Ferdinand and Isabella's Spain

Ferdinand and Isabella both ruled Spain. Even though they were both King and Queen of Spain they ruled different areas independently. They did unite later on and were known as the Catholic Monarchs. They were given that name because they only accepted people who were in the Catholic religion. They had some controversy with the other religions.

Lots of different developments were made during this time in Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella wanted to bring back royal authority in their land. So, to follow through with that goal they established their own court system and police force. They wanted to do this because they wanted to be respected. They would also roam throughout Spain keeping tabs on all of the areas.

At this time (1469) Ferdinand and Isabella decided to get married. This unification made the two separate areas that they ruled form into one large region (Ferdinand ruled Aragon and Isabella ruled Castille). In 1492 they soon included the city Granada to be in the large region.

Ferdinand and Isabella were still very against the other religions. So they decided to sign a decree stating that the Muslims and Jews had to leave Spain or convert to the Catholic religion. For the Jews, they were commonly kicked out of most of the areas because the Catholic religion was spreading greatly in Europe.

Ferdinand and Isabella sponsored a great exploration journey done by Columbus. Unfortunately Columbus got denied from many areas to sponsor him so now at his last resort he came to Ferdinand and Isabella. They were advised to not go through with financing Columbus but they did end up doing it for him. It ended up not being such a mistake. They became very wealthy in their kingdom. This made them one of the great powers of Europe.

Isabella still wanted peace throughout her kingdom even after she reigned so she was determined to make that happen. So, she arranged all of her daughters’ weddings (there were five daughters) so that their kingdom would have connections with other lands. This made ties with, England, Portugal, Wales, the H.R.E. (Holy Roman Empire), and the Hapsburg Dynasty. This was a great success for Isabella.

Overall the year 1492 had a lot of turning points and impact in history. The Jews and Muslims had to leave Spain, but most importantly they also helped Columbus complete his journey in finding the New World. That event by itself influenced history greatly.