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Introduction

Isabel of Castile was born on 22 April 1451 to John II of Castile and Isabella of Portugal. At the time of her birth, her older half-brother Enrique was in line for the throne and only a few years later, her brother Alfonso was born, displacing her in the line of inheritance even more. When her father, King John II, died in 1454, Isabel’s brother Enrique became King Henry IV of Castile. After the succession of her brother, Isabel suffered many years of turmoil in exile. After many years and reconciliation with her brother, Isabel was finally declared by Henry IV as his successor. Isabel’s life began to turn around. Isabel’s reign is often viewed as a joint reign with her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon. Many scholars argue that their 1469 marriage resulted in the unification of Spain as a whole under the joint crown of Castile and Aragon. However, Isabel made great reforms in her kingdom and did many of the without the assistance of her husband. In fact, according to the terms set forth under the marriage contract of 1469 as well as the Segovia concordat of 1475, Isabel was the sole legitimate ruler of Castile. She reorganized the court system, brought the crime rate to the lowest it had been in years, and pulled the kingdom out of the enormous debt her brother had left behind. Because of this, Isabel’s power as an independent monarch is not to be overlooked.

Portuguese War

Isabel’s reign was off to a rocky start from the very beginning. When she ascended to the throne in 1474, there were already several plots against her. The Marquis of Villena and his followers maintained that the Infanta Joanna, daughter of Henry VI, was the rightful queen. Before his death, Henry had made the decision to choose Isabel as his successor instead of his daughter. Shortly after the Marquis made his claim, a long time supporter of Isabel, the Archbishop of Toledo left court to plot with his great-nephew the Marquis. The Archbishop and Marquis made plans to have the Infanta Joanna marry her uncle, King Alfanso V of Portugal and invade Castile to claim the throne for Joanna and him. In May of 1475, Alfonso and his army crossed into Spain and advanced to Plasencia. Here he married the young Joanna. A long and bloody war for the Castilian succession took place hereafter. The war went back and forth for almost a year until March of 1476 when the Battle of Toro took place. It was here that Isabel’s husband Ferdinand and his army made such a victory that it was clear that Isabel’s Spain was going to win the war. Although Isabel’s side had gained a great victory, the war drug on for another three years. In August of the same year, Isabel proved her abilities as a powerful ruler on her own. A rebellion broke out in Segovia and Isabel rode out to suppress it, as her husband was off fighting at the time. Going against the better judgment of her male advisors, Isabel rode by herself into the city to negotiate with the rebels. She was successful and the rebellion was quickly brought to an end. She proved to her male advisors that even as a woman ruler, she can handle matters on her own. Isabel also secured her place as ruler a bit more with the birth of her son John, Price of Asturias on June 30, 1478. To many, the presence of a male heir legitimized her place as ruler. The war with Portugal did not officially end until September of 1479. At this time, four separate treaties were signed at Alcacovas. Under these treaties Portugal abandoned all claims to Castile Isabel and Ferdinand agreed to pardon all rebellious subjects who had supported Joanna and Alfonzo. Isabel had proven herself to be a fighter and tough monarch from the start. Now that she had succeeded in securing her place on the Castilian throne, she could now begin to make the reforms that the kingdom desperately needed.

Reform

When she inherited the throne of Castile, Isabel inherited a kingdom that was full of crime and plagued with an enormous debt. The great reforms that she made to her kingdom can be seen as some of the most notable accomplishments of her reign.

Regulation of Crime

The Santa Hermandad

When Isabel came to the throne in 1474, Castile was in a state of despair thanks to her brother Henry’s reign. It was not unknown that Henry IV was a big spender and did little to enforce the laws of his kingdom. Because of this, Isabel had much chaos to deal with. It was even said by one Castilian citizen of the time that murder, rape, and robbery happened without punishment. Isabel’s first major reformed came during the cortes of Madrigal in 1476 in the form of a police force, La Santa Hermandad. While 1476 was not the first time that Castile had seen the Hermandad, it was however the first time that the police force, also known as the Holy Brotherhood, was used by the crown. During the late medieval period, the expression hermandad had been used to describe groups of men who came together of their own accord to regulate law and order by patrolling the roads and countryside and punishing malefactors. These brotherhoods, however, had usually been suppressed by the monarch. Before 1476, the justice system in most parts of the country was effectively under the control of dissident members of the nobility rather than royal officials. To fix this problem, during the Cortes of 1476, a general Hermandad was established for Castile, Leon, and Asturias. The police force was to be made up of locals who were to regulate the crime occurring in the kingdom. It was to be paid for by a tax of 1800 mavedus on every one hundred households. In 1477, Isabel visited Estremadura and Andalusia to introduce this more efficient police force there as well.

