Catholic Monarchs of Spain

Ferdinand on the left with Isabella on the right

Coffins of the Catholic Monarchs at the Granada Cathedral

The Catholic Monarchs (Spanish: los Reyes Católicos) is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. The title of "Catholic King and Queen" was bestowed on them by the Pope Alexander VI. They married in 1469 in Valladolid, uniting both crowns under the same lineage.

Isabella, named heir to the throne of Castile by her half-brother Henry IV of Castile, became Queen in 1469. Her husband Ferdinand became the King of Aragon in 1479 and their marriage united the two kingdoms.

In 1476 the Catholic Monarchs set out to establish royal authority in Spain. To accomplish their goal, they first created a group named the Holy Brotherhood. These men were used as a judicial police force for Spain. To replace the courts, the Catholic Monarchs created the Royal Council, and appointed chief magistrates (judges) to run the towns and cities. This establishment of royal authority is known as The Pacification of Castile.

Ferdinand and Isabella were noted for being the monarchs of the newly-united Spain at the dawn of the modern era. They oversaw the final stages of the Reconquista of Iberian territory from the Moors with the conquest of Granada and expelled the Jews from Spain under the Alhambra decree (1492). They authorized the expedition of Christopher Columbus, which brought knowledge of the New World to Europe. The colonies Columbus established and conquests in the Americas in the decades to come would lead to an influx of wealth into Spain, filling the coffers of the new state that would prove to be the hegemon of Europe for the next two centuries.

Isabella ensured long-term political stability in Spain by arranging strategic marriages for each of her five children; political security is important for a country to be considered a great power. Her firstborn, a daughter named Isabella, married Alfonso of Portugal, forging important ties between these two neighbouring countries and hopefully ensuring peace and future alliance. Juana, Isabella’s second daughter, married Philip the Handsome, the son of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. This ensured alliance with the Holy Roman Empire, a powerful, far-reaching territory which assured Spain’s future political security. Isabella’s first and only son, Juan, married Margaret of Austria, maintaining ties with the Habsburg dynasty, on which Spain relied heavily. Her fourth child, Maria, married Manuel I of Portugal, strengthening the link forged by her older sister’s marriage. Her fifth child, Catherine, married Henry VIII, King of England and was mother to Queen Mary I.

Ferdinand and Isabella were strong leaders who worked to unify Spain physically as well. This was largely achieved after the conquest of Granada in 1492. The birth of Isabella’s son in 1478 consolidated the political stability as it meant a clear line of succession for the Spanish throne.

Their joint motto was Tanto monta, monta tanto ("It amounts so much, so much it amounts"). The motto was created by Antonio de Nebrija and was either an allusion to the Gordian Knot: Tanto monta, monta tanto, cortar como desatar ("...cutting as untying"), or an explanation of the equality of the monarchs: Tanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernando ("..., Isabella as Ferdinand")

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The yoke and arrows as a symbol of the Falange predecessor, JONS.

Their symbol was el yugo y las flechas, a yoke and a fasces of arrows. The yoke is another allusion to the Gordian knot. Y and F are the initials of Ysabel (archaic spelling) and Fernando. This symbol was later used by the fascist Spanish political party Falange, which claimed to represent the inherited glory and the ideals of the Reyes Católicos.

In popular culture

• Roland Orzabal of the music group Tears for Fears wrote a song about Los Reyes Católicos in their 1995 album Raoul and the Kings of Spain.