Isabel la Católica: La primera gran reina de Europa

by Giles Tremlett

La biografía definitiva de Isabel la Católica, la reina que definió y consolidó las bases del imperio español en el siglo XV.

En 1474, una mujer culta, inteligente y fervientemente religiosa de apenas veintitrés años ascendió al trono de Castilla, el reino más poderoso y extenso de España. Tenía por delante el considerable reto de gobernar una corte dominada por hombres y reformar uno de los principales reinos europeos acosado por el crimen, la corrupción y el violento faccionalismo político.

En esta biografía definitiva, Giles Tremlett nos presenta a una controvertida mujer que consiguió cambiar el rumbo de la historia sacando a su país del oscurantismo medieval para dotarlo de las herramientas que lo convertirían en uno de los mayores imperios donde nunca se ponía el sol. Como sostiene Tremlett, Isabel la Católica es la reina más importante de la historia de Europa, y este libro por fin le hace justicia, con sus luces y sus sombras.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Spain, Medieval, 15th Century, Biography Memoir

768 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 9, 2017

About the author

Giles Tremlett is the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent. He has lived in, and written about, Spain for the past twenty years.

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1474 the twenty-three-year-old Isabella of Castle (1451-1504) ascended to the throne of Castle, the largest and strongest kingdom in Spain. She was a young female ruler in a male-dominated world, and she held her own. She set about reforming a corrupt, crime ridden kingdom but one with violent political fractions to caused her problems. She also set about converting the Jews and Moors to Christianity and was responsible for the Inquisition. Her marriage to Ferdinand of Aragon united the two kingdoms. Ferdinand was weak, so Isabella was the dominance force of the partnership. She united Spain and set the stage for its golden dominance. She died in 1504 after creating one of the world’s greatest Empires. The book is full of famous people from her priest, Cardinal Valentia (Rodrigo Borgia) who became Pope Alexander VI, to Christopher Columbus. Her children were married for political alliances. The oldest daughter married Manuel I and became the Queen of Portugal. Juana married Philip I of the Habsburgs and Juan married Margaret of Austria. The most famous of her daughters was Catherine of Aragon, wife of Henry VIII of England.

The book is well written and meticulously researched. Giles Tremlett, well known historian, chronicles Isabella’s life. Tremlett describes how she led her country out of the middle ages harnessing the newest ideas and tools of the renaissance. She led her quarrelsome nation into a powerful kingdom. Tremlett provides insights into the story of a contradictory and controversial Queen. The author brings to life this extraordinary monarch and the turbulent 15th century Spain. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is about 20 hours long. Karen Cass does an excellent job narrating the book. Cass is a British actress trained in the theatre and is also an audiobook narrator.

[Antonomasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to about 1/3 in Spring 2019. As audio it was an excellent reading which I'd highly recommend. It is easy to forget a book is by a male author when the audio narrator and the main subject are both women. I'd noticed it was relatively difficult to find popular histories of Spain on audio that weren't by conservative historians. (There are two general histories of the country by conservative academics on Audible UK, A Concise History of Spain by William & Carla Phillips (which I have listened to, and is also on Scribd), and Jeremy Black's recent A Popular History of Spain.)

So although this book by a former Guardian journalist isn't a general history - it's about one pivotal monarch, who was already familiar from my A-level and university studies of early modern history - I was glad to find something to listen to from elsewhere on the political spectrum. Tremlett pays good attention to detail and this seems like one instance where a history book by a journalist can compete very respectably with those by academics.

He takes the perspective I favour on writing about matters like this - the religious persecutions and forced conversions implemented by Isabella: "These are terrible acts by the morals of today, but were widely applauded in a Europe which looked scornfully upon Spain’s mix of religions...Religious or ethnic cleansing, enslavement and intolerance were not frowned upon. They could, in fact, be virtuous. Yet even by the measures of her own era Isabella was deemed severe.." I want to see a clear understanding of the time a historian is writing about, and in a general-readership text there should also be an overt acknowledgement of current values. (I don't like recent blog type content from young radical academics who only do the condemning part and don't seem to do the hard work on getting into the heads of people from another era which I believe is one of the most socially important parts of history - and which was central to the way the subject was taught at school to late gen x-ers like me from the beginning of secondary school, lots of "empathy exercises" about writing from the POV of different types of medieval people, for example.) A quondam GR friend (who had by this time left the site) had impressed upon me the current cultural importance of whether a figure whose views/actions are now considered abhorrent was seen as unusual or extreme in their own time, and Tremlett had that base covered too in these few sentences.

I rarely rate books I haven't read in full, but on the basis of the first third I would say this deserves 4-5 stars. It is both responsible in its attention to detail, and great fun in the dramatic and sometimes salacious stories told. I haven't seen Game of Thrones but its reputation is such that it would probably be a great comparison for Isabella's early years, and the ruthless machinations she made to get the crown, as well as the more scandalous points about the court culture she grew up around. Tremlett is rather artful about being responsible - he puts in facts from which one could draw sensational conclusions, e.g. Isabella had notably high pain tolerance - but doesn't write them in himself (this physical trait can be associated with psychopathy, and that introduces another way of looking at her persecutions and power play).

Whilst that sort of thing can be found in many European royal histories, there are things here which are distinctively Spanish - as well as the historic convivencia and cultural mix which made medieval Spain so interesting, and which Isabella & Ferdinand did away with. There's the climate: I'd never heard the like before of the royal progress on which there was such a shortage of water that three servants died en route.

