa, and Europe share a common agricultural history stemming from the Neolithic Revolution , and the same domesticated plants and animals spread through these three continents thousands of years ago, making them largely indistinct and useful to classify together as "Old World". Common Old World crops, e.g., barley , lentils , oats , peas , rye , wheat , and domesticated animals, e.g., cattle , chickens , goats , horses , pigs , sheep , did not exist in
3210-709: The Atlantic and was deprived of the gold of Guinea, which induced anger in Andalusia . Spanish academic Antonio Rumeu de Armas claims that with the peace treaty of Alcáçovas in 1479, the Catholic Monarchs "... buy the peace at an excessively expensive price ..." and historian Mª Monserrat León Guerrero added that they "... find themselves forced to abandon their expansion by the Atlantic ;...". Christopher Columbus freed Castile from this difficult situation, because his New World discovery led to
3317-472: The Atlantic coast of North America in what is present-day Canada and the United States . The term "New World" is still commonly employed when discussing historic spaces, particularly the voyages of Christopher Columbus and the subsequent European colonization of the Americas . It has been framed as being problematic for applying a colonial perspective of discovery and not doing justice to either
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3424-489: The Castilian and Portuguese fleets fought for hegemony in the Atlantic Ocean and for the wealth of Guinea (gold and slaves), where the decisive naval Battle of Guinea was fought. The war dragged on for another three years and ended with a Castilian victory on land and a Portuguese victory on the sea. The four separate peace treaties signed at Alcáçovas (4 September 1479) reflected that result: Portugal gave up
3531-478: The Castilian right wing and remained in possession of the battlefield. But despite its uncertain outcome, the Battle of Toro represented a great political victory for the Catholic Monarchs , assuring them the throne since the supporters of Joanna la Beltraneja disbanded and the Portuguese army, without allies, left Castile. As summarized by the historian Justo L. González : Both armies faced each other at
3638-561: The Catholic Monarchs ;– who had proclaimed themselves rulers of Portugal and donated lands to noblemen inside this country – had to give up the Portuguese crown. At Alcáçovas, Isabella and Ferdinand had secured the throne, but the Portuguese exclusive right of navigation and commerce in all of the Atlantic Ocean south of the Canary Islands meant that Spain was practically blocked out of
3745-455: 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. After the reforms of the Cortes of Toledo, the queen ordered
3852-558: The Gutiérrez de Altamirano, the house of the militia, the palace of Cárdenas, the palace of río Ungria, the palace of Real, the palace of Ballesteros Ronquillo, the palace of Sedeño and the palace of general Vicente del Río. There are also diverse convents, the castle in which the Museum of Cereal is located, plaza del Arrabal, plaza Del Real, plaza de San Pedro and plaza de la Villa. The highway A-6 unites Madrid with La Coruña and some of
3959-682: The Indians [indigenous Americans] to receive any wrong in their persons and property, but rather that they be treated well and fairly, and if they have received any wrong, remedy it." With the institution of the 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 and national unity. Though Isabella opposed taking harsh measures against Jews on economic grounds, Torquemada
4066-569: The Kings of Spain. The term "New World" ( Mundus Novus ) was coined in Spring 1503 by Amerigo Vespucci in a letter written to his friend and former patron Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de' Medici , which was published in Latin ) in 1503–04 under the title Mundus Novus . Vespucci's letter contains the first explicit articulation in print of the hypothesis that the lands discovered by European navigators to
4173-584: The Muslim Nasrid dynasty since the mid-13th century. 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 Granada War . While Isabella's and Ferdinand's involvement in the war was apparent from the start, Granada's leadership
4280-498: The New World countries use the Latin script as its official script. The Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci is usually credited for coming up with the term "New World" ( Mundus Novus ) for the Americas in his 1503 letter, giving it its popular cachet, although similar terms had been used and applied before him. The Venetian explorer Alvise Cadamosto used the term "un altro mondo" ("another world") to refer to sub-Saharan Africa , which he explored in 1455 and 1456 on behalf of
4387-534: The New World, including the Pacific Ocean , was discovered in 1513 by Vasco Núñez de Balboa , twenty years after Columbus' initial voyage. It was a few more years before the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan 's between 1519 and 1522 determined that the Pacific Ocean definitely formed a single large body of water that separates Asia from the Americas. Several years later, the Pacific Coast of North America
