Isabella I
Columbus's royal sponsor
Isabella I was queen of Castile from 1474 to 1504, whose marriage to Ferdinand II of Aragon united the two largest Spanish kingdoms.
She and Ferdinand completed the Reconquista by conquering Granada, expelled Jews and Muslims who refused conversion, established the Spanish Inquisition, and sponsored Columbus's voyages to the Americas.
She remains among the most consequential European monarchs.
- Catholic MonarchsIberian royal couple's title
- InquisitionChurch tribunal against heretics
- ReconquistaIberian Christian territorial recovery
- Catholic ChurchPope-led Christian denomination
- Alhambra DecreeSpanish order banishing Jews
Christopher Columbus · monarchy · Philip II · Torquemada · blood purity · holy war · queen · Spanish crown · Age of Discovery · Catherine of Aragon · treaty · colonialism · indigenous peoples · Al-Andalus · New World · succession · 1492 · Aragon
Isabella IAkbar the Great
Famed Mughal sovereign
Saladin · Cyrus the Great · Suleiman the Magnificent · Elizabeth I · William of Orange