The only reason I stopped listening was because, in the account of the battles and civil war against Juana la Beltraneja & Afonso V of Portugal, the level of detail was becoming overwhelming and too difficult to keep track of - the sort of thing I would need to read as text to get a proper handle on, and many other books are higher priorities for me in text format.

Also bear in mind this review which points out a poor use of sources about indigenous people of the Americas (later in the book), which reflects unfairly badly on them and too well on the Spanish, though the reviewer also says in a comment that otherwise, this appears to be the best biography of Isabella at the moment.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

600 pages is a length that is very daunting for a biography, regardless of how many pages are devoted to the author's bibliography at the end. Isabella led a life that is certainly interesting to probably warrant the 600 pages, and there's an incredible amount of facts and research that has gone into Tremlett's work. I don't have the knowledge to debate the use of his sources or his retelling of events, but I should probably explain my lonely 3 star rating in a sea of 4 and 5's.

For me, it came down to pacing (which sounds odd, in a non-fiction book). The first 18 years or so of Isabella's life were sped through verrrrry quickly - in about 60 or 70 odd pages (from memory; so I could easily be wrong). On the face of it, 70 pages seems like quite a significant amount of pages, but 70 out of 600 or so? The number seems quite diminished. It's hard to talk about the childhood of people from over 500 years ago when there may not be many sources, and no documents/letters written by their own hand, so I do understand the need to condense things at times. But from the moment Isabella becomes queen, or starts acting of her own accord, events take a much, much slower pace.

Again, this is due to the opposite reason as above: because there are now documents and laws and letters authored by Isabella to analyse and discuss and provide information on her life. For the woman who engineered the Inquisition (*insert obligatory Monty Python quote in here*), saw the expulsion of the Jews and the Moors from Spain, and financed the voyages that discovered the New World, it seems like if you don't take the opportunity to discuss these aspects of her life in 600 pages, then you're doing it wrong. Tremlett's easy writing style helped - highly readable, things were always explained succinctly and in a way that made it simple to understand. The short chapters of the book also helped quite a lot; not only did they make you feel like you were getting through the text quickly, but they also kept things interesting. But I don't know, around the 200th page mark, I started to feel quite bogged down by everything, and things just seemed to slow.... down.... Including both my reading pace and my interest.

It's not a bad book at all, but it is very thorough and very long. However, if this is the type of thing that appeals to you, as well as the life of Isabella, then I recommend picking it up.

[Leanda Lisle · Rating 5 out of 5]

With his vast head and squashed nose, Enrique IV of Castile was said to resemble a lion. No one could think of any such tactful comparison for the peculiar shape of his penis. With its oversized head and narrow base, it was too bottom heavy to maintain erections. His droop was, however, his half sister, Isabella’s, opportunity.

By 1469 when she was eighteen, Isabella had already proven herself unusually independent minded and determined. Despite swearing to marry only with the consent of the king she wed young Ferdinand, heir to the kingdom of Aragon, and so made a political alliance against Enrique’s wishes.

Enrique duly punished Isabella by demoting her from the succession. When he died in 1474 his will bequeathed his throne to his twelve-year old daughter, Juana - which was unlucky for Juana. Isabella was not someone you wanted to make an enemy of as Tremletts sympathetic, but clear-eyed biography reveals.
.

Isabella believed that little Juana was merely the queen’s bastard and stated frankly that Enrique was incapable of siring a child. Even when his doctor had succeeded in masturbating him to ejaculation his sperm had been ‘disappointing’. Although it was possible that one of the phials used to artificially inseminate his wife had worked, Isabella was certain it had not.

Enrique was buried in Madrid in the rough clothes he liked to wear. Isabella considered that he had been a gentle soul whose kindness and hatred of conflict had made him a terrible king. She was determined to do better and Juana’s supporters were not going to get in the way.

Two days later Isabella launched a coup, with a procession through the streets of Segovia, ‘adorned with glittering jewels of gold and precious stones’. A sword was carried before her held by the point, hilt upwards’: a symbol of a royal authority to punish by violence.

Isabella was doing what no woman had ever done: claiming absolute authority as a reigning Queen, and displaying publicly the masculine symbols of violent intent. But seizing the throne would prove far better suited to this remarkable woman than doing anything so passive as merely inheriting it. The days of a gentle, yet failing, monarch were over.

Isabella now began her reign as she meant to go on, by justifying her actions as ‘God’s will’: The Almighty’s mysterious plan would encompass a lot of ground in the years to come, both moral and geographical. And it helped explain to this deep conservative why a mere woman, by nature inferior to men, could rule over them.

It was a disappointment to Isabella that men did not always live up to their heroic billing. When the commanders fighting her cause against Juana’s supporters avoided a major battle she raged that ‘Even if women lack the discretion for knowledge, the energy for daring and sometimes the language to speak with, I have found that we do have eyes to see with’. With their army she would have taken on ‘any challenge on the world’. In future, she ordered, ‘we lose ourselves to fury rather than allow moderation to triumph’.

You can be sure there was little triumph for moderation thereafter.

Isabelle and Ferdinand won the war. Juana was given life imprisonment with compulsory prayers in an enclosed convent. And Isabelle set about cleansing Castile of the disorders of Enrique’s reign.

Thieves, rapists and murderers were one target. But so were those considered guilty of sexual immorality. Homosexuals found guilty of sodomy were castrated and hanged. A man found lurking beneath the windows of her ladies in waiting kept his testicles, but was also hanged.

It was Isabelle who founded the Spanish Inquisition, along with Ferdinand. It’s role was to root out heresy – another source of disorder. The inquisitors began with the large numbers of Christian converts from Judaism. Their methods proved both cruel and incompetent. Greed, racism and personal enmities often played a role in denunciations, just as torture led to false confessions and orthodox Christians going to the stake for imagined heresies.

