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Ferdinand II of Aragon

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Ferdinand II[b](10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516) wasKing of Aragonfrom 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband of and co-ruler with QueenIsabella I of Castile,he was alsoKing of Castilefrom 1475 to 1504 (asFerdinand V). He reigned jointly with Isabella over adynastically unifiedSpain;together they are known as theCatholic Monarchs.Ferdinand is considered thede factofirstking of Spain,and was described as such during his reign, even though, legally,CastileandAragonremained two separate kingdoms until they were formally united by theNueva Planta decreesissued between 1707 and 1716.[1]

Ferdinand II
Catholic King of the Spains[a]
Painting of King Ferdinand
Portrait byMichael Sittow
King of Aragon,Valencia,Sardinia,MajorcaandCount of Barcelona
Reign20 January 1479 –23 January 1516
PredecessorJohn II
SuccessorJoanna I
King of CastileandLeón
(jure uxoris)
(asFerdinand V)
Reign15 January 1475 –26 November 1504
PredecessorIsabella I
SuccessorJoanna I
Co-monarchIsabella I
King of Sicily
Reign1468 –23 January 1516
PredecessorJohn I
SuccessorJoanna I
King of Naples

(asFerdinand III)
Reign31 March 1504 –23 January 1516
PredecessorLouis II
SuccessorJoanna III
King of Navarre

(asFerdinand I)
Reign24 August 1512 –23 January 1516
PredecessorJohn III&Catherine I
SuccessorJoanna III
Born10 March 1452
Sos,Kingdom of Aragon
Died23 January 1516 (aged 63)
Madrigalejo,Extremadura,Crown of Castile
Burial
Royal Chapel of Granada
Spouses
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​
(m.1469;died1504)​
​
​
(m.1506)​
Issue
more...
HouseTrastámara
FatherJohn II of Aragon and Navarre
MotherJuana Enríquez
ReligionRoman Catholicism
SignatureFerdinand II's signature

TheCrown of Aragonthat Ferdinand inherited in 1479 included the kingdoms ofAragon,Valencia,Majorca,Sardinia,andSicily,as well as thePrincipality of Catalonia.His marriage to Isabella is regarded as the "cornerstone in the foundation of the Spanish monarchy".[2]They played a major role in theEuropean colonization of the Americas,sponsoring the first voyage ofChristopher Columbusin 1492. That year the couple defeatedGranada,the last Muslim state inWestern Europe,thus completing the centuries-longReconquista.

Following Isabella's death in 1504, the couple's daughterJoannabecame queen of theCrown of Castile.That year, after a war with France, Ferdinand conquered theKingdom of Naples.In 1507 he becameregentof Castile on behalf of Joanna, who was alleged to be mentally unstable. In 1506, as part of a treaty with France, Ferdinand marriedGermaine of Foix,with whom he had no surviving children. In 1512 he conquered most of theKingdom of Navarre,ruling all the territories comprising modern-day Spain until his death in 1516. He was nominally succeeded by his daughter Joanna, but power was soon assumed by her son Charles I (laterHoly Roman Emperor Charles V).

Early life

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Ferdinand was born on 10 March 1452, in the town ofSos del Rey Católico,Kingdom of Aragon,as the son ofJohn II of Aragon(whose family was a cadet branch of theHouse of Trastámara) by his second wife,Juana Enríquez.[3]

Marriage and accession

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Ferdinand marriedIsabella,the half-sister and heir presumptive ofHenry IV of Castile,on 19 October 1469 inValladolid,Kingdom of Castile and Leon.[4]Isabella also belonged to the royalHouse of Trastámara,and the two were second cousins by descent fromJohn I of Castile.They were married with a clearprenuptial agreementon sharing power, and under the joint motto "tanto monta, monta tanto".He becamejure uxorisKing of Castile when Isabella succeeded her deceased brother in 1474. The two young monarchs were initially obliged to fight acivil waragainstJoanna,the purported daughter of Henry IV, and were swiftly successful.[4][5]When Ferdinand succeeded his father as King of Aragon in 1479, the Crown of Castile and the various territories of the Crown of Aragon were united in apersonal union.The various states were not formally administered as a single unit, but as separate political units under the same monarchs.[6](Thelegal merging of Aragon and Castileinto a single Spain occurred underPhilip Vin 1707–1715.)

