ISABELLA OF CASTILE had to conquer her title of “Queen of Castile”. She decided to marry Ferdinand of Aragon, in order to unify most of the Iberian Peninsula. Together, they achieved not only the creation of modern Spain but a transformation of Europe and the World. The year 1492 was a turning point in their great achievements : the “Reconquista” of Andalusia on Muslims, the looting and expulsion of Jews, the Inquisition, the development of the best european universities, the “discovery” of the Americas. Their achievements replaced Feudal Society by a new era of colonization with globalizing trade and monetary culture. Ferdinand and Isabella made Spain the world’s prominent power.
© Alice Labrèque and Jean Routier, 2012