Jews who had not converted remained, for a time, under royal protection. This was in contrast to much of the rest of Europe – including England – from where they had been expelled long before. Eventually, however, Isabelle was convinced that to protect her Christian subjects from corruption, the Jews had to convert or leave. Laws were issued to ensure the expulsions would be carried without cruelty. But it gave people a sense of permission to act on their worst instincts. Jews had to sell property at knock down prices and became easy targets for robbery and even murder.

Isabelle and Ferdinand had, by then, completed the re-conquest of Moorish Spain. Military victories thrilled Isabella and she had organized military campaigns personally, as well as introducing front line medicine for her troops. She dressed arab style, in silk and brocade, to greet the defeated Moorish king Boadbil after he had left the beauty of the Alahambra for the last time. Legend has it that as he continued on his ride into exile he looked back at the city his ancestors had ruled for 250years, and paused to weep at a spot that became known as the Pass of the Moor’s Sigh.

Elsewhere in Europe, Muslims were still conquering Christian land, forcing conversions and taking slaves. By contrast after Granada’s surrender in 1492 Spanish Muslims lived under a Christian crown until the time came when, like the Jews, also had to convert or leave.

Tremlett devotes his last chapters to the only achievement that provoked in Isabella any uncertainty that her actions had been entirely right, moral and proper.

Christopher Columbus’s dreams of discovering a new world in the west were, to most sensible people, quite bonkers. But Isabella shared the Italian explorer’s love of bold action, and had moments of romantic folly. She agreed to bankroll an enterprise that would see her heirs rule an empire on which the sun could never set.

Columbus’s discoveries did not, at first, produce the gold he had promised: it brought instead brilliant green parrots – and slaves with broad faces and ‘beautiful eyes’. Isabella had dreamed of souls to convert, but her new subjects were often denied baptism so that their owners could justify their enslavement, their nations were bled of gold and almost wiped out by disease. Amongst her last wishes were to ask her husband to ensure that in future they were not ‘abused’, but treated ‘fairly’. She then asked for 20,000 masses to be said for her soul and a further 20,000 for those who had died fighting her wars.

Isabella and Ferdinand were the ultimate power couple, dual monarchs of Aragon (in his case) and Castile (in hers), their relationship founded on respect as much as love. But she was the more remarkable, well deserving of the claim that she was Europe’s first great queen.

‘Isabella of Castile’ is even more richly enjoyable than Tremlett’s previous biography of her daughter, Catherine of Aragon. He seeks to understand his subject, while never unplaying the appalling impact of some of her decisions. Packed vivid character sketches and lyrical description, Tremlett has told a gripping story, full beauty and darkness.

A version of this review appeared in The Times in February 2017

[Lois · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was well written, interesting and extremely readable.
In my opinion this is the most thorough biography written in English I've read on this queen.
The author has tons of sources but I followed up on a few in relation to Gran Canaries and slavery. I found that the source he referenced didn't really match the paragraph he'd written in the book. So I'm unsure where some of his knowledge came from.
Most importantly his treatment of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas is racist.
He only uses sources written by conquering thieves who we well know lied to make their theft more acceptable in Castile.
For example the constant references to 'cannibalism' when we know Columbus labeled the Indigenous people he was capturing and forcing into slavery in Europe could only be sold in Europe if they were labeled as cannibals. The author admits this but only after repeatedly referencing cannibalism.
In addition he completely uses European sources for Columbus's contact with the Arawak/Taino peoples. The Taino left records of their own about this exchange and the author doesn't include any of them. Worse yet he passes on white supremacist nonsense like they thought Columbus and the crew were gods.
They fucking did not. Arawak/Taino records say they smelled horrible and kept shitting in their drinking water🤷🏽‍♀️ they were unimpressed and that god mess is bullshit.
Also horses are started in the Americas and it's long been established that they were hunted to extinction in the Americas.
They weren't and while I doubt that had been confirmed when the author published this, he has no similar excuse for the cannibalism and god bullshit.
He does the same at the end with Cortez. He gives a condensed and racist version of Cortez's genocide. Of a significantly more intelligent and advanced culture than his own.
The author gives the most detail about Jewish struggles under Isabel but shortchanges the Muslim struggle.
He strays from the facts which is they were forcibly converted using violence. He admits this but doesn't expound. When the Jewush experience was related there was tons more detail.
You can tell the author doesn't quite view it as the same crime if the victim has brown skin.
He does not pull back from exposing Isabel's rabid ruthlessness. He doesn't really seem to appreciate that her policies creating genocide on multiple continents.
I like that he presents her belated, death bed concern for the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas as only being a concern in regards to getting into heaven. She didn't care until she acknowledged that their might be a price to pay for her treatment of these peoples.
She never acknowledges her theft and that's it's not ok to steal from people just because they don't follow your religion or have brown skin.
She's a nightmare bitch.
I also found it odd that at the end as the author/historian talks ad nauseam about the things a united Spain is able to steal victoriously, he neglects to mention that what largely brought down their dynasty is horrendous inbreeding. Isabel and Ferdinand were much too closely related and their descendants will continue to intermarry until their dynasty ends in an inbred monarch who can't close his mouth or stop drooling. He probably had only 8 chromosomes total poor thing.
Guess that's not the image the author wanted to leave us with.
This is well worth reading but biased and racist.
Also the author acting like Christianity was a benefit to oppressed peoples.
The long arm of this is that former colonies have horrible rates of transphobia and homophobia that can be traced back to christianity.
Also many peoples, like myself, had all knowledge of their ancestors and their cultural practices suppressed. This is violent and horrible process is the hallmark of christianity oppression. It's been horrible and remains horrible.
The christian right is a violent, fascist and genocidal force still causing problems today.
Thanks to Isabel.