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4494-533: The Portuguese. This was merely a literary flourish, not a suggestion of a new "fourth" part of the world. Cadamosto was aware that sub-Saharan Africa was part of the African continent. Peter Martyr d'Anghiera , an Italian chronicler at the service of Spain , doubted Christopher Columbus 's claims to have reached East Asia (" the Indies "), and consequently came up with alternative names to refer to them. Only
4601-400: The South American landmass is not a "fourth" continent, but rather the terrestrial paradise of Biblical tradition, a land allegedly known, but undiscovered, by Christendom . In another letter to the nurse of Prince John, written 1500, Columbus refers to having reached a "new heavens and world" ("nuevo cielo é mundo") and that he had placed "another world" ("otro mundo") under the dominion of
4708-402: The alliance was that a marriage was to be arranged between Charles and Isabella. When John II learned of this arranged marriage, he was outraged. Isabella had been intended for his favorite younger son, Ferdinand, and in his eyes, this alliance was still valid. John II had his son Charles thrown in prison on charges of plotting against his father's life. Charles died in 1461. In 1465, an attempt
4815-557: The borders of their united kingdoms. Isabella and Ferdinand are known for being the first monarchs to be referred to as the queen and king of Spain, respectively. Their actions included completion of the Reconquista , the Alhambra Decree which ordered the mass expulsion of Jews from Spain, initiating the Spanish Inquisition , financing Christopher Columbus 's 1492 voyage to the New World , and establishing
4922-518: 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" [Joanna] was dissolved and the Portuguese were forced to return to their kingdom. With great political vision, Isabella took advantage of
5029-466: The castle in Arévalo were poor, and they suffered from a shortage of money. Although her father arranged in his will for his children to be financially well taken care of, Henry did not comply with their father's wishes, either from a desire to keep his half-siblings restricted or from ineptitude. Even though her living conditions were difficult, Isabella was instructed in lessons of practical piety and in
5136-554: The chief of the navigation of Spain. Although the proceedings of the Toro-Burgos conferences are missing, it is almost certain that Vespucci articulated his recent 'New World' thesis to his fellow navigators there. During these conferences, Spanish officials seem to have accepted that the Antilles and the known stretch of Central America were not the Indies as they had hoped. Though Columbus still insisted they were. They set out
5243-509: The coinage had to 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 finances. Both Isabella and Ferdinand established very few new governmental and administrative institutions in their respective kingdoms. Especially in Castile, their main achievement
5350-548: The cortes of Madrigal in 1476 in the form of a police force, La Santa Hermandad (the Holy Brotherhood). Although 1476 was not the first time that Castile had seen the Hermandad, it was the first time that the police force was used by the crown. 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
5457-562: 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 servant. They married immediately upon reuniting on 19 October 1469 in the Palacio de los Vivero in the city of Valladolid . On 12 December 1474, news of King Henry IV's death in Madrid (which had happened on 11 December ) reached Segovia . This prompted Isabella to take refuge within
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#17327730752935564-496: The early 16th century during Europe 's Age of Discovery , after Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci published the Latin -language pamphlet Mundus Novus , presenting his conclusion that these lands (soon called America based on Amerigo's name ) constitute a new continent . This realization expanded the geographical horizon of earlier European geographers, who had thought that the world only included Afro-Eurasian lands. Africa , Asia , and Europe became collectively called
5671-422: The famous Cosmographiae Introductio volume, which includes reprints of Vespucci's letters, comes closest to modernity by placing a completely open sea, with no stretching land fingers, between Asia on the eastern side and the New World. It is represented two times in the same map in a different way: with and without a sea passage in the middle of what is now named Central America on the western side—which, on what
5778-489: The friendship of Castile and France as well as remove Isabella from Castilian affairs. However, Isabella once again refused the proposal. Meanwhile, John II of Aragon negotiated in secret with Isabella a wedding to his son Ferdinand. After her marriage to Ferdinand, several anonymous journal entries claim the queen was unfaithful and plotted against the king. On 18 October 1469, the formal betrothal took place. Because Isabella and Ferdinand were second cousins, they stood within
