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How united was spain ferdinand and isabella essay
The accomplishments of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain
The accomplishments of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain
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Many people have heard of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. However, only some know of all the things they accomplished. They might be best known for funding the voyages of Christopher Columbus, but they also greatly contributed to the unity of Spain (“Isabella l”). Together, they brought many kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula together to form what Spain is today. Through Spain’s unification, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella strengthened Spain into an economic and dominant world power, enabling the spread of Christianity and the colonization of a New World.
Before the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Moors were in control of much of the Iberian Peninsula. They desperately wanted to unite Spain and turn it into a Christian nation (“Isabella and Ferdinand”). Isabella carefully concocted a plan that would progress her ambition. She proposed to Ferdinand that they marry, which would unify Castile and Aragon, and kick-start the unification of Spain (“Ferdinand V”).
Isabella then desired to boost her control over Spain by establishing the Spanish Inquisition. Its role was to abolish heresy and make Spain a Christian nation (“Spain: History”). The Inquisition officially lasted from 1478 to 1808 (“Queen Isabella’s Influence in the New World”).
The first problem they tried to deal with during the Inquisition was the Moors. At first, they tried preaching to the people, and not forcing them to convert to Catholicism. However, the plans quickly changed and they decided that it was more efficient for forced conversion or expulsion to be used against the Moors (Reston). This did not please the Moors. They fought back against Ferdinand and Isabella. The fighting between the Christians and the Moors went on for almost ten ...
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...e totally different. The natives might have been more accepting to the Europeans, and they might have lived together in unity. This might have changed many things such as religion, culture, and other ways of doing things.
Isabella and Ferdinand accomplished many things that altered the course of history. They expanded the Spanish empire by funding explorers. They also united several kingdoms to make the country that Spain is today, geographically and economically. However, Ferdinand and Isabella always believed that their greatest achievement was making Spain a dominantly Christian nation (“Isabella and Ferdinand”). By the end of their rule, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella colonized a world that had never been discovered, set up the spread of Christianity, and altogether created Spain into a nation with immense economical and industrial power in the world.
Toward the end of pre-colonial times in Europe, due to the fall of Constantinople, many European nations felt the need to find an alternate route to the East Indies. The trade of rare goods such as spices, rice, exotic fruits and silk fabrics were much in demand, but came at extreme prices. In the beginning of the ‘Age of Exploration’, Portugal was in the forefront with the early explorers Henry the Navigator, Zarco and Tristao Vaz Teixeira, and Diogo Silves discovering the Madeira Islands, the Azores, and the exploration of Africa respectively, but King John the II of Portugal was unconvinced by Christopher Columbus’s pleas to fund his plan to sail West to the East Indies. Columbus made many demands for self-profit, including ten percent of any riches with which he returned, and even an ‘Admiralty’. Subsequently, Columbus took his plans to Queen Isabella of Spain. Spain acquiesced, and Columbus set off on his fateful journey. The Roman Catholic Church was very interested in expanding the Christian faith during this time and applied its influence on the monarchy. Religion also played a large personal role as Columbus truly believed that God spoke to him, and guided his hand. Additionally, at this time in Europe, land and food were at a premium. The monarchs of the era were fully aware that the acquisition of more land, slave labor and possible natural resources would greatly increase their power, prestige and subsequent wealth. After learning of Columbus’ successful return and the Treaty of Tordesillas (which divided the New World between Spain and Portugal), King Henry VII of England threw his hat into the ring and sent John Cabot sailing from Bristol on an attempt to find a shorter route to the ‘Indies’. Not to be left out in ...
Slide 3- once Queen Isabel died in 1504 and Ferdinand died in1516 there was a power struggle between the families. Charles V and queen Isabel of Portugal took over and immediately had to make political alliances as soon as possible. What better way then conquering new land and people?
In Spain at the time, the church had authority second only to the crown. The position of a Catholic priest was well-nigh unassailable in the world of the Spanish empire. In fact Spanish priests led the Spanish inquisition, purging society in Spain of Jews, unreligious peoples and those who disagreed with the church. A group that was capable of policing society separate from the power of the government and the monarch had a great amount of power in society and people looked up to priests as role models.
Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain were the duo monarchs of the new nation of Spain, brought together by their families' lands of Argon and Castille. Ferdinand of Argon, son of John II of Argon, rose to power through his marriage to Isabella of Castille. Isabella of Castille was the daughter of King John I, of Castille. After King John I died, her older brother was the next heir I'm line, King Henry IV. When King Henry IV was seen unfit to rule by nobles, he was pushed aside to let his younger half-brother Alfonso take the throne. Fortunately, at least for Isabella, Alfonso soon after died of the plague, and had named her his successor in his will. This king and queen brought together their people firstly by completing the Reconquista, the expulsion of people practicing Muslim and Judism, to unify their nation under the religion of Roman Cathlioc. Although this couple's greatest achievement was their funding towards Christopher Columbus who ultimately found the New World. Through this, and their "claim" of it, Spain grew prostperous through the collection and mineing of silver and gold. This also lead to colonization and tr...