Ferdinand the Catholic swearing thefuerosas theLord of BiscayatGuernicain 1476
Columbussoliciting aid of Ferdinand's wife Isabella.

The first years of Ferdinand and Isabella's joint rule saw the Spanish conquest of theEmirate of Granada,the last Islamical-Andalusentity on the Iberian peninsula, completed in 1492.[4][7]

The completion of theReconquistawas not the only significant act performed by Ferdinand and Isabella in that year. In March 1492, the monarchs issued the Edict of Expulsion of the Jews, also called theAlhambra Decree,[8]a document which ordered allJewseither to be baptised and convert to Christianity or to leave the country.[9]It allowedMudéjarMoors (Islamic) andconversoMarranoJews to stay, while expelling all unconverted Jews from Castile and Aragon (most Jews either converted or moved to the Ottoman Empire). 1492 was also the year in which the monarchs commissionedChristopher Columbusto find a westward maritime route for access to Asia, which resulted in the Spanish arrival in the Americas.

In 1494 theTreaty of Tordesillasdivided the entire world beyond Europe betweenPortugaland Castile (Spain) for conquest and dominion purposes – by a north–south line drawn down the Atlantic Ocean.

Forced conversions

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Ferdinand abrogated a section of the 1491Treaty of Granadapeace treaty in 1502 by dismissing the clearly guaranteed religious freedom forMudéjarMuslims. Ferdinand forced all Muslims in Castile and Aragon to convert,conversoMoriscos,to Catholicism, or else be expelled. Some of the Muslims who remained were mudéjar artisans, who could design and build in the Moorish style. This was also practised by the Spanish inquisitors on theconversoMarranoJewish population of Spain.

Wedding portrait of Ferdinand and Isabella

The latter part of Ferdinand's life was largely taken up with disputes with successive kings ofFranceover control of Italy, theItalian Wars.In 1494,Charles VIII of Franceinvaded Italy and expelledAlfonso II,who was Ferdinand's first cousin once removed and step nephew, from thethrone of Naples.Ferdinand allied with various Italian princes and withEmperor Maximilian Ito expel the French by 1496 and install Alfonso's son,Ferdinand II,on the Neapolitan throne. In 1500, following Ferdinand II's death and accession of his uncleFrederick,Ferdinand signed an agreement with Charles VIII's successor,Louis XII,who had just successfully asserted his claims to theDuchy of Milan,to partition Naples between them, withCampaniaand theAbruzzi,including Naples itself, going to the French and Ferdinand takingApuliaandCalabria.The agreement soon fell apart and, over the next several years, Ferdinand's great generalGonzalo Fernández de Córdobafought to take Naples from the French, finally succeeding by 1504.

The King of France complains that I have twice deceived him. He lies, the fool; I have deceived him ten times and more.

— Ferdinand the Catholic[10]

Some time before 1502Andreas Palaiologos,the last exiled claimant to theByzantine throneof his house, sold his titles and royal and imperial rights to Ferdinand. Those, however, had never been made use of, due to the doubtful nature of the deal.[11]

After Isabella

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Ferdinand on his throne flanked by two shields with the emblem of theRoyal Seal of Aragon.Frontispiece of a 1495 edition ofCatalan constitutions.[12]

Isabella made her will on 12 October 1504, in advance of her 26 November 1504 death. In it she spelled out the succession to the Crown of Castile, leaving it toJoannaand then to Joanna's son Charles. Isabella was dubious of Joanna's ability to rule and was not confident of Joanna's husband ArchdukePhilip.Ferdinand moved quickly after his wife's death to continue his role in Castile. On the day of his wife's death, he formally renounced his title as King of Castile and instead became governor (gobernador) of the kingdom, as a way to become regent. Philip deemed his wife sane and fit to rule. A compromise was forged between Philip and Ferdinand, which gave Ferdinand a continued role in Castile.[13]Ferdinand had served as Joanna's regent during her absence in theNetherlands,ruled by her husband Archduke Philip. Ferdinand attempted to retain the regency permanently, but was rebuffed by the Castilian nobility and replaced with Joanna's husband.