Other Criminal Reforms

Keeping with her reformation of the regulation of laws, in 1481 Isabel charged two officials with restoring peace in Galicia. This turbulent province had been the prey of tyrant nobles since the days of Isabel’s father, John II. Robbers infested the highways and oppressed the smaller towns and villages. These officials set off with the Herculean task of restoring peace for the province. The officials were successful. They succeeded in driving over 1,500 robbers from Galicia.

Money and Treatment of Nobility

Unlike her brother, Isabel was not known for accepting favors or showing favoritism to the upper classes of society or her supporters. In fact, it was even said that the queen preferred justice to money. Isabel suppressed the nobles in a bit of a different way. She did not strip them of their titles, she instead mad preferment depend less on title and more on personal merit. It was also not uncommon for the queen to give people of more humble backgrounds important positions. Henry IV had left Castile in great debt. Therefore, Isabel, as well as her husband Ferdinand, was presented with the task of resurrecting the kingdom’s finances. Upon examination, it was found that the chief cause of the nation’s poverty was the wholesale alienation of royal estates during Henry’s reign. In order to make money, Henry had sold off royal estates at prices well below their value. The Cortes of Toledo of 1480 came to the conclusion that the only hope of lasting financial reform lay in a resumption of these alienated lands and rents. This decision was warmly approved by many leading nobles of the Court but Isabel was reluctant to take such large actions. It was decided that the Cardinal of Spain would hold an enquiry into the tenure of estates and rents acquired during Henry IV’s reign. Those that had not been granted as a reward for services were to be restored without compensation; while those that had been sold at a price far below their real value were to be brought back at the same sum. While many of the nobility were forced to pay large sums of money for their estates, the royal treasury became ever richer. Isabel’s one stipulation was that there would be no revocation of gifts made to churches, hospitals, or the poor. Another issue of money was the over production of coinage and the abundance of mints in the kingdom. During Henry’s reign the number of mints regularly producing money had increased from just five to one hundred and fifty. Much of the coinage produced in these mints was nearly worthless. During the first year of her reign Isabel established a monopoly over the royal mints and fixed a legal standard to which the coinage must approximate. By shutting down many of the mints and taking royal control over the production of money, Isabel restored the confidence of the public in the crown’s ability to handle the kingdom’s finance.

Government

Many historians have regarded the cotes of Toledo in 1480 as the main legal foundation of the regime of the Isabel in Castile. At this time, Isabel made great reforms to the set up of her government. The Cortes accomplished the task of establishing the Castilian royal council. Previously there had been two distinct yet overlapping categories of royal councilor. One formed a group which possessed both judicial and administrative responsibilities. This portion consisted of some bishops, some nobles, and an increasingly important element of professional administrators with legal training known as letrados. The second category of traditional councilor had a less formal role. This role depended greatly on the individuals’ political influence and personal influence with the monarch. During Isabel’s reign, the role of this second category was completely eliminated. This type of councilor was only allowed to attend the council of Castile as an observer. Isabel began to rely more on the professional administrators than ever before. These men were mostly of the bourgeoisie or lesser nobility. The council was also rearranged and it was officially settled that one bishop, three caballeros, and eight or nine lawyers would serve on the council at a time. While the nobles were no longer directly involved in the matters of state, they were welcome to attend the meetings. Isabel hoped by forcing the nobility to choose whether to participate or not would weed out those who were not dedicated to the state and its cause. Isabel also saw the need to provide a personal relationship between herself as the monarch and her subjects. Therefore, The Isabel and Ferdinand set aside a time every Friday during which they themselves would sit and allow people to come to them with complaints. This was a new form of personal justice that Castile had not seen before. The Council of State was reformed and presided over by the King and Queen. This department of public affairs dealt mainly with foreign negotiations, hearing embassies, and transacting business with the Court of Rome. In addition to these departments, there was also a Supreme Court of the Santa Hermandad, a Council of Finance, and a Council for settling purely Aragonese matters. Although Isabel made many reforms that seem to have made the Cortes stronger, in actuality the Cortes lost political power during the reigns of Isabel and Ferdinand. Isabel and her husband moved in the direction of a non-parliamentary government and the Cortes became an almost passive advisory body, giving automatic assent to legislation which had been drafted by the royal administration. After the reforms of the Cotes of Toledo, the Queen ordered noted jurist, Alfonso Diaz de Montalvo to undertake the task of clearing away legal rubbish and compiling what remained into a comprehensive code. Within four years the work stood completed in eight bulky volumes and the Ordenanzas Reales took their place on legal bookshelves. One of the most notable features of Castilian society at the beginning of Isabel’s reign was the disorder in the major towns of the kingdom. The establishment of firmer royal control became a top priority of Isabel.

Conclusion

Isabel I of Castile did more than sponsor Columbus and expel the Muslims and Jews. She ruled in her own right.