Brilliant Biographies: The Catholic Monarchs and the Golden Age

Concept and editorial coordination: Stephanie Gay. Editors: Begoña Fuente and Stephanie Gay. Text: Deborah Spencer and Sienna Marín Spencer.

Cover design: Lucía Belinchón.

Interiors design: Marta Gómez Peso.

Layout: Verónica De La Sierra.

Illustrations: Juan Manuel García Escobar.

Photographs: Beatriz Gutierrez. © Text: Grupo Anaya, S.A., 2018. © This edition: GRUPO ANAYA, S.A., 2018 - Juan Ignacio Luca de Tena, 15 - 28027 Madrid - ISBN: 978-84-698-4633-9 D. L.: M-21034-2018 - Printed in Spain.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

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Contents Story............................. Page 4 Project.......................... Page 30 My words..................... Page 32

Hello! Welcome to this Brilliant Biography!

Who’s this?

It’s Isabel I of Castilla!

Who’s this?

It’s Fernando II of Aragón!

Let’s find out more about them and the times they lived in.

three 3

The Catholic Monarchs and the Golden Age

Isabel I of Castilla and Fernando II of Aragón

Hello! My name is Isabel. I was born in 1451 in the Kingdom of Castilla.

When I was young, Spain was not a united country like it is today. The Iberian Peninsula was made up of five different kingdoms with different monarchs.

The most important kingdoms were the Kingdom of Castilla, the Kingdom of Aragón and the Kingdom of Portugal. There was also the small Kingdom of Navarra to the north east. The Kingdom of Granada in the south was still controlled by the Moors.

How many kingdoms were there on the Iberian Peninsula in the 15th century?

4 four

I grew up at the end of medieval times. The monarchy was weak and the peninsula was divided.

The nobility was faithful to the monarchy. It provided soldiers for them in exchange for land. But, the nobility was very powerful and had influence over the kings and queens and often told them what to do.

There was also a lot of crime in the kingdom and not much was done to stop it.

What historical time period did Isabel live in as a child?

Hey! He stole my hen!

five 5

I was born into the royal family of the Kingdom of Castilla.

My father was King Juan II of Castilla. My mother was Isabel of Portugal.

I had a much older half-brother called Enrique and a younger brother called Alfonso.

My father died when I was only three. My older half-brother became King Enrique IV of Castilla. My brother Alfonso and I went to live with our mother in Arévalo. There I had a quiet life. I loved to ride horses and read books.

Who became the new King when Juan II of Castilla died?

6 six

When I was ten, my brother Alfonso and I went to live with our brother, King Enrique. We were very sad.

My brother, King Enrique, married Juana of Portugal. They had a daughter also called Juana. Juana was my niece, the Princess of Asturias and heir to the throne.

Some powerful nobles wanted Juana to inherit the throne. Others wanted my younger brother Alfonso to become King. So, Alfonso and Juana got married to stop everyone arguing! But then, Alfonso died.

Lots of nobles thought that I would make a better queen. Me too!

What was the relationship between Isabel and the young Juana?

Isabel should be the Queen.

seven 7

I didn’t want anyone fighting about who should be the queen, so I negotiated with my brother. I signed an important agreement with King Enrique called the Treaty of the Bulls of Guisando on the 18th of September, 1468.

This agreement said that I would be heir to the throne instead of my niece, Juana. This meant that I would be the next Queen of the Kingdom of Castilla when my brother King Enrique died.

What was the Treaty of the Bulls of Guisando?

8 eight

The monarchs of the Kingdom of Aragón wanted their son, Fernando, and I to marry.

Fernando was very intelligent. He understood politics and he was a very good diplomat. He was going to be a great leader and together we were going to unite two big and important kingdoms.

Look at the information. Name three facts about Fernando.

I must think about this very carefully.

nine 9

He looks just like that prince from Aragón!

Fernando disguised himself as a servant and travelled secretly to Valladolid to meet me. I pretended that I was visiting family.

We got married secretly on the 19th of October, 1469, before my brother married me to someone else! My brother wanted me to marry the King of Portugal or the King of France’s brother. But I made my own decision about who to marry.