In theTreaty of Villafáfilaof 1506, Ferdinand renounced not only the government of Castile in favor of Philip but also the lordship of the Indies, withholding half of the income of the "kingdoms of the Indies".[14]Joanna and Philip immediately added to their titles the kingdoms of Indies, Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea. But the Treaty of Villafáfila did not hold for long because of the death of Philip; Ferdinand returned as regent of Castile and as "lord of the Indies".[15]

The widowed Ferdinand made an alliance with France in July 1505 and marriedGermaine of Foix,cementing the alliance with France. She was the granddaughter of his half-sister QueenEleanor of Navarreand niece of Louis XII of France. Had Ferdinand's son with Germaine, John, Prince of Girona, born on 3 May 1509, survived, "the crown of Aragon would inevitably been separated from Castile"[13]and denied his grandson Charles the crown of Aragon. But the infant Prince John died within hours and was buried in theconvent of Saint PaulinValladolid,Kingdom of Castile and Leon,and later transferred toPoblet Monastery,Vimbodí i Poblet,Principality of Catalonia(Crown of Aragon), traditional burial site of the kings of Aragon.[16]

Ferdinand had no legal position in Castile, with thecortesof Toro recognizing Joanna and her children as heirs and Ferdinand left Castile in July 1506. After his son-in-law Philip's untimely death in September 1506, Castile was in crisis. Joanna was allegedly mentally unstable, and Joanna's and Philip's son, Charles, the future EmperorCharles V,was only six years old. CardinalFrancisco Jiménez de Cisneros,the Chancellor of the Kingdom, was made regent, but the upper nobility reasserted itself. Ferdinand led an army againstPedro Fernández de Córdoba y Pacheco,themarquis of PriegoofCórdoba,who had seized control there by force.[17]

Statue of Ferdinand in theSabatini Gardensin Madrid

By 1508 Ferdinand had triumphed and war resumed in Italy, this time against theRepublic of Venice,in which all the other powers with interests on the Italian peninsula, including Louis XII, Ferdinand II, Maximilian, andPope Julius IIjoined together in theLeague of Cambrai.Although the French were victorious against Venice at theBattle of Agnadello,the League of Cambrai soon fell apart, as both the Pope and Ferdinand II became suspicious of French intentions. Instead, the 'Holy League' was formed, in which now all the powers joined together against Louis XII and France.

In November 1511 Ferdinand and his son-in-law KingHenry VIII of Englandsigned theTreaty of Westminster,pledging mutual aid between the two againstNavarreand France ahead of theSpanish invasion of Navarreas of July 1512. After the fall of Granada in 1492, he had manoeuvred for years to take over the throne of theBasquekingdom, ruled by QueenCatherine of Navarreand KingJohn III of Navarre,also lords ofBéarnand other sizeable territories north of thePyreneesand inGascony.Ferdinand annexed Navarre first to the Crown of Aragon, but later, under the pressure of Castilian noblemen, to the Crown of Castile. The Holy League was generally successful in Italy, as well, driving the French from Milan, which was restored to itsSforza dukesby the peace treaty in 1513. The French were successful in reconquering Milan two years later, however.

Ferdinand II died on 23 January 1516 inMadrigalejo,Extremadura,Kingdom of Castile and Leon. He is entombed atCapilla Real,Granada.His wife Isabella, daughter Joanna, and son-in-law Philip rest beside him there.

