ISABELLA (I) OF CAS TILE, Queen of Spain, daughter of John II, King of Castile and Leon and his second wife Isabella of Portugal : b. Madrigal, 22 April 1451; d. Medina del Campo 26 Nov. 1504. She mar ried, 19 Oct. 1469, Ferdinand V, King of Ara gon (q.v.), surnamed °The Catholic.* After the death of her brother, Henry IV in 1474 she ascended the throne of Castile, to the exclusion of the latter's daughter, Joan, who was claimed to have been illegitimate. After the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile were thus once more united, Ferdinand and Isabella assumed the royal titles of Spain. She was always present at the transaction of state affairs and insisted that her name should be placed beside that of her husband in public ordinances. The con quest of Granada, after which the Moors were entirely expelled from Spain, was in' a great degree her work; and the encouragement she gave Columbus, when everybody else doubted the feasibility of his plans, assisted him to the discovery of America. The broadness of her political vision and the strength of her character were chiefly responsible for the foundation of Spain's greatness. In all her undertakings Cardinal Ximenes was her as sistant. In 1492 Pope Alexander VI confirmed to the royal pair the title of eMost Catholic,* already conferred on them by Innocent VIII.
The zeal for the Roman Catholic religion, which procured them this title, unfortunately brought about the introduction of the In quisition, which was instituted in Spain in 1480, at the suggestion of their confessor, Torque mada. (See FERDINAND V, XIMENES, SPAIN and Cocumaus). Consult Clemencin, D., 'Precis Historique sur la Reine Catholique Dofia Isabelle) (Paris 1847) ; George, A., 'An nals of the Queens of Spain, etc.) (2 vols., New York 1850); Hare, C.,
of Queens and the Making of
(New York 1906) Howard, O. O., 'Isabella of Castile) (New York 1894) ; Hume, M. A. S., 'Queens of Old Spain) (New York 1906); Lea, H. C.,
Moriscos in Spain) (Philadelphia 1901) ; Id.,
of the Inquisition of
(4 vols., Philadelphia 1906-07); Mariejol, J. H., 'L'Es pagne sous Ferdinand et Isabella) (Paris 1892) ; Nervo, G. D.,