When did Isabel and Fernando get married?

10 ten

When we got married, we signed an agreement that united the crown of Aragón and Castilla.

When King Enrique discovered we were married he was very angry. He had promised the King of France that I would marry his brother. He was so angry that he said I would never be the Queen of Castilla.

I disagreed! So did my husband! And so did many powerful Castilian nobles.

Why was King Enrique so angry?

No wedding present for you!

eleven 11

When my brother Enrique IV died, I proclaimed myself the Queen of Castilla. Juana believed she should be the Queen of Castilla because she was King Enrique IV’s only child. But I had the Treaty of the Bulls of Guisando to prove that I was the true heir to the throne.

Then, Alfonso V of Portugal came to Castilla and married Juana.

Portugal and France helped her to fight me, but nobles from Castilla and Aragón took my side.

Because of this situation, in 1475, the War of the Castilian Succession started. To make things worse, Portugal and Castilla were already fighting at sea to control territory abroad.

What started the War of the Castilian Succession?

12 twelve

This was a difficult time for me to be queen with so much fighting. But, I learnt a lot about being a leader.

In 1479, thanks to Fernando’s brilliant strategy, I won the war on land.

Portugal won the war at sea. We signed The Treaty of Alcáçovas, which said that I was the Queen of Castilla and that Portugal could explore lands in the Atlantic Ocean, except the Canary Islands.

What year did the War of the Castilian Succession end?

thirteen 13

Fernando and I made our kingdoms strong. The medieval period came to an end and a new cultural period called the Renaissance began. It started in Italy and spread to Spain.

However, King Enrique had left my kingdom in a bad condition with a lot of crime.

We established our own police force called the Holy Brotherhood. The Holy Brotherhood stopped criminals and punished them immediately.

They quickly reduced crime in the kingdom. The Holy Brotherhood worked for the crown. We didn’t need the nobles with their private armies for protection anymore.

What was the Holy Brotherhood and what did it do?

14 fourteen

This is more difficult than I thought!

Be more patient!

King Enrique also left my kingdom with money problems and not much land because he had sold the land cheaply to nobles. We made the nobles sell it back to us for the same cheap price. They had to pay us much more if they wanted to keep the land.

We also took control of the production of money.

We travelled from town to town throughout the kingdoms talking to people and getting their support. With all of these changes happening, it was important that people supported us. Our contact made people loyal to us. Every Friday people were allowed to come to us with their problems.

How did Isabel and Fernando recover their land? fifteen 15

We increased our own army which was loyal to us, not to the nobles. We improved their weapons and over a ten-year period, we reconquered the Kingdom of Granada. It was the last kingdom in Spain to be controlled by the Moors.

On the 2nd of January, 1492, Boabdil, the last sultan of Granada, was defeated. He gave us the keys to the city of Granada.

Our royal flags flew high on the towers of the Alhambra that day as Boabdil rode away with his mother and his remaining troops.

In what year did Isabel and Fernando finally conquer Granada?

16 sixteen

After conquering Granada and politically unifying our kingdoms, I wanted to religiously unify them too. I wanted everyone in the land to be a Catholic like me.

The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition was in charge of making sure that everyone practised Christianity. Non-believers were called heretics and were severely punished.

The Inquisition was greatly feared throughout Spain.

What was the job of the Inquisition and why were people scared of it?

seventeen 17

Three months after conquering Granada, I sponsored Christopher Columbus’ Atlantic Ocean expedition. We wanted to find a western sea route to the East Indies because the Ottoman Empire controlled the land route. Columbus left on the 3rd of August, 1492.

He arrived in San Salvador, in the Bahamas, on the 12th of October. He thought that he was in Asia! We named the islands the West Indies. He made three more voyages to more islands and a continent.

A year after he died, a map was published naming the newly discovered continent as America. It was popularly known as the New World. The Spanish colonisation of America began.

Look at the picture. Find out the names of Columbus’ ships.

How do you think Columbus felt before he started his journey?

18 eighteen

Another important event happened in 1492. An intellectual called Antonio de Nebrija dedicated a book to me. It was called “Grammatica”.