[Alex Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do you make of a pious, humble woman who starts her adult career at the age of 16 by seeing off a couple of kings and marrying another despite all attempts to stop her? And ends her life with her kingdom united and expanding into realms hitherto unknown, though at the cost of countless innocent lives and a drastic loss of what we would call diversity? She was the woman who sent Columbus off to find the New World. The same year, she expelled all Jews from her dominions and took over Granada, the last Moorish kingdom of Al-Andalus, forcing Muslims to become Christian or leave. She took their goods, burned their books, destroyed their places of worship, and brought an end to seven centuries of more or less peaceful co-existence. She and her co-monarch Ferdinand established places of learning and cleaned up a corrupt Church--but she also launched the Inquisition on a reign of terror that lasted long after her death, persecuting notably families who had converted from Judaism, sometimes generations before. Her colonisation of the "Indies" became the model for three centuries of slavery, exploitation and repression in Latin America.

Giles Tremlett documents her thirty-year reign, full of contradictions and paradoxes as it seems to us, with meticulous care and without judgment. He notes her ardent love for Ferdinand, for her children and for her people at the same time as he recognises her ability to separate emotion from political advantage or necessity. She loved her daughters but sent them away to marry into foreign dynasties. She condemned the Borgia Pope for impiety but used his edicts to justify her savage treatment of her own subjects.

It's a powerful, stirring dramatic tale, and Giles Tremlett tells it without either falling into HBO-style excess or writing a dry historian's study.


The picture that emerges is

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing. Questionable use of sources, reiterative, abounds in commonplaces and offers a poor and groundless psychological portrait of the different characters.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isabella of Castile: Europe's First Great Queen by Giles Tremlett is a fantastic biography on one of Europe's first Great Queens, and an early look at proto-absolutism in European politics. Isabella was originally farther back in line to replace the unlucky Henry IV (The Impotent - poor man), who suffered from some birth defects, preferred to keep to himself, and had difficulty siring an heir. He was also merciful and forgiving, something seen as a weakness in Castilian society. The nobles of Castile took advantage of this, trying to raise their own status and weaken that of the crown. They backed Isabella's brother Alfonso for the throne, while Henry IV tried to promote his daughter to the throne (Castilian crown law allowed women to succeed to the throne - an abnormality in Europe). Alfonso, however died of the plague at 14 (or was poisoned or murdered, rumours were flying), and Isabella was championed as one of the candidates for the nobility - leading to civil war. Isabella was also used as a pawn by ambitious nobles, but sought to charter her own path by creating a powerful alliance with a foreign monarch. She was a prime candidate for marriage as she had a good shot of inheritance, and expansionist monarchs coveted her hand for improving their claims in Spain. Monarchs from France and Portugal were considered, but ultimately Ferdinand II of Aragon was chosen - he was a distant relative of her family, and thus the two would have strong claims on each others thrones, and keep out expansionist France and their ally in Portugal.

Isabella had a lot of ground to cover before gaining the throne though. She had a rival in Henry IV's daughter Juana, and had to fight to claim the throne. This was a grueling battle of attrition, but her combined forces with Spain's rural noble class, Basques from the frontier provinces, and Aragon's forces ensured a victory. Once secure on her throne, she saw Juana deposed and sent to a convent - and Portuguese forces routed. France's troops never got past the border - they were routed by Basque fighters in the mountains. Isabella then spent the remainder of the war mopping up resistance in the interior. By this time she was pregnant, and would go on to have many children - spreading them across the thrones of Europe - with daughters eventually marrying into the thrones of Austria, Burgundy, Portugal and England. She also initiated the reconquest of Andalusia, defeating the ancient kingdom of Granada. She expanded into the Canary Islands, fought France to a standstill, imitated détente with Portugal, and imitated the colonization of the New World, claiming the first major Spanish colonies in Hispaniola, and in Cuba.

There was a dark side to Isabella, however. She was not forgiving to enemies, and would remember a slight decades later, annexing territories belonging to her aristocratic enemies decades after the Civil War ended. She was interested in expanding the authority of the crown at all expenses, and turned on her erstwhile allies to ensure Crown authority was cemented. This has led Tremlett to see Isabella as a proto-absolutist monarch. She sought above all to weaken the power of those around her and ensure the crown of Castile was the key authority in the realm. She initiated the Inquisition, a terrible purge that saw Converso's - recent converts to Christianity, arrested and tried in kangaroo courts before being burned at the stake. This was both a passion project for the highly zealous Isabella, and a way to cement control over the kingdom. Converso's were not protected by status, nobles and clergy, and even her close court confidents, were all tried and found guilty. Jews were also targeted and forcibly expelled from the country in a terrible pogrom that saw many of the cultural pillars of Iberia crumble away. Muslims were also targeted after the conquest of Granada, and many were forcibly exiled as well to North Africa. Isabella saw what she was doing as divine will, and the burnings at the stake, the expansion of Inquisitional police, and the centralization of religious authority under the crown (granted by a Spanish pope) all fit her idea of purifying Spain.

Even so, this is a remarkable figure in history. Her character traits were often considered "man-like" by her contemporary critics, but in truth most of society did not hesitate to follow this determined, driven and intelligent ruler. Her success was legendary, and she expanded the border of her kingdoms immeasurably - uniting the crowns into the nation of Spain, taking over Granada and the Canaries, cementing control in Naples and Sicily, and expanding colonies overseas. She also

[Sportyrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Game Of Thrones-esque biography of Isabella of Castile.

