Isabella I of Castile

Isabella I
Isabella I of Castile, depicted in the painting Virgen de la mosca at The Collegiate church of Santa María la Mayor (Church of Saint Mary the Great)
Queen of Castile and León
Reign	11 December 1474 – 26 November 1504
Coronation	13 December 1474
Predecessor	Henry IV
Successor	Joanna
Co-monarch	Ferdinand V
Queen consort of Aragon Queen of Sicily 1469–1504 Queen of Aragon 1479–1504 Queen of Majorca 1479–1504 Queen of Sardinia 1479–1504 Queen of Valencia 1479–1504 Countess of Barcelona 1479–1504 Queen of Naples 1504–1504
Tenure	20 January 1479 – 26 November 1504
Born	22 April 1451 Madrigal de las Altas Torres
Died	26 November 1504(1504-11-26) (aged 53) Medina del Campo
Burial	Royal Chapel of Granada
Spouse	Ferdinand II of Aragon
Issue among others...	Isabella, Queen of Portugal John, Prince of Asturias Joanna of Castile and Aragon Maria, Queen of Portugal Catherine, Queen of England
House	Trastámara
Father	John II of Castile
Mother	Isabella of Portugal
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Isabella I (Spanish: Isabel I de Castilla, Old Spanish: Ysabel I) (22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504) was Queen of Castile. She was married to Ferdinand II of Aragon. Their marriage became the basis for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. After a struggle to claim her right to the throne, she reorganized the governmental system, brought the crime rate to the lowest it had been in years, and unburdened the kingdom of the enormous debt her brother had left behind. Her reforms and those she made with her husband had an influence that extended well beyond the borders of their united kingdoms. Isabella and Ferdinand are known for completing the Reconquista, ordering conversion or exile of their Muslim and Jewish subjects in the Spanish Inquisition, and for supporting and financing Christopher Columbus' 1492 voyage that led to the opening of the New World and to the establishment of Spain as the first global power which dominated Europe and much of the world for more than a century. Isabella was granted the title Servant of God by the Catholic Church in 1974.

Isabella was born in Madrigal de las Altas Torres, Ávila, to John II of Castile and Isabella of Portugal on 22 April 1451. At the time of her birth, she was second in line to throne after her older half-brother Henry. Henry was 26 at that time and married but childless. Her younger brother Alfonso was born two years later on 17 November 1453, lowering her position to third in line. When her father died in 1454, her half-brother ascended to the throne as Henry IV. Isabella and Alfonso were left in Henry's care. She, her mother and her brother Alfonso then moved to Arévalo.