Spain had been the greatest power in the 1500s in Europe.The defeat of the Spanish Armada is one of the most famous events in English history. It was one of Queen Elizabeth's greatest accomplishments.
The Inquisition run by Tomas de Torquemada persecuted other religions and was a base of counter-reformation
Later on “Mary I married Phillip II of Spain and he became the King of Spain, and Mary I became
Queen Isabella had many accomplishments as an adult. One of them was she tried to change the religion of Castile as much as she could. Isabella banned all religions other than Roman Catholic. Most of Castile was Muslim and if you weren’t willing to change to Catholic, then you would be punished or banned. She made war on Muslims who held part of Southern Spain. Also, all Jews had to be baptized in a church. Obviously, religion took a major role in the Renaissance (Phillips par 4).
Queen Isabella made religion her priority. She married a king of Aragon Ferdinand and had five kids. four daughters and one son. Catherine of Aragon, Joanna of Castile, Isabella of Aragon, Maria of Aragon. Her and Ferdinand fought for Spain to be Catholic-only, and went to all extremes to try to make this happen. Isabella and Ferdinand instituted Inquisition in Spain in 1480, and this brought about many changes in the church. She was Queen of Spain over for 30 years. Queen Isabella was one of the most important and loved Monarchs in Spain. Queen Isabella worked with Columbus with voyages. She also had empathy for the Native Americans and she set a lot of them free, and return them to their homes. Queen Isabella of Spain, supported the ideal of humanism through her leadership of Spain.
Looking back into history, at around the 1500s to the 1600s, people were very much the same in the sense that many countries were looking to aggrandize their economy and appear the greatest. It was this pride and thinking that motivated many of the superpowers of the world’s past. Two such monarchies in the European continent included England and Spain, which had at the time, the best fleets the world has ever seen. Because both were often striving to be the best, they conflicted with one another. Although England and Spain had their differences, they both had a thirst to see new things and it was this hunger that led them both to discovering different parts of the “New World” and thus, colonizing the Americas.
The word “inquisition” means to examine. Inquisitors would “examine” suspected Heretics, people whose ideas do not match those of the Roman Catholic Church, and punish them accordingly. This included torture and burning. The great inquisition movement that took place in Spain, or Hispania as it was called before Spain united. It was called The Spanish Inquisition. It took place for approximately five hundred years, from the late 15th century to mid 19th century. Many ironic elements were involved in the history of the Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition lasted longer than any other preceding it, and was the most cruel, bloodthirsty, and festive of all. The objective of the inquisition, in its early state, was to convert all Jews into Christians, but later it mutated into an ugly machine who’s new objective was to rid the country of the newly converted Christians.
Ask any elementary school kid in the United States and they will probably be able to tell you that Queen Isabella sent Christopher Columbus on the voyage in which he found America. An iconic figure of the Renaissance, she is often discussed on the subject matter of exploration; however, her prestige and significance go far beyond that. Also commonly known as Queen Isabella the Catholic, she reigned from 1474 to 1504 and together with her husband King Ferdinand II of Aragón, united the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula and helped pave the way for Spain’s golden age. Yet despite the importance of her marriage to Ferdinand, Isabella was a sovereign queen in her own right, wielding immense power and accomplishing tasks of great proportions in spite of gender norms and political adversity against women.
The age of exploration brought about a great change in the social and political workings of not only Spain, but the entirety of Europe. Suddenly there was a grand new opportunity on the horizon; people that would normally live stagnant lives in their respective jobs in the community could now go to a brand new world to start over. Columbus, despite ending up dying a relatively sound but by no means wealthy man, started this trend of creating a name for yourself through exploration. Though he never reached the status of governor or duke, he was presented with the opportunity to become one, and that was enough for the
The papal inquisition was a crucial turning point for the Catholic Church. It was a steeping stone for the treatment of others with different beliefs from the Church. The papal inquisition was started by pope Gregory IX, set out to bring order and just action when dealing with heretics. Since mobs and townspeople killed alleged heretics without a trial, Pope Gregory IX tried to make a better way for dealing with and helping heretics.
After over six years of proposals to multiple nobles around Europe, Columbus found Queen Isabella and Kind Ferdinand of Spain who offered to fund the voyage, and on Augu...