I knew Isabella formed a unique leadership style by marrying Ferdinand of Aragon and sharing the ruling of each inherited region but that was all.

I learned so much more about Spain and Latin America’s first contact with European explorers.

I maintained interest throughout every page. Each chapter covered a major theme or milestone. It covered not just information from Isabella’s actions but also what powerful forces or influences were around her. Each chapter carried a feeling of nervous anticipation for example Isabella’s latest goal would be set but then instantly followed by apprehensions as to whether such goals would be doomed or successful at what price.

We can’t really judge previous leaders by today’s social standards otherwise we would just focus on the terrible events that occured (such as slavery and the persecution of people based on religion and sexuality to name a few). What can be appreciated is the sheer courage and determination it took for a woman of that time to succeed during a time where life was ruled by men. Isabella managed to ascend the throne and rule in her own right rather than all the power being absorbed by her husband. It is truly admirable that she could assert new ways in untried times and came out a complete success (notwithstanding the previously mentioned atrocities).

The biography was unbiased, informative and well referenced.

The 600 pages was really 487 (as the remainder was a bibliography etc) and well worth it. Even though I learnt so much I was left thirsting for more as to what happened next after her death.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes history and/or powerful women.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 4 out of 5]

ROYAL READS 2024

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up in my quest to find admirable, badass women in history. And while Isabella is an amazing woman - and not just for her time - she is just a bit too genocidal to admire. Admirable as a woman in her time, a horror as a person.

[Erik Champenois · Rating 3 out of 5]

What stands out to me the most from this biography of Isabella of Castile is how sincerely Isabella appears to have believed that she was doing the will of God in some of the terrible things she did: the expulsion of Jews, the expulsion of Muslims, the Spanish Inquisition, the conquests of Grenada, and the rise of Spain as a global power. Devoted and deeply religious, Isabella's misguided belief should be a caution to any of us to not become too convinced that we fully understand God's will.

"Isabella of Castile" covers Spanish history from Isabella's childhood and her marriage to Ferdinand, which united Castile and Aragon, laying rise to modern Spain. It then covers the significant events of Spanish history (with several chapters on Columbus and the New World) as well as of the court from Isabela's perspective (sometimes Ferdinand and other figures get a bit lost by comparison). Unfortunately, the book lacks a certain amount of depth and multidimensionality to its coverage of Isabela, and especially of other significant characters around her. I'd almost say that Cesare Borgia's (Pope Alexander VI's) personality shines through more than other more important personalities in the book do or should have. As a result, this book just barely gets 3 stars instead of 4 - but really, a solid 3.5.

[González Yolanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es un personaje histórico que me gusta mucho por su repercusión en la historia. Mujer a la que no le temblaba el pulso para defender sus intereses a pesar de ser tan mística y tan devota. Todo un personaje sin duda 😁

A través de escritos de cronistas de la época así como de las reproducciones de numerosas cartas escritas en castellano antiguo de mano de la reina Isabel, la correspondencia con Colón.. el autor nos va haciendo un recorrido por lo que fue la vida de la reina Isabel la Católica.

La biografía de fácil y de amena lectura a pesar de su extensión, está más enfocada en todo el entramado político de la época con sus múltiples negociaciones, conquistas de territorios, eternas rivalidades por el poder y todo lo que aconteció entre Isabel y su sobrina Juana la Beltraneja por subir al trono y hacerse con la corona de Castilla.

Juana la Beltraneja que fue la obsesión de Isabel y que estuvo recluida a buen recaudo en un convento hasta el final de sus días siguió firmando sus cartas siempre como yo, la reina.

El matrimonio de Isabel y Fernando y la alianza entre Castilla y Aragón fue un matrimonio feliz, se enamoraron realmente a pesar de los hijos ilegítimos de Fernando y de la impotencia de la reina ante las infidelidades de su esposo.

Bulas y más bulas papales matrimonios que sellaban la alianza entre reinos y ampliaban el poder de los reyes por toda Europa.

La santa inquisicion de la mano de Torquemada.

La rendición de Granada y la entrega de las llaves de la ciudad.

Una gran mujer de carácter firme que se coronó como reina y tuvo los arrestos para designar a su marido como consorte. La reina más importante que hemos tenido y que tendremos sin duda.

Me ha gustado mucho 😊 Es mejorable la biografía? Pues si, me hubiera gustado que profundizará más en algunos aspectos? también, pero es que Isabel era mucha Isabel.

[Ally Wetherhold]

Good essay source, but I preferred “Isabella: The Warrior Queen” by Kirsten Downey.

The order of events in this book were slightly confusing.

[Eva María · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy buena biografía. Bien documentada y rigurosa.
Al principio asusta el libro por lo voluminoso pero es de lectura fácil.

[Krissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isabella is a notable historical queen because she did so much in a world where men dominated. Fierce will and a passion for ruling. Honestly in terms of accomplishment, she dominated among the European courts. I got the impression that she viewed education as important.

I find it interesting that despite trying to conquer the "infidels," it was noted that she found the palaces of Granada which had been under Muslim rule for centuries before she conquered them, beautiful. There are all sorts of references to her embracing this culture, even as her policies forcibly tried to turn Muslims and Jewish people into Christian converts.

