Queen Isabella of Castile (22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504) was the Queen of the newly-united Spain from 1479 to 1504.
Biography[]
Isabella was born in 1451 and died in 1504. She came from a long line of European royalty including Henry IV of England. She and her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon, are best known as the patrons of Christopher Colombus' voyage to the New World.
After Colombus' discovery, Isabella took a keen interest in the welfare of the Native Americans. She ordered that those brought to Spain should be returned to their homes, and she made provisions in her will that Native Americans be treated well in Spanish-held territories. Unfortunately, the wishes in her will were not always honored.
Her legacy has a darker side: she established the Spanish Inquisition and was responsible for expelling the Jews from Spain in 1492. In addition, she was also an ally of the Templar Order, and persecuted members of the Spanish Assassins through Tomas de Torquemada, the Inquisitor-General.
Death[]
The Assassins had Queen Isabella continually poisoned over a series of dates until the doses were enough to lethally impact her health. She died in 1504 at the age of fifty-three.