It was the first book in Europe dedicated to the rules of the language.

This helped literature to grow in Spain over the following centuries.

When Antonio dedicated his book to me I was confused. I asked him why I needed it because I already knew how to speak Castilian. He explained that the people in the recently discovered New World didn’t speak Castilian, and that if I were to be their queen, they should learn it.

1492 was an interesting year for Isabel and Fernando. Name three important events that took place.

But I can already speak Castilian!

nineteen 19

In 1496, Pope Alexander VI gave us our famous title “The Catholic Monarchs” for our work in spreading the Catholic religion. We added Naples to our territory and in 1496 the full archipelago of the Canary Islands was united under the Crown of Castilla.

The Canary Islands became a stopping place for explorers on their way to America. They even attracted pirates! Ottoman pirates were a big problem in the Mediterranean Sea. We conquered strategic lands in the north of Africa on the Mediterranean coast to try to fight them.

After my death, the final Kingdom of Navarra was conquered, unifying the country.

Who gave Isabel and Fernando the title “The Catholic Monarchs”?

20 twenty

After a full and successful life, I died in 1504. My husband Fernando died in 1516. Our daughter, Juana, married into the House of Austria. It was a family with great power and a lot of land. Juana and her son Carlos I inherited the throne.

Carlos I’s empire covered half the world. He was Carlos I of Spain and also Carlos V of the Holy Roman Empire. He ruled lands in western, central, and southern Europe, the Americas and parts of Asia.

How was Carlos I related to Isabel of Castilla?

twenty-one 21

The Catholic Monarchs and the Golden Age

Miguel de Cervantes

Hello! My name’s Miguel de Cervantes. I was born in Madrid in 1547.

I was a writer during the Golden Age of Spanish Baroque literature.

After living in Italy, I joined the Spanish Navy to fight the Ottoman Empire.

I was in the naval Battle of Lepanto in 1571 where I lost the use of my left hand.

Ottoman pirates took thousands of people captive as slaves by raiding ships and coastlines. When I was sailing back to Spain, my ship was captured by Ottoman pirates. They took me to Algiers in North Africa where I spent 5 years as a slave.

In what battle did Cervantes lose the use of his left hand?

22 twenty-two

Eventually, I returned to Spain. It was difficult to make enough money as a writer so I did a variety of different jobs. One of these jobs got me into trouble and I even spent several months in a prison in Sevilla.

All of these difficult experiences helped me to write a book called Don Quijote de La Mancha. Have you heard of it? People say that it was the first modern novel.

What is Cervantes’ most famous book called?

I will name him Don Quijote de la Mancha!

twenty-three 23

The Catholic Monarchs and the Golden Age

Lope de Vega

Hi! My name’s Lope de Vega. I was also a Baroque writer during the Spanish Golden Age. I was born in 1562.

I wrote hundreds of plays. My most popular plays were of intrigue and mystery. I even wrote a play about Christopher Columbus and his adventures. The public loved me and applauded me in the streets.

In my time, theatres didn’t look like they do today. The roles of women were performed by male actors. Men and women sat separately. There was also an area where people could throw rotten fruit if they didn’t like the play!

Have you ever been to the theatre? What did you see?

Name three ways that theatres have changed since the 16th century.

24 twenty-four

The Catholic Monarchs and the Golden Age

Francisco de Quevedo

Hello! I’m Francisco de Quevedo. I was a poet, a writer and a politician and a friend of both Cervantes and Lope de Vega. I was born in Madrid in 1580.

I wrote in a style that was easy to understand. I liked to play with words.

I used satire, which means that I criticised people or situations in a funny way.

I didn’t like overcomplicated poems that are impossible to understand, with long words and hidden meanings.

My fellow poet, Luis de Góngora, wrote in this elaborate style. He was an important poet too but I liked to make fun of him and his style of writing. I even wrote a poem dedicated to his big nose!

What is satire? twenty-five 25

The Catholic Monarchs and the Golden Age

Luis de Góngora

Hi! I’m Luis de Góngora. I was born in 1561 in Córdoba.