Second Tremlett bio read, the first being Catherine of Aragon last year. I had wished for more of Catherine of Aragon's thoughts in that bio. Due to Isabella's chroniclers and her own writing there was a wealth of information to draw from...even though it was certainly biased from her viewpoint...she proof read her chroniclers work.

Inter library loan read. Would buy for my shelves. I read the majority of the book yesterday and today. Prior to that I had been reading a chapter here and there between assignments. Quick and mostly interesting read, even if some points grew dull. Tremlett is thorough. I'd pick up other written biographies if he decides to work on more. :)

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

First my disclaimer, I won this book through Goodreads in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Isabella, think Ferdinand and Isabella and Christopher Columbus, was one of only a very few strong female rulers. Not only is that an accomplishment, but the fact that she was a strong female ruler in a conservative country like Castile is even more amazing. I’m always impressed with and pleased to read about queens like Isabella and I wasn’t disappointed. She did some wonderful things—such as unifying her country but of course she wasn’t perfect and her religious intolerance which included destroying her Muslim and Jewish subjects, the Inquisition, and allowing the destruction of the American natives stains her reputation today, though it was perfectly acceptable during her own life.

Isabella of Castile is written by Giles Tremlett. A little research tells me that he is a journalist as well as an author. His writing style has a journalist quality to it. It’s easy to read, down to earth, and is non-judgmental. It’s also very thorough. Tremlett starts at Isabella’s birth and continues until her death. This makes for a long book. Because of that, I definitely appreciated the larger type.

I recommend this book for those interested in female rulers, the history of Spain, even the history of Christianity, Columbus, well, any history of the late 1400s through the 1500s since Isabella’s influence was extensive and reached far from Castile.

[Nicolas Stanham · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5 estrellas, tremendo libro. Tuve la suerte de leerlo estando de viaje por España y logré conectar mucho con la historia, en particular en la ciudad de Granada. La historia de Isabel es impresionante, desde cómo se supo imponer siendo mujer en un mundo de hombres a su visión sobre el futuro de "España". Sin dejar de lado la crueldad de la inquisición y la conquista de América, usó de un modo muy inteligente los recursos que tenía a mano (por ejemplo el "aval" conseguido como defensora del cristianismo) para posicionar a España como una de las grandes potencias de Europa. El epílogo resume partes de estos conceptos.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging biography about a woman who was somehow a trailblazer and a traditionalist at the same time. She was certainly 'great' in the sense of how she transformed the world around her, curtailing the power of greedy nobles and insisting on her right to rule as a woman, but her religious zeal and the associated legacy of persecution in the form of the Spanish Inquisition and the subjugation of native Americans also makes her a hugely divisive figure. In short, a woman who was both good and bad, great and terrible, and Giles Tremlett uses these contradictions to construct a very individual, forceful personality.

[Peach Radvan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant non-fiction looking at a greatly controversial figure in European history.

This book looks at Isabella in terms of her position as a shaping monarch of the late Middle Ages/early Renaissance, and as a lasting feminist icon but it also acknowledges her devastating effect on the Jewish and Islamic communities of old world Spain without painting them as inconsequential or necessary acts.

It balances beautifully the fine line between engaging storytelling and informative historical presentation of facts.

[Danielle McClellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biographies of Queens usually annoy me: they are either patronizing ("and she so loved her little dog Blanca....") or apologist/revisionist (which calls for real contortions when it comes to Isabella, who was brutal in her unleashing of the Spanish Inquisition). This new biography of Isabella is neither. Her actions quite literally changed the course of history in ways that we still feel today. I would say that this book is in fact a well-researched biography of power, and Tremlett (a journalist, who wrote the fascinating "Ghosts of Spain") provides a thoughtful and detailed look at the decisions that Isabella made every step of the way.

[María · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro fascinante, que cuenta su historia con gran detalle. Tiene citas de documentos reales en castellano antiguo, y una gran bibliografía. MI GRAN PEGA, siempre tiene que dar la puntillita, poniendo a Isabel como si fuese el diablo. Pero bueno, si ignoras estas animadversiones personales del autor, un libro muy completo.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing her letters from the new world, her man in the Indies described the glories and riches that would be hers. He told of blue-green islands of impossibly fertility and beauty; of colorful parrots like rainbows and all kinds of fruit trees; and of people who were docile and, as yet, did not know God. And did he mention there was gold? Endless supplies of gold that would prove to be as much as she needed; like the slaves--it was all endless. And reading these letters from her man in the Indies, Queen Isabella could almost be forgiven, says Giles Tremlett in his wonderful biography of the queen Isabella of Castille, for believing herself to be the queen of Eden.

There has been some criticism of Tremlett's popular biography-- that he engages in too many loose narratives, such as positing motivations in peoples' heads who have been dead 400 years (For example, that Isabella’s daughter had a eating disorder due to the perfectionism of her mother)… and by not taking into account or mentioning recent revisionist history (such as Kazan's book on the Spanish Inquisition) that seeks to address placing full blame on Isabella for the crimes of the time, still I would argue this is a very balanced account of Isabel la Católica. He does address the old Black Legend-- British propaganda that suggests that Spain remains backward like all Catholic countries having been cast into intellectual darkness due to their superstitious religion, which had basically turned the clock back to the “dark ages” (another trope). The black legend is with us today. If you do the Yale Open Course on Cervantes' Don Quixote, the professor will discuss this at some length. And indeed our image of Isabella as a cruel religious fanatic in part is informed by this. (We are always unfair to female rulers).

And speaking of female rulers, she was the first great female monarch in Europe. In the company of Catherine, Victoria and Elizabeth I....In terms of impact, Tremlett believes her reign to have been most important. Mainly because by sending Columbus off on an "adventure of blind, chivalric daring, she helped reverse the decline of western Christendom and to alter the course of global history in the second half off the millennium."

