![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() More importantly, both already realised the power they would accrue by joining Castile and Aragon. Seventeen-year-old Ferdinand, already bloodied in battle, had to sneak through Castile disguised as a servant boy, but his willingness to brave hostile territory in order to reach his princess fitted perfectly with Isabella’s ideal of romantic, masculine chivalry. She had first shown that mettle aged 18 – when she snubbed her half-brother, King Henry IV of Castile, and a powerful faction of Grandees by choosing her own husband, rather than accept one foisted on her (candidates had included the future Richard III of England). Those who knew Isabella, however, were already aware of how single-minded, even stubborn, she was. A small, delicate-looking young woman was easy to underestimate. Review: Isabella of Castile: Europes First Great Queen, Giles Tremlett (Bloomsbury, 2017). A major biography of the queen who transformed Spain. Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified. Yet the paucity of Grandees (Castile’s grandiose, self-regarding magnates) and powerful bishops in Segovia that day proved that she had few backers. Isabella of Castile: Europe's First Great Queen. She was the daughter of a former king, Juan II, and of a princess from the adventurous Portuguese royal family. Few of those who watched Isabella process through Segovia would have foreseen this. ![]()
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