Ferdinand and Isabella marry, uniting Spain
Citations (1)
- Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference pp. 137-140 · open book
Elliott terms a "composite monarchy." From Reconquest to Habsburg Empire The marriage in 1469 of Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Aragon, king of Sicily and Sardinia, and claimant to the throne of Naples, to Isabella, heiress of Castile, produced a union of two adjacent but separate kingdoms. This was unfortunate for the kings of France and Portugal, who also wanted to ally with Isabella and who went to war over Ferdinand's "conquest." Castile-with six times the population of Aragon-was indeed the prize, but the wedding did not fuse the monarchies into a unitary polity.