5885-493: The great Castilian houses of nobility. While the nobles held the titles, individuals of lesser breeding did the real work. 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
5992-420: The historic or geographic complexity of the world. It is argued that both 'worlds' and the age of Western colonialism rather entered a new stage, as in the ' modern world '. In wine terminology , "New World" uses a particular definition. " New World wines " include not only North American and South American wines, but also those from South Africa , Australia , New Zealand , and all other locations outside
6099-457: 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. 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
6206-519: The islands of Sicily and Sardinia , 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 of Viana , John's elder son. Charles was constantly at odds with his father, and because of this, he secretly entered into an alliance with Henry IV of Castile. A major part of
6313-539: The keys of the city and the principal mosque was consecrated as a church. The Treaty of Granada was signed later that year; in it, Ferdinand and Isabella gave their word to allow the Muslims and Jews of Granada to live in peace. During the war, Isabella noted the abilities and energy of Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba and made him one of the two commissioners for the negotiations. Under her patronage, De Córdoba went on to an extraordinary military career that revolutionized
6420-611: The language to the inhabitants of these territories. Isabella was not in favor of enslaving the American natives . She established the royal position on how the indigenous people should be treated by following the recent policies implemented in the Canary Islands (which had a small number of native inhabitants), which stated that all peoples were subjects of the Crown of Castile , and could not be enslaved in most situations. She
6527-611: The major towns. It was also the supreme judicial tribunal of the kingdom. 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 councillor. 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 councillor had
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#17327730752936634-508: The marvels of the New Globe ("Novo Orbe") and the " Western Hemisphere " ("ab occidente hemisphero"). In Columbus's 1499 letter to the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, reporting the results of his third voyage, he relates how the massive waters of South America's Orinoco delta rushing into the Gulf of Paria implied that a previously unknown continent must lie behind it. Columbus proposes that
6741-414: The moment and convoked courts at Madrigal-Segovia (April–October 1476) where her eldest child and daughter Isabella was first sworn as heiress to 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 Ferdinand
6848-441: The new goal for Spanish explorers: find a sea passage or strait through the Americas, a path to Asia proper. The term New World was not universally accepted, entering English only relatively late, and has more recently been subject to criticism . While it became generally accepted after Amerigo Vespucci that Christopher Columbus ' discoveries were not Asia but a "New World", the geographic relationship between Europe and
6955-400: The nobility to choose whether to participate or not would weed out those who were not dedicated to the state and its cause. Isabella also saw the need to provide a personal relationship between herself as the monarch and her subjects. Therefore, 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
7062-543: 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. She met with Henry at Toros de Guisando and they reached a compromise: the war would stop, Henry would name Isabella his heir presumptive instead of his daughter Joanna, and Isabella would not marry without her half-brother's consent, but he would not be able to force her to marry against her will. Isabella's side came out with most of what
7169-418: The nobles desired, though they did not go so far as to officially depose King 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-presumptive. The question of Isabella's marriage was not a new one. She had, at the age of six, a betrothal to Ferdinand ,
7276-458: 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 drastic measures. It was decided that the Archbishop of Toledo would hold an enquiry into the tenure of estates and rents acquired during Henry IV's reign. Those that had not been granted as
7383-400: The only remaining path of expansion. Now that she had succeeded in securing her place on the Castilian throne, she could begin to institute the reforms that she planned for the kingdom. When Isabella came to the throne in 1474, Castile was in a state of despair due to her brother Henry's reign. It was known that Henry IV was a big spender and did little to enforce the laws of his kingdom. It
