The Catholic Monarchs

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The Catholic Monarchs

In the 15th century, the Iberian Peninsula was divided into five large territories: the Crown of Castile, the Crown of Aragon, the Kingdom of Navarre, the Kingdom of Portugal and the Islamic Kingdom of Granada.

In 1469, Ferdinand, son of the king of Aragon, married Isabella, sister of the king of Castile. The Catholic Monarchs is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Their marriage united both crowns under the same family. The Catholic Monarchs governed their territories together, but each kingdom had its own laws and institutions. It was the beginnings of modern Spain. The Catholic Monarchs restored the royal authority in Spain. They created the Holy Brotherhood, a judicial police force for Spain. They reorganised the justice system and created the Royal Council, the highest judicial body. They also created a permanent and professional army.

The Kings wanted to finish the Christian Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula and conquer the Muslim kingdom of Granada. After ten years of many battles, the Granada War ended in 1492 when Emir Boabdil surrendered the keys of the Alhambra Palace in Granada to the Castilian soldiers.

The Kings then annexed the Kingdom of Navarre, conquered Melilla and Oran in North Africa and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. They authorized the expedition of Christopher Columbus and organised strategic marriage alliances for each of their five children.

The Catholic Monarchs wanted religious unification for their kingdoms so they founded the Tribunal of the Inquisition to prosecute heretics. The tribunal was known for its severe sentences and punishments. Ferdinand and Isabella ordered that all Muslims and Jews be expelled from Spain or they were forced to covert to Catholicism. Hundreds of those who had converted (conversos and moriscos) were accused of secretly practicing their original religion and they were arrested, imprisoned and interrogated under torture by the Inquisition.

1. What was the Holy Brotherhood?

2. What was the function of the Tribunal of the Inquisition?

3. Who were the conversors?

4. What territories did the Catholic Monarchs annex?

5. What was the marriage alliance?

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