Ferdinand and Isabella: The Marriage That Unified Spain | TheCollector
Isabella was born in 1451, into a world in which women fought for every shred of political power. But from an early age, Isabella was viewed by her father John II of Castile as a means of expanding Castilian territory in pursuit of the elusive goal of uniting Spain. She was first betrothed to an Aragonese prince at age six — her future husband... See more
Ferdinand and Isabella: The Marriage That Unified Spain | TheCollector
Isabella, born in 1451, was initially seen by her father, John II of Castile, as a tool to expand Castilian territory and unite Spain. She faced multiple betrothals, including to a Portuguese King Afonso V of Portugal and a member of the Castilian court Pedro Girón Acuña Pacheco, but eventually, her uncle King Henry IV named her as his heir and allowed her to choose her own marriage. This empowered Isabella to pursue a union with Ferdinand of Aragon on her own terms.
The scene was set for Ferdinand and Isabella’s union of Aragon and Castile some time before their births. Aragonese elites had grown tired of being vassals to Catalan interests, and their chance arrived in 1410, with the death of the pleasingly-titled Martin the Humane in 1410. His death without heirs ended the House of Barcelona, and Aragonese... See more
Ferdinand and Isabella: The Marriage That Unified Spain | TheCollector
the dynastic union was formed through what happened in this paragraph
The marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile is one of the most masterful pieces of political theater in history. It was far from a love-story — while, by all accounts, Ferdinand and Isabella were a cordial and possibly even happy couple, their union was the accumulation of hundreds of years of Spanish history, forged by war and... See more
Ferdinand and Isabella: The Marriage That Unified Spain | TheCollector
dynastic union. what is this? i keep hearing it