Legacy and succession

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Ferdinand by an unknown painter, c. 1520s
Ferdinand the Catholic, by the"Meister der Magdalenen-Legende"

Ferdinand and Isabella established a highly effective sovereignty under equal terms. They utilised a prenuptial agreement to lay down their terms. During their reign they supported each other effectively in accordance to his joint motto of equality: "Tanto monta [or monta tanto], Isabel como Fernando" ( "They amount to the same, Isabel and Ferdinand" ). Isabella and Ferdinand's achievements were remarkable: Spain was united, or at least more united than it ever had been; the crown power was centralised, at least in name; thereconquistawas successfully concluded; the groundwork for the most dominant military machine of the next century and a half was laid; a legal framework was created; the church was reformed. Even without the benefit of the American expansion, Spain would have been a major European power. Columbus' discovery set the country on the course for the first modern world power.

During the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, Spain pursuedalliances through marriagewith Portugal,Habsburg Austria,andBurgundy.Their first-born daughter Isabella was married toManuel I of Portugal,and their first-born son John was married to Margaret of Austria. However, the deaths of these children, and the death of Isabella, altered the succession plan forcing Ferdinand to yield the government of Castile to Philip of Habsburg the husband of his second daughter Joanna.[18]

In 1502, the members of the AragoneseCortesgathered inZaragoza,and Parliamentsof the Kingdom of Valenciaandthe Principality of CataloniainBarcelona,as members of the Crown of Aragon, swore an oath of loyalty to their daughterJoannaas heiress, butAlonso de Aragón,Archbishop of Saragossa, stated firmly that this oath was invalid and did not change the law of succession which could only be done by formal legislation by theCorteswith the King.[19][20]So, when King Ferdinand died on 23 January 1516, his daughter Joanna inherited theCrown of Aragon,and his grandsonCharlesbecame Governor General (regent).[21]Nevertheless, the Flemish wished that Charles assume the royal title, and this was supported by his paternal grandfather the Holy Roman EmperorMaximilian Iand byPope Leo X.Consequently, after Ferdinand II's funeral on 14 March 1516, Charles I was proclaimed King of Castile and of Aragon jointly with his mother. Finally, the CastilianRegent,CardinalJiménez de Cisnerosaccepted thefait accompli,and the Castilian and AragoneseCortespaid homage to him[22]as King of Aragon jointly with his mother.[23]

Ferdinand's grandson and successor Charles, was to inherit not only the Spanish lands of his maternal grandparents, but theAustrianandBurgundianlands of his paternal family, which would make his heirs the most powerful rulers on the continent and, with the discoveries and conquests in theAmericasand elsewhere, of the first truly global empire.

Children

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Main article:Descendants of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile

With his wife Isabella I the Catholic (whom he married 19 October 1469), King Ferdinand had seven children:

  1. Isabella(1470–1498), Princess of Asturias (1497–1498). She married firstAfonso, Prince of Portugal,then after his death married his uncle Prince Manuel, the future KingManuel I of Portugal.She died in childbirth delivering her sonMiguel da Paz,Crown Prince of both Portugal and Spain who, in turn, died in infancy.
  2. A son miscarried on 31 May 1475 inCebreros
  3. John(1478–1497), Prince of Asturias (1478–1497). He marriedMargaret of Austria(daughter of EmperorMaximilian I). He died oftuberculosisand his posthumous child with Margaret was stillborn.
  4. Joanna I(1479–1555), Princess of Asturias (1500–1504), Queen of Castile (1504–1555), Queen of Aragon (1516–1555). She marriedPhilip I(Philip the handsome)(son of Emperor Maximilian I); and was the mother of KingCharles I of Spain(also known asCharles Vas Holy Roman Emperor). Ferdinand made her out to be mentally unstable and she was incarcerated by him, and then by her son, inTordesillasfor over 50 years. Her grandson,Philip II of Spain,was crowned in 1556.
  5. Maria(1482–1517). She married KingManuel I of Portugal,the widower of her elder sister Isabella, and was the mother of KingJohn III of Portugaland of the Cardinal-King,Henry I of Portugal.
  6. A stillborn child, twin of Maria. Born 1 July 1482 at dawn. Sources differ on gender
  7. Catherine of Aragon(1485–1536). She married firstArthur, Prince of Wales,son of and heir to KingHenry VII of Englandand, after Prince Arthur's death, she married his brother Henry, Duke of York, who also became Prince of Wales and then KingHenry VIII.She thus became Queen of England and was the mother of QueenMary I.