7490-400: The opinion of the ancients was, that the greater part of the world beyond the equinoctial line to the south was not land, but only sea, which they have called the Atlantic; and even if they have affirmed that any continent is there, they have given many reasons for denying it is inhabited. But this opinion is false, and entirely opposed to the truth. My last voyage has proved it, for I have found
7597-557: The organization and tactics of the emerging Spanish military, changing the nature of warfare and altering the European balance of power. Just three months after entering Granada, Queen Isabella agreed to sponsor Christopher Columbus on an expedition to reach the East Indies by sailing west (for a distance of 2,000 miles, according to Columbus). The crown agreed to pay a sum of money as a concession from monarch to subject. Columbus's expedition departed on 3 August 1492, and arrived in
7704-409: The poor. Another issue of money was the overproduction 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 150. 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
7811-485: The population uses this transit system to commute to the main cities of the northwest peninsula. Also the train line Madrid-Hendaya has a stop in this town. From this line, the town is communicated thanks to its numerous regional trains with cities such as Madrid, Ávila, Medina del Campo, Valladolid, Burgos, Palencia, Vitoria and Santander. Farming, cattle ranching, lumber industry, a small but powerful industrial sector and other businesses which are fundamentally based upon
7918-462: The possibility that the islands of the Antilles discovered earlier by Christopher Columbus might still be the eastern edges of Asia, as Columbus continued to insist until his death in 1506. A 1504 globe , possibly created by Leonardo da Vinci , depicts the New World as only South America , excluding North America and Central America . A conference of navigators known as Junta de Navegantes
8025-456: The prey of tyrant nobles since the days of Isabella's father, John II. Robbers had infested the highways and oppressed the smaller towns and villages. The officials Isabella charged set off with the Herculean task of restoring peace for the province and were ultimately successful. Indeed, they drove over 1,500 robbers from Galicia. From the very beginning of her reign, Isabella fully grasped
8132-405: The processing of agriculture are the main forms of employment. There are 3 schools, C.P. La Moraña, C.P. Los Arevacos and el Amor de Dios, which operate in this district. Additionally there are 3 centers for secondary education, Los Salesianos, I.E.S Adaja y I.E.S Eulogio Florentino Sanz. In addition, Arévalo has other places of interest like la formidable Avenida Emilio Romero, a sports facility,
8239-422: 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. Isabella hoped that forcing
8346-614: The prohibited degrees of consanguinity and the marriage would not be legal unless a dispensation from the Pope was obtained. With the help of the Valencian Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (later Pope Alexander VI ), Isabella and Ferdinand were presented with a supposed papal bull by Pope Pius II (who had actually died in 1464), authorizing Ferdinand to marry within the third degree of consanguinity, making their marriage legal. Afraid of opposition, Isabella eloped from
8453-424: The roads and countryside and punishing malefactors. These brotherhoods had usually been suppressed by the monarch, however. Furthermore, 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 1476, a general Hermandad was established for Castile, Leon , and Asturias . The police force
8560-675: The spring of 1503, Vespucci authored the Mundus Novus letter in Lisbon and sent it to Lorenzo in Florence , with the famous opening paragraph: In passed days I wrote very fully to you of my return from new countries, which have been found and explored with the ships, at the cost and by the command of this Most Serene King of Portugal; and it is lawful to call it a new world, because none of these countries were known to our ancestors and to all who hear about them they will be entirely new. For
8667-626: The throne of Castile in favor of Isabella in exchange for a very favorable share of the Atlantic territories disputed with Castile (they all went to Portugal with the exception of the Canary Islands : Guinea with its mines of gold, Cape Verde , Madeira , Azores , and the right of conquest over the Kingdom of Fez ) plus a large war compensation: 106.676 dobles of gold. The Catholic Monarchs also had to accept that Joanna la Beltraneja remain in Portugal instead of Spain and to pardon all rebellious subjects who had supported Joanna and King Afonso. And
8774-630: The throne. The nobles, now in control of Alfonso and claiming that he was the true heir, clashed with King Henry's forces at the Second Battle of Olmedo in 1467. The battle was a draw. Henry agreed to recognize Alfonso as his heir presumptive , provided that he would marry his daughter, Princess Joanna. Soon after he was named Prince of Asturias , he died at the age of fourteen in July 1468. The nobles who had supported him suspected poisoning. As she had been named in her brother's will as his successor,