If you think that is an extraordinary statement for him to make, I did too!

Isabel la Católica~~

Love her or hate her (she is my own personal arch enemy), her religious fanaticism takes center stage in most books about her--and Tremlett is great on this. My favorite chapters were the ones on Isabella and Columbus. Descriptions of the dashing Genoese explorer, who became a bit of a court hanger-on-er are pretty wonderfully described. Following her from place to place, Columbus even camped out with the queen on the siege of Granada. His portrayal of their relationship was wonderfully reminiscent of a short story that appeared in the New Yorker way back in 1991 by Salman Rushdie, called Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship, Santa Fe, January, 1492.

Rushdie is such a genius. In just a few short pages, he somehow evokes an unforgettable picture of the two.

….he bowed over her olivehand and, with his lips a breath away from the great ringof her power, murmured a single, dangerous word. 'Consummation.' — These unspeakable foreigners! Thenerve! 'Consummation', indeed! And then followinginher footsteps,month after month, as if he stood a chance. His coarse epistles, his tuneless seranades beneath her casement windows, obliging her to have them closed, shutting out the cooling breeze….”

And so she plays with him! At luncheons she promises him everything he wants and cuts him dead later in the afternoon, looking through him as if he were a veil.”

He wonders if she is tormenting him for fun alone…!

Tremlett echoes this by telling us:

“Columbus was a seducer, as tenacious in his pursuit of people as he was with new places. Over the years he would study Isabella and her court, thinking of different ways to impress her. The Italian mariner adopted a mixture of gallantry, boldness and religious conviction, knowing that she was open to the flirtations, if carefully circumscribed games of courtly love and rivalry. A later letter to Isabella is full of sensual praise for the woman who “holds the key to his desire and to whom he boasts of the scent and taste of his goodwill ..."

Columbus famously appealed to her through a language evoking romance. And the book goes on to detail reasons why Isabella came to give her approval for this voyage since all of her science advisors knew that Columbus was dangerously underestimating the distances involved in such a voyage. Basically, it was a small investment for a chance at what would be an infinite return. To invest in discovering el Dorado and all the gold of the Indies for only the amount of money that a middling aristocrat might have at his disposal in a year. Tremlett goes on brilliantly here:

“He and Isabella were a perfect match.They were equally enamored of bold action, divine justification, and in moments of weakness, of romantic folly. It is hard, indeed, not to see something of Don Quixote in him—a knight errant bent on glory and death, with Isabella as is Dulcinea. And if that was not enough, he added a touch of messianic Spanish glory to the adventure: “All the profits of this enterprise of mine should be spent on the conquest of Jerusalem…" (288)

The two of them changed history. She was till the end a fanatic (I cannot see her otherwise). The obsession with blood purity was incredibly politically expedient for Isabella and Ferdinand --and the Spanish Inquisition indeed was far more focused on cultural hegemony than over esoteric religious questions. 1492 was quite a year, from the "discovery" of the New World to the infamous expulsion of the Jews, this was followed by a severe crackdown and expulsion of the Muslim population as well. Isabella set Spain on a path for world domination but wow, at what a price. Wonderfully written book on a fascinating subject!

http://www.borges-library.com/2018/02...

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a huge work of research and scholarship, and a very useful tool of study...but there are things about this book that frustrate me. First of all, the story of Isabella gets so caught up in the story of other things, at times you think you're experiencing a mash-up of three different history books trying to co-exist, and tell the story not only of Isabella, but Spain, Portugal, the Insquisition, and Christopher Columbus (to say nothing of the Papacy & France). Secondly, I'm still not sure I really know who Isabella is at the conclusion, other than a woman who seeks to wield power and obsess over religion. There's nothing really about her personality, vices, and sex life that compares to other women of power, such as Catherine the Great, Elizabeth I, or Victoria. There's just something missing from her story...something that doesn't allow an intimate knowledge that I can find in those other remarkable women. As I said, so informative & useful, yet so frustrating.

[Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

El magnífico ensayo Isabel La Católica: La primera gran reina de Europa, de Giles Tremllet (editorial Debate) resume, en su reflexión final, la historia de España (el cúmulo de acciones desencadenadas por ese tropiezo histórico que se llamó Reyes Católicos, centrado en la reina Isabel I de Castilla) de una forma brillante, carente de emoción, sencillo, escueto, despojado de las lentes prejuiciosas que tenemos los ahora habitantes del S. XXI, llenos de ambición personal, derechos individuales e ignorancia.

Esta amplia biografía es más que un retrato personal: es el fresco del espíritu de todo un país, de un continente, de una parte de la Historia humana. No juzga. No justifica. Sólo nos muestra las cosas tal como fueron y el reflejo repleto de ecos de nuestro presente. Esto hace que un libro de historia sea a la vez un ensayo psicológico de un personaje, del tiempo en el que le tocó vivir y de sus repercusiones futuras.

Isabel de Castilla, Católica y Cruzada, Soñadora, Quijotesca antes de que se acuñara ese término, Global (antes de que supiéramos qué significaba), Árida, Dura, Inteligente. Isabel, Mujer que jamás dejó de serlo (no buscó cambiar su papel de género, si no desarrollarlo), judáica y mudéjar a la par que castellana; Inquisidora (Dictatorial diríamos hoy), Orgullosa, Pasional y Rebelde. El tratado de Giles Tremlett nos demuestra el caleidoscopio de una personalidad única que, empezando de la nada, construyó con sus talentos un mundo, y sentó las bases del mundo occidental tal como lo conocemos hoy.

