Isabella of Castile

Isabella of Castile secretly arranged her own marriage

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King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella are probably best known for sponsoring Christopher Columbus's voyage to the New World in 1492, and for establishing the Spanish Inquisition.

Their Daughter, Katharine of Aragon, was the first wife of Henry VIII.

Isabella was the half-sister of Henry IV, the King of Castile - one of the five kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula - the others being Portugal, Aragon, Navarre, and Nasrid.

Although he had promised not to marry Isabella off without her consent, in 1470, Henry IV attempted to arrange a marriage between her and a Portuguese prince to form a stronger alliance between the two kingdoms.

This angered Isabella so much, that she went behind her half-brother's back and entered into a secret arrangement with the king of Aragon to marry the latter's son, Ferdinand II (whom she'd never met)

King Henry IV learned of the plans and attempted to stop the marriage - first through a failed attempt to kidnap Isabella, and then by banning Ferdinand from entering Castile, and offering a reward for his capture.

Avoiding detection by disguising himself as a servant, Ferdinand safely arrived in Valladolid on October 14, 1469.

The couple were married just five days after this first meeting.

Although the marriage had been arranged for political reasons, it reportedly was a relatively happy one.

Isabella had been named King Henry IV's heir a few years earlier, so when he passed in 1474, the kingdoms of Aragon and Castile combined to form the nation of Spain, which the couple ruled jointly.

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Source~HistoryExtra

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https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders

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Christopher Columbus presenting to Queen Isabella and king Ferdinand.