Page 29 - All About History - Issue 38-16

The Inquisition
was not a new
idea: the Medieval
Inquisition had been
ISABELLA OF CASTILE’S used in the 13th
century
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S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S

Spanish
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Inquisition
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I q i i io
Inquisition
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Synonymous today with brutality and torture, the Spanish
Inquisition was actually established under the rule of one of Spain’s
most renowned and civilised monarchs
Written by Willow Winsham
sabella had been born for this moment. If the the birth of her younger brother, Alfonso – did not
23-year-old princess felt anything other than have a secure childhood. When her father died in 1454,
serenity and conviction, it did not show on her elder stepbrother became king as Henry IV: living
her face, her expression betraying nothing as away from court but under the constant eye of her
I she processed into the church of San Miguel, older brother’s men, Isabella, her grief-stricken mother
Segovia, Spain. At last the day had come, and she was and younger brother were kept out of the public eye,
to take her place as the queen of Castile and Leon, the ostensibly for their own good but in reality to keep
largest of the Iberian Peninsula’s fragmented kingdoms. them away from the intrigue that surrounded the court
The whole city had come forth to witness her and the thorny issue of the succession.
triumph. Only hours before, they had buried the old In greatly reduced living conditions, it was here that
king and now, his successor, bestride a white horse and Isabella’s life-long piety was first carefully cultivated
adorned with jewels and riches to display her power, at the hands of her mother and friends, the religious
came to deliver them from the chaos and disorder that conviction that would see her through many a hardship
had plagued the people for so long. taking root in fertile soil. It was also during these years
Surrounded by her new subjects, Isabella proclaimed of hardship that Isabella’s already apparent self control
her intentions towards the beleaguered kingdom with and iron will were carefully honed, standing her in
grace and authority. There would be peace and stability, good stead for what was to follow.
she promised, and, above all, she would uphold the Castile under Henry’s rule was dangerously unstable:
church that was the cornerstone of her world. Religious weak, inept and in thrall to his favourites, the king was
unity and peace would reign once again in the Iberian dethroned in effigy by his nobles in 1465 and Isabella’s
Peninsula. God had decreed it through her, and she younger brother declared king. Civil war broke out,
would not fail in her duty. and as the kingdom descended further into terror and
Isabella, to be known in her own time and in brutality, Isabella switched allegiance, proclaiming her
centuries to come as one of the greatest rulers support for her younger brother. All expectations were
Spain had ever seen, was born to John II of Castile that Alfonso would return Castile to its former glory,
and Isabella of Portugal on 22 April 1451. Or so the but hopes were dashed when the young pretender died
sources imply, for, at the time, she was considered so suddenly in 1468. Amid the official story of plague,
inconsequential that the date of her birth and baptism rumours of poisoning abounded, and Isabella, named
were not even recorded. as Alfonso’s successor, became the perfect focus for the
She was born into a Spain that was not yet united: hopes of the kingdom.
Castile and the rest of the Iberian Peninsula was a Over the years that followed, she steered a careful
hotbed of political, religious and social unrest, and the course; instead of succumbing to pressure to lead
princess – who stood third in line to the throne after the revolt, she instead remained outwardly agreeable
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