Aragon was a separate kingdom on the Iberian peninsula when Ferdinand was born to King John II and his Castilian wife, Queen Juana Enriquez on March 10, 1452. His father’s succession had been bitterly contested but John named his son heir apparent and governor of his lands. In 1468 Ferdinand was named King of Sicily and as such saw battle during the Catalonian Wars.
John II had great plans for his son and to that end made certain that he was well educated in the humanities and in the art of government. Ferdinand was more interested in the arts and especially enjoyed music.
Queen Isabella
Infanta (Princess) Isabella was the half sister of Henry IV, King of Castile and as such his heir. Ferdinand married her in Ocana on October 19, 1469 and became King of Castile in 1474 when Isabella succeeded to the throne. Their first task was to wage war against the forces of Juana la Beltraneja, the wife of Portugal’s King Alfonso V, the supposed daughter of Henry IV. The campaign was successful and was followed by a series of campaigns to subjugate rebellious towns that questioned their right to reign.
Ferdinand succeeded his father as King of Aragon in 1479 and united his crown with that of Castile to create Spain. Not since the 8th century has Hispania been administered as a single entity. The kingdoms remained separate political units but were administered under one crown. "They amount to the same, Isabella and Ferdinand" was their motto. He was Ferdinand V of Castile and Leon and Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand and Isabella spent the next few years attempting to drive the Muslims from the Iberian peninsula. By 1492 they were successful, conquering the Kingdom of Granada, the last Muslim enclave. In the same year they issued the infamous Alhambra Edict that expelled the Jews and Muslims from Christian Spain and bankrolled a certain Genoese explorer named Christopher Columbus to search for a quick passage to Asia.
Italian Wars
Having succeeded in reuniting Spain, Ferdinand was now able to involve himself in the Italian Wars. In 1494, Alfonso II, Ferdinand’s cousin, had been forcibly removed from the throne of Naples when his kingdom was invaded by France’s King Charles VIII. Ferdinand took exception to this and allied himself with Emperor Maximilian I and assorted Italian princes and by 1496 had expelled the French and placed Alfonso’s son, Ferdinand on the throne of Naples. A second war of succession was successfully concluded in 1504 when Ferdinand’s general, Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba reconquered Naples.
Ferdinand Regent
With the death of his wife, Isabella in 1504 Ferdinand became regent, ruling while his daughter, Joanna, now Queen, was in the Netherlands with her husband Archduke Philip.
Ferdinand planned to retain his hold over the throne and become permanent regent but the Castilian nobles foiled his plan and backed Joanna’s husband as Philip I of Castile. Ferdinand bided his time and in 1506 Philip died, Joanna was declared mentally unstable and their son and heir, Charles of Ghent was only six years old. Ferdinand resumed the regency. Ferdinand remarried in 1505 to Germaine of Foix, the granddaughter of Queen Leonor of Navarre. He hoped to father an heir so that Navarre could be added to the Spanish crown.
Ferdinand went to war again in 1508, against Venice, with other monarchs in the League of Cambrai. Though at first successful, the League fell apart when the Pope and Ferdinand began to suspect the French had ulterior motives. In response the Holy League was formed with France as the new enemy. Ferdinand then proceeded to conquer part of the French dominated kingdom of Navarre and annex it to Spain. King Henry VIII of England, who had married Ferdinand’s daughter Catherine of Aragon, joined forces with the Holy League in 1511 under the Treaty of Westminster. Meanwhile, In Italy, the Holy League had driven the French from Milan and restoring the Dukes of Sforza to power.
Ferdinand died in Madrigalejo on January 23, 1516 at the age of sixty-four.
Another 15th century king was Louis XI of France - known as the Spider King.
Bibliography
Nancy Rubin Stuart. Isabella of Castile: The First Renaissance Queen -St. Martin's Press, 1991
William C. Atkinson. A History of Spain and Portugal - Penguin Books 1965
Encyclopedia Britannica
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