8881-628: The time of Isabella's birth, she was second in line to the throne after her older half-brother Henry . Henry was 26 at that time and married, but childless. Isabella's younger brother Alfonso was born two years later on 17 November 1453, demoting her position to third in line. When her father died in 1454, her half-brother ascended to the throne as King Henry IV. Isabella and her brother Alfonso were left in King Henry's care. Isabella, Alfonso, and their mother then moved to Arévalo . These were times of turmoil for Isabella. The living conditions at
8988-508: The town's streets. The festivals conclude with fireworks from the castle until 11pm. Isabella I of Castile Isabella I ( Spanish : Isabel I ; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: Isabel la Católica ), was Queen of Castile and León from 1474 until her death in 1504. She was also Queen of Aragon from 1479 until her death as the wife of King Ferdinand II . Reigning together over
9095-561: The traditional wine-growing regions of Europe, North Africa and the Near East . The usefulness of these terms for wines though have been questioned as arbitrary and too generalized. In a biological context, species can be divided into those in the Old World ( Palearctic , Afrotropic ) and those in the New World ( Nearctic , Neotropic ). Biological taxonomists often attach the "New World" label to groups of species found exclusively in
9202-590: The walls of the Alcázar of Segovia , where she received the support of Andres de Cabrera and Segovia's council. The next day, Isabella was proclaimed Queen of Castile and León. Isabella's reign got off to a rocky start. King Henry IV had named Isabella as his successor, so when she ascended to the throne in 1474, there were already several plots against her. Diego Pacheco , the Marquis of Villena, and his followers maintained that Joanna la Beltraneja , Henry's daughter,
9309-475: The watering stop at Bezeguiche in present-day Dakar , Senegal , as Vespucci was on his expedition to chart the coast of newly discovered Brazil and the ships of the Second Portuguese India armada , commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral , were returning from India . Having already visited the Americas in prior years, Vespucci likely found it difficult to reconcile what he had already seen in
9416-489: The west were not the edges of Asia, as asserted by Christopher Columbus , but rather an entirely different continent that represented a "New World". According to Mundus Novus , Vespucci realized that he was in a "New World" on 17 August 1501 as he arrived in Brazil and compared the nature and people of the place with what Portuguese sailors told him about Asia . A chance meeting between two different expeditions occurred at
9523-460: The years of failed attempts at political marriages were finally over. There was talk of a marriage to Edward IV of England or to one of his brothers, probably Richard, Duke of Gloucester , but this alliance was never seriously considered. Once again in 1468, a marriage proposal arrived from Afonso V of Portugal. Going against his promises made in September 1468, Henry tried to make the marriage
9630-458: The young Joanna. A long and bloody war for the Castilian succession then took place. The war went back and forth for almost a year, until the Battle of Toro on 1 March 1476, in which both sides claimed and celebrated victory: the troops of King Afonso V were beaten by the Castilian centre-left commanded by the Duke of Alba and Cardinal Mendoza while the forces led by John of Portugal defeated
9737-500: The younger son of John II of Navarre (whose family was a cadet branch of the House of Trastámara ). At that time, the two kings, Henry and John, were eager to show their mutual love and confidence and they believed that this alliance would make their eternal friendship obvious to the world. This arrangement, however, did not last long. Ferdinand's uncle Alfonso V of Aragon died in 1458. All of Alfonso's Spanish territories, as well as
9844-546: Was able to convince Ferdinand. On 31 March 1492, the Alhambra decree for the expulsion of the Jews was issued. The Jews had until the end of July (four months) to leave the country and they were not to take with them gold, silver, money, arms, or horses. 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
9951-402: Was annoyed by the enslavement of the natives by Columbus, and established a royal position on how the indigenous shall be treated. There were some circumstances in which a person could be enslaved, including being a prisoner of war , or for practising cannibalism or sodomy . After an episode in which Columbus captured 1,200 men, Isabella ordered their return and the arrest of Columbus, who
10058-406: Was assembled by the Spanish monarchs at Toro in 1505 and continued at Burgos in 1508 to digest all existing information about the Indies, come to an agreement on what had been discovered, and set out the future goals of Spanish exploration. Amerigo Vespucci attended both conferences, and seems to have had an outsized influence on them—at Burgos, he ended up being appointed the first piloto mayor ,