With his second wife,Germaine of Foix(whom he married on 19 October 1505 inBlois,Kingdom of France), King Ferdinand had one son:

  • John, Prince of Girona, who died hours after being born on 3 May 1509.

He also left several illegitimate children, two of them were born before his marriage to Isabella:

WithAldonça Ruiz d'Ivorra i Alemany,a Catalan noblewoman of Cervera, he had:

With Joana Nicolaua:

With Toda de Larrea:

  • María Esperanza de Aragón (? – 1543). Abbess of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas.

With Beatriz Pereira:

  • (? – 1550). Nun at Madrigal de las Altas Torres.

Heraldry

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Depiction in film and television

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Films

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Year Film Director(s) Actor
1951 Hare We Go Robert McKimson Mel Blanc
1976 La espada negra Francisco Rovira Beleta Juan Ribó
1985 Christopher Columbus Alberto Lattuada Nicol Williamson
1992 Christopher Columbus: The Discovery John Glen Tom Selleck
1992 1492: Conquest of Paradise Ridley Scott Fernando García Rimada
1992 Carry On Columbus Gerald Thomas Leslie Phillips
2001 Juana la Loca Vicente Aranda Héctor Colomé
2016 Assassin's Creed Justin Kurzel Thomas Camilleri

TV series

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Year Series Channel
1980 Shaheen(Based on Naseem Hijazi Novel) PTV
1991 Réquiem por Granada TVE
2004 Memoria de España TVE
2011 Muhteşem Yüzyıl Show TV
2012 Isabel, TVE
2014 Borgia (TV series) Canal+

See also

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Explanatory notes

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  1. ^In the papal bullSi convenit[es]of 1496, Ferdinand II and Isabella I were named "King and Queen Catholics of the Spains (Rey y Reina Católicos de las Españas)".
  2. ^