Fuera los complejos. Desnudémonos. Observémonos. España lleva mucho tiempo avergonzada de sí misma (no ha ayudado la propaganda externa, pero sólo nos afecta aquello que dejamos que nos hiera). Gracias a la labor de historiadores y periodistas extranjeros (que tienen el mérito de restituir la verdad que otros contribuyeron a oscurecer) como Giles Tremlett y muchos otros, estamos descubriendo la grandeza de la historia del primer imperio global, la unión de mundos bajo un mismo nombre, los rasgos definitorios de un carácter que contribuyó al avance de la historia humana y al empuje de la hegemonía occidental frente al poder oriental que hasta entonces la Historia había llevado.

Isabel (y Fernando) fue ese golpe de timón. Sin saberlo (¿quién es capaz de prever el futuro con certeza si está embebido en desarrollar su propia vida?), ambos fundaron el Imperio Mundial, cambiaron el perfil de lo conocido hasta entonces e insuflaron de vida una forma de ser que ha llegado hasta hoy. La Historia recuerda muchos héroes, muchos aventureros, muchos dementes. Isabel de Castilla va más allá, como bien recuerda su autor: era una mujer, la más poderosa de cuantas reinas han sido (sí: nadie la ha igualado en poder y en repercusión histórica más allá de propagandas), un fiel reflejo de su época y algo más, una mujer culta que impulsó la cultura a su género; maquiavélica en el sentido más literal del término; justa y déspota según criterio, renacentista y medieval a la vez. Una adelantada a su tiempo, temida y admirada, emplazada también en un lugar único en la Europa del S. XIV: la Península ibérica, un crisol de culturas que se soportaban y se apareaban entre sí, algo impensable más allá de los Pirineos; unas leyes que permitían a una mujer heredar y gobernar (otra cosa es que pudiera serlo con total libertad en la práctica), más culto que el resto del continente y muy limpio, lleno de refinamientos judeo-mudéjares que el resto de la más arisca y xenófoba Europa pudiera serlo (sí: más que Italia misma, donde la búsqueda constante de la Belleza no estaba reñida con la falta de escrúpulos ni de limpieza ni de consideración), Castilla-León-Galicia-Aragón-Extremadura-Andalucía, antes de llamarse España (y anexionarse Granada y Navarra en un mismo siglo) era el campo más adecuado para la eclosión de dos personalidades poderosas que se reconocieron y trabajaron juntos por un ideal común. La semilla de un país se sembró con ellos, y la herencia de un imperio también.

Gracias a Tremlett sabemos ahora que la Europa allende los Pirineos era más xenófoba, más cruel, menos refinada y amable que la áspera Península. Gracias a este magnífico ensayo sabemos que Portugal y España vertebraron el espíritu de una época y lo hicieron carne: la pulsión de las aventuras marítimas, de la conquista, del honor y la cristianización (con sus más y sus menos) han llegado a nuestros días, o mejor, nos han hecho así gracias a ellos.

No creo, como bien dice el autor, que Isabel la Católica (ni su marido, Fernando II, el Católico) pudiera vislumbrar hacia dónde se dirigía el fruto de sus afanes. Antes bien: vivía al día. Su espíritu práctico en nada se parecía al de monarcas más reflexivos nacidos en la misma península (los emperadores Adriano, por ejemplo, nacido en Itálica y Marco Aurelio, aunque nacido en Roma, provenía de familia española); por lo tanto no se preocupaba tanto del futuro a largo plazo de sus acciones; al parecer, no le interesaba: ventajas de una Fe a prueba de bombas (y me refiero a símbolo, a guía). Sin embargo se ocupó de ordenar un mundo, de aparejarlo, de embellecerlo y, sí, también sojuzgarlo. Y sentó las bases de lo que, un siglo y poco después, se dio en llamar Absolutismo; hasta en eso fue una mujer pionera.

Isabel la Católica: la primera gran reina de Europa es un libro necesario para entender la historia de España, pero también nuestra historia como Occidente; es un libro que despeja las telarañas de esa historia pequeña que se ha visto envenenada con visiones prejuiciosas; es un ensayo sobre el poder de la voluntad, la sombra del error, la complejidad de una personalidad múltiple pero en modo alguno maleable, y sobre el eco infinito que ha tenido, y tiene, la primera gran monarca occidental: la única, en realidad, que se ha ganado la verdadera eternidad.

[Moniek Bloks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giles Tremlett's Isabella of Castile - Europe's First Great Queen is a magnificent volume on the life of, indeed, Europe's first great Queen, a worthy title. It is well-researched and has numerous notes to my great content. Isabella of Castile snakes through the pages as a thriving and ruthless Queen until the disasters later in life take their toll on the once invisible Isabella. Giles Tremlett makes it all come to life. Don't be daunted be the sheer size of this book, you'll be too emerged in Isabella's life to notice.

[Francisco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biografía de una mujer que se atrevió a cambiar el mundo.
Literariamente bien estructurado y de fácil lectura, intenta abstraerse de prejuicios y estereotipos, presentando a un personaje complejo que tiene la determinación de alcanzar sus metas, aunque le suponga sacrificios.
Muy recomendable

[Lucía Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una biografía fácil de leer y bien detallada. Además, descubrirás también una gran parte de otros personajes importantes de la historia.

Muestra a una figura que hizo que girara completamente el destino del pueblo español.

[C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

More important than Margaret Thatcher.

[Lynn Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read. Great historical insight into her character and clearly well researched and evidenced.