My poetry is full of metaphors, which means that you have to search for the true meaning. I also used humour and satire in my writing. People called my style of writing “Gongorismo”.

Many of my writings were passed from person to person and were very popular. But they weren’t published and unfortunately, I always seemed to have economic problems.

Francisco de Quevedo and I are not very good friends. His style of poetry is very different from mine.

What is Gongora’s style of poetry called?

26 twenty-six

The Catholic Monarchs and the Golden Age

Diego de Velázquez

Hello! My name’s Diego de Velázquez. I was an artist. I was born in Sevilla in 1599 but I spent most of my working life in Madrid. I am one of the most important Baroque painters of the Spanish Golden Age. King Felipe IV loved my paintings and employed me as his court painter. My paintings are very realistic.

I painted royalty, nobles, commoners... everyone! In 1627 King Felipe held a competition for the best painters of Spain. The subject of the competition was the expulsion of the Moors and I won!

Here is one of my most famous paintings. It’s a portrait of Luis de Góngora.

Which king did Velázquez paint for? twenty-seven 27

The Catholic Monarchs and the Golden Age

William Shakespeare

Hi! I’m William Shakespeare. I was born in England in 1564 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. This period of time is called the Elizabethan period. We also enjoyed a Golden Age of literature, drama and theatre and I was an important part of it.

I was a poet, a playwright and an actor. I lived at the same time as Cervantes. Spain and England were enemies at this time but one thing that we did have in common was great literature!

I wrote and acted in my plays and performed for Queen Elizabeth I at her Royal Palace. Her majesty was a great patron of my work.

What did Shakespeare and Cervantes have in common?

28 twenty-eight

Before theatres were built, actors travelled from town to town to perform plays. The first theatre in England was built in 1567 in London.

Have you heard of Romeo and Juliet? It’s one of the most important love stories of all time. I wrote it!

I wrote about ambition, greed, fear, love, trust, betrayal, friendship, revenge and happiness. My plays explored people and how they behaved in different situations.

This is one of my plays. It’s called Hamlet. It contains the most famous line of any play in the world.

I died in 1616, the same year as Cervantes. We lived during the Golden Age. Our work is still read and performed today, 400 years later.

When was the first theatre built in England?

twenty-nine 29

PROJECT A medieval tower In Spain you can see history all around you. There are around 2 500 fortified castles and towers still standing!

Let’s build a medieval tower.

Step 1 Paint the outside of the large cardboard tube.

Materials

1

Step 2 Cut out square shaped holes at one end of the short cardboard tubes. Paint the inside and the outside.

2

Step 3 Draw window shapes on white paper and cut them out. Draw a door shape on brown paper and cut it out. Glue them onto the tower.

30 thirty

a large cardboard tube 2 short cardboard tubes paint (any colour) scissors a pencil white paper brown paper glue a grey or silver pen red corrugated cardboard 1 a stapler

3

Step 4 Draw the bricks, the door handles and around the windows and door frames with a grey pen.

Step 5

4

5

Glue the tubes together.

Step 6 Draw a half circle on the sheet of red corrugated cardboard and cut it out. Roll it into a cone. Staple it to hold it in place.

Step 7

6

7

Glue the cone to the top of the large cardboard tube. Now you have your own medieval tower!

You can create your own full castle by including more towers and by using cardboard boxes for the centre part of the castle. thirty-one 31

MY WORDS abroad

In a foreign country.

faithful

Loyal.

feared

Made people feel afraid.

heir

The person legally entitled to a throne or title when someone dies.

heretic

A person who believes something opposed to accepted beliefs.

inherit

To obtain something when someone dies.

medieval

From the Middle Ages.

monarch

A person who rules a kingdom or empire, such as a king or queen.

Moors

The medieval name given to Arabs, Berbers, and Muslim Europeans.

nobility

Members of the highest social class.

playwright

A person who writes plays.

raid

A surprise attack.

Renaissance

The historical period between the 14th and 17th centuries in Europe.

spread

Grow; expand; increase.

weapon

An object used for fighting.

32 thirty-two