10165-463: Was divided and never able to present a united front. It still took ten years to conquer Granada, however, culminating in 1492. The Spanish monarchs recruited soldiers from many European countries and improved their artillery with the latest and best cannon. 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. The following year, Loja
10272-429: Was even said by one Castilian denizen of the time that murder, rape, and robbery happened without punishment. Because of this, Isabella needed desperately to find a way to reform her kingdom. Due to the measures she imposed, historians during her lifetime saw her to be more inclined to justice than to mercy, and indeed far more rigorous and unforgiving than her husband Ferdinand. Isabella's first major reform came during
10379-494: Was insulted in the streets of Granada. Isabella realized that she could not trust all the conquest and evangelization to take place through one man, so she opened the range for other expeditions led by Alonso de Hojeda , Juan de la Cosa , Vicente Yáñez Pinzón , Diego de Lepe [ Wikidata ] or Pedro Alonso Niño . To prevent her efforts from being reversed in the future, Isabella instructed her descendants in her last will as follows: "do not give rise to or allow
10486-451: Was keeping her from the political turmoil going on in the kingdom, though Isabella had full knowledge of what was going on and of her role in the feuds. After a rumor spread that Joanna was not actually the daughter of King Henry but rather of a royal favorite, Beltrán de la Cueva , noblemen confronted King Henry and demanded that the king's younger half-brother Alfonso be named his successor. They even went so far as to ask Alfonso to seize
10593-435: Was made to marry Isabella to Afonso 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. 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, Isabella
10700-529: Was made up of some 200 permanent servants or continos who performed a wide range of confidential functions on behalf of the rulers. By the 1470s, when Isabella began to take a firm grip on the royal administration, the senior offices of the royal household were simply honorary titles and held strictly by the nobility. The positions of a more secretarial nature were often held by senior churchmen. Substantial revenues were attached to such offices and were therefore enjoyed greatly, on an effectively hereditary basis, by
10807-487: Was mapped. The discovery of the Bering Straits in the early 18th century, established that Asia and North America were not connected by land. But some European maps of the 16th century, including the 1533 Johannes Schöner globe , still continued to depict North America as connected by a land bridge to Asia. In 1524, the term "New World" was used by Giovanni da Verrazzano in a record of his voyage that year along
10914-428: Was off fighting at the time. Going against the advice 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. Two years later, Isabella further secured her place as ruler with the birth of her son John, Prince of Asturias , on 30 June 1478. To many, the presence of a male heir legitimized her place as ruler. Meanwhile,
11021-551: 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 Muhammad XII finally surrendered at the end of the year. On 2 January 1492, Isabella and Ferdinand entered Granada to receive
11128-468: Was the rightful queen. Shortly after the Marquis made his claim, the Archbishop of Toledo —his great-uncle and a longtime supporter of Isabella—left court to plot with him. They made plans to have Joanna marry her uncle King Afonso V of Portugal and invade Castile to claim the throne for themselves. In May 1475, King Afonso and his army crossed into Spain and advanced to Plasencia . Here he married
11235-764: Was then to be betrothed to Pedro Girón Acuña Pacheco , Master of the Order of Calatrava and brother to the king's favorite, Juan Pacheco . In return, Don Pedro would pay into the royal treasury an enormous sum of money. Seeing no alternative, Henry agreed to the marriage. Isabella was aghast and prayed to God that the marriage would not come to pass. Her prayers were answered when Don Pedro suddenly fell ill and died while on his way to meet his fiancée. When Henry had recognized Isabella as his heir-presumptive on 19 September 1468, he had also promised that his half-sister should not be compelled to marry against her will, while she in return had agreed to obtain his consent. It seemed that
11342-504: 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 maravedís on every one hundred households. In 1477, Isabella visited Extremadura and Andalusia to introduce this more efficient police force there as well. 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
11449-486: Was to use more effectively the institutions that had existed during the reigns of John II and Henry IV. Historically, the center of the Castilian government had been the royal household, together with its surrounding court. The household was traditionally divided into two overlapping bodies. The first body was made up of household officials, mainly people of the nobility, who carried out governmental and political functions for which they received special payment. The second body
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