Isabella of Castille:
Europe’s First Great Queen is a thorough profile of the Spanish monarch
mostly known for financing the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the Caribbean
in the 1490’s and 1500’s. However, Isabella was a much more prominent monarch
in European history. Along with her husband Ferdinand, she was responsible for joining much
of what is now Spain under one kingdom, unifying it through marriage and then
through military and political conquest of the Moors in Southern Spain.
Giles Tremlett’s chronicle of Isabella is thorough but probably a little too lengthy to keep most readers' interest the entire time. There is quite a lot of inside information about the political
interweaving between the Roman church and European politics in the 15th
Century, briefly touching on the corruption within and outside of the Church
that fueled the Reformation and development of Protestant denominations in the
16th Century. Isabella fought for a more pious church and nation,
helping unify disparate confederacies and kingdoms into a singular state that
dominated world politics for a century after her passing.
Tremlett’s book is generally fair in its approach,
mentioning the negatives of Isabella’s lengthy reign in contrast to the strong points. These conflicts worked to
make Isabella an intriguing and interesting queen, traits that are not always seen among the great monarchs of European history. Her rule was instrumental in setting the stage for our modern life in the Western Hemisphere through her desire to globalize and colonize foreign lands in pursuit of wealth and faith. Tremlett astutely mentions that despite her strength in bringing Spain
together as one geographic entity, it took centuries for the country to fully
unify, and this slow, quarrelsome process was a contributing factor in the
gradual decline of the Spanish Empire over time. Isabella may have been a
strong, powerful monarch, but her successors were not able to fulfill her
vision.