References

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  1. ^Aram, "Monarchs of Spain", p. 725.
  2. ^Bethany Aram, "Monarchs of Spain" inIberia and the Americas,vol. 2, p. 725. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio 2006.
  3. ^Edwards, John.The Spain of the Catholic Monarchs 1474–1520.Blackwell Publishers Inc, 2000, p. xiii
  4. ^abcPalos, Joan-Lluís (28 March 2019)."To seize power in Spain, Queen Isabella had to play it smart: Bold, strategic, and steady, Isabella of Castile navigated an unlikely rise to the throne and ushered in a golden age for Spain".National Geographic History Magazine. Archived fromthe originalon 30 March 2019.Retrieved20 April2019.
  5. ^Edwards, John.The Spain of the Catholic Monarchs 1474–1520.Blackwell Publishers Inc, 2000, pp. 1–37
  6. ^Edwards, John.The Spain of the Catholic Monarchs 1474–1520.Blackwell Publishers Inc, 2000, pp. 38–39
  7. ^Joseph F. O'Callaghan,A History of Medieval Spain(Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1983), 24.ISBN0-8014-9264-5.Previewof cited page available on Google Books as of 10 March 2011. See also: Richard Fletcher, "The Early Middle Ages, 700–1250", inSpain: A History,ed. Raymond Carr (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000).ISBN0-19-280236-4.
  8. ^Michael C. Thomsett,The Inquisition: A History(Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc., 2010), 158.
  9. ^Bernard Lewis,Cultures in Conflict: Christians, Muslims and Jews in the Age of Discovery(New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 35–36.ISBN0-19-509026-8
  10. ^Miles H. Davidson,Columbus then and now: a life reexamined,University of Oklahoma Press 1997,ISBN0-8061-2934-4,p. 474.
  11. ^Norwich, John Julius,Byzantium: The Decline and Fall,p. 446
  12. ^Guillermo Fatás y Guillermo Redondo (1995)."Blasón de Aragón"(in Spanish). Zaragoza, Diputación General de Aragón. pp. 101–102. Archived fromthe originalon 31 January 2012.
  13. ^abEdwards,The Spain of the Catholic Monarchs,p. 288.
  14. ^Memoria del Segundo Congreso Venezolano de Historia, del 18 al 23 de noviembre de 1974(in Spanish). Academia Nacional de la Historia (Venezuela). 1975. p. 404.
  15. ^Sánchez Prieto, Ana Belén (2004).La intitulación diplomática de los Reyes Católicos: un programa político y una lección de historia(PDF)(in Spanish). III Jornadas Científicas sobre Documentación en época de los Reyes Católicos. p. 296.
  16. ^De Francisco Olmos, José María: Estudio documental de la moneda castellana de Carlos I fabricada en los Países Bajos (1517),Revista General de Información y Documentación13,133–153, 2003. URL: L. Külső hivatkozások
  17. ^Edwards,The Spain of the Catholic Monarchs,pp. 288–289.
  18. ^Elliot, J. H.Imperial Spain 1469–1716.Penguin Books (New York: 2002), p. 208.ISBN0-14-100703-6
  19. ^Estudio documental de la moneda castellana de Carlos I fabricada en los Países Bajos (1517); José María de Francisco OlmosArchived5 February 2012 at theWayback Machine,Revista General de Información y Documentación 2003, vol 13, núm.2 (Universidad complutense de Madrid),p. 137
  20. ^Estudio documental de la moneda castellana de Juana la Loca fabricada en los Países Bajos (1505–1506); José María de Francisco OlmosArchived14 January 2012 at theWayback Machine,Revista General de Información y Documentación 2002, vol 12, núm.2 (Universidad complutense de Madrid),p. 299
  21. ^Estudio documental de la moneda castellana de Carlos I fabricada en los Países Bajos (1517); José María de Francisco OlmosArchived5 February 2012 at theWayback Machine,Revista General de Información y Documentación 2003, vol 13, núm.2 (Universidad complutense de Madrid)p. 138
  22. ^Historia general de España;Modesto Lafuente (1861),pp. 51–52.
  23. ^Fueros, observancias y actos de corte del Reino de Aragón;Santiago Penén y Debesa, Pascual Savall y Dronda, Miguel Clemente (1866)Archived10 June 2008 at theWayback Machine,p. 64Archived10 June 2008 at theWayback Machine
  24. ^Cadiñanos Bradeci, Inocencio.Arquitectura de Medina de Pomar (Burgos).CORE. Consultado el 14 de junio de 2024.
  25. ^"Se vende castillo donde vivió Juana 'la Loca' por 15 millones de euros".El Norte de Castilla.14 June 2024.
  26. ^abcdefMenéndez Pidal de Navascués, Faustino (2004)«Los Reyes Católicos»,El escudo de España,Madrid, Real Academia Matritense de Heráldica y Genealogía; Ediciones Hidalguia.ISBN978-84-88833-02-0
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Ferdinand the Catholic
Born:10 March 1452Died:23 January 1516
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Sicily
1468–1516 		Succeeded by
King of Aragon,Valencia,SardiniaandMajorca,
Count of Barcelona
1479–1516
Preceded byas sole monarch King of Castile,León,Toledo,Galicia,Seville,Córdoba,Murcia,Jaén,AlgecirasandGibraltar
1475–1504
withIsabella I
Preceded by Count of RoussillonandCerdagne
1493–1516
Preceded by King of Naples
1504–1516
Preceded by King of Navarre
1512–1516
Preceded byas Sultan King of Granada
1492–1504
withIsabella I
Titles of nobility
Preceded by Prince of Girona
1461–1479 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord of Balaguer
1458–1479
Duke of Gandía
1461–1479 		Merged with the Crown
Preceded by Lord of Casarrubios del Monte
1468–1479
Titles in pretence
Preceded byas sole monarch — TITULAR —
King of the Algarve
1475–1504 		Succeeded by
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