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Isabella was short but of strong stocky build of a very fair complexion and had
a hair color that was between strawberry blonde and auburn, although some portraits
show her as a brunette. Her daughters Joanna and Catherine were
thought to resemble her the most. Isabella maintained an austere temperate
lifestyle and a religious spirit influenced her the most in life.
The question of Isabella's marriage was not a new one she made her debut in the
matrimonial market at the age of 6 with betrothal to Ferdinand the youngest son
of John the second of Navarre. Now at that time the two Kings Henry and John
were eager to show their mutual love and confidence and they believed that this
double alliance would make their eternal friendship obvious to the world.
This arrangement however did not last long. After years of meddling from others
trying to use Isabella as a pawn in their power-hungry plans on the 18th of
October 1469 a formal betrothal took place. Because Isabella and Ferdinand
were second cousins they stood within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity
and the marriage would not be legal unless a dispensation from the Pope was obtained.
With the help of the Valencian Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, Isabella and
Ferdinand were presented with a supposed papal bull by Pius II who had died in 1464 authorising
Ferdinand to marry within the third degree of consanguinity making their marriage legal.
Afraid of opposition Isabella eloped from the
court of Henry with the excuse of visiting her brother Alfonso tomb in Avila.
Ferdinand on the other hand crossed Castile in secret disguised as a servant.
They were married immediately upon reuniting, and on the 19th of October 1469
at the Palacio de los Vivero in the city of Valladolid.
When Isabella came to the throne in 1474 Castile was in a state of despair due to her brother
Henrys reign it was not unknown that Henry the fourth was a big spender and
did little to enforce the laws of his kingdom it was even said by one
Castilian denizen of the time that murder rape and robbery happened without punishment.
Because of this Isabella needed
desperately to find a way to reform her kingdom due to the measures imposed,=.
Historians during her lifetime saw her to be more inclined to justice then to mercy
and indeed far more rigorous and unforgiving and her husband Ferdinand.
On January the 2nd 1492 Isabella and Ferdinand entered Granada
to receive the keys of the city and the principal mosque was reconsecrated
as a church. The Treaty of Granada was signed later that year and in it
Ferdinand and Isabella gave their word to allow the Muslims and Jews of Granada
to live in peace. Just three months after entering Granada Queen Isabella agreed
to sponsor Christopher Columbus on an expedition to reach the Indies by
sailing west. The crown agreed to pay a sum of money as a concession from
monarch to subject. His expedition departed on the 3rd of August 1492 and
arrived in San Salvador Island on the 12th of October, he named it San Salvador
after Jesus the Savior, he returned the next year and presented his findings to
the Monarchs bringing natives and gold under a hero's welcome.
Isabella's plans for her eldest two children did not work out, her only son
John of Asturias died shortly after his marriage and her daughter Isabella of
Aragon whose son Miguel de Paz died at the age of 2.
Queen Isabella the 1st crown passed to her third child Joanna and her
son-in-law Philip the 1st. However, she did make successful dynastic matches for
her two youngest daughters the death of Isabella of Aragon created a
necessity for Manuel the 1st of Portugal to remarry and Isabella's 3rd
daughter Maria of Aragon became his next bride. Isabella's youngest daughter
Catherine of Aragon married England's Arthur, Prince of Wales but his early
death resulted in her being married to his younger brother King Henry the 8th of England.
Isabella officially withdrew from governmental affairs on September
14 1504, she died the same year on the 26th of November at the Medina del Campo
Royal Palace. It is said that she had truly already been in decline since the
death of her son Prince John of Asturias in 1497.
Today she's entombed in Granada in the Capilla Real.
She lies alongside her husband Ferdinand her daughter Joanna and Joannas husband
Philip the 1st and Isabella's two-year-old grandson Miguel de Paz.
The museum next to the Capilla Real holds her crown and scepter.
Isabella is most remembered for enabling Columbus's voyage to the new world which began an
era for greatness for Spain and Europe. In particular her reign saw the founding of
the Spanish Empire.
Henry's next mother-in-law would be the one that gave him quite possibly the
most famous wife of his reign. Elizabeth Boleyn the Countess of
Wiltshire was born in 1480 and became an English noblewoman especially noted for
being the mother of Anne Boleyn and as such the maternal grandmother of
Elizabeth the 1st of England. Elizabeth received honours in her life firstly
becoming the becoming Viscountess Rochford in 1525 when her husband was elevated to the peerage.
Elizabeth was born into the wealthy and influential Howard family as the eldest
of two daughters of Thomas Howard the second Duke of Norfolk and his first
wife Elizabeth Tilney. The family managed to survive the
fall of their patron King Richard the 3rd who was killed at Bosworth in 1485.
His position was taken by King Henry the 7th. When she was about five years
old Elizabeth became a part of the Royal Court as a young girl.
It was while she was at court that she wed Thomas Boleyn an ambitious young
courtier sometime before 1500. According to Thomas, his wife was pregnant many times
in the next few years but only three children lived to adulthood. The three
children were Mary Boleyn, mistress of Henry 8th of England. Anne Boleyn,
Queen consort of Henry 8th of England and George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford
Throughout this time, Elizabeth was a lady-in-waiting at the royal court;
first to Elizabeth of York and then to Catherine of Aragon. In 1519, Elizabeth's daughters,
Anne and Mary were living in the French royal court as ladies-in-waiting
to the French Queen consort Claude. But Marys reputation grew,
and not in what you would call a good way! Mary was by far the most promiscuous of
Elizabeth daughters with several affairs, Anne on the other hand was much closer to
her mother. Elizabeth had been in charge of her children's early education
including Annes and she taught her to play various musical instruments,
to sing and to dance as well as embroidery. In 1525 Henry the
8th fell in love with Anne and Elizabeth became her protective chaperone.
She accompanied Anne to court and since Anne was attempting to avoid a sexual
relationship with the king Elizabeth travelled with Anne to view York Place.
After the fall of the Boleyn family's great political opponent
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, an intrigue which had given Anne first real taste of political power.
She was crowned queen four years later.
Elizabeth remained in her daughter's household throughout her time as Queen consort.
Elizabeth Boleyn though sided with the rest of the family when her eldest daughter Mary was
banished in 1535 for eloping with a commoner William Stafford.
Mary had initially expected her sister's support, but Anne was furious at the breach of
etiquette and refused to receive her. Only a year later the family was
overtaken by a greater scandal Elizabeth's younger daughter Anne and
her only living son George were executed on charges of treason, adultery
and incest. Anne's two chief biographers both concluded that these charges were
fabricated, they also agree that the King wanted to marry Jane Seymour, beyond this
obvious fact the sequence of events is unclear and historians are divided about
whether the key motivation for Anne's downfall was a husbands hatred of her or her political ambitions.
Following the annihilation of the family's ambitions
Elizabeth retired to the countryside she died only two years after her
younger children and her husband died the following year. Elizabeth is buried now
in the Howard family chapel at St. Mary's Church Lambeth, the church was
decommissioned in 1972 but is now a garden museum.
Join us next time as we look at the next two Mothers-in-Law of Henry the 8th.