Those who knew Isabella, however, were already aware of how single-minded, even stubborn, she was. A small, delicate-looking young woman was easy to underestimate. Yet the paucity of Grandees (Castile’s grandiose, self-regarding magnates) and powerful bishops in Segovia that day proved that she had few backers. She was the daughter of a former king, Juan II, and of a princess from the adventurous Portuguese royal family. With authority and flair, acclaimed historian Giles Tremlett Tremlett relates the story of this legendary, if controversial, first initiate in a small club of great European queens that includes Elizabeth I of England, Russia's Catherine the Great, and Britain's Queen Victoria.Few of those who watched Isabella process through Segovia would have foreseen this. Her pivotal reign was long and transformative, uniting Spain and laying the foundations not just of modern Spain, but of the one of the world's greatest empires. Her marriage to Ferdinand of Aragon was crucial to her success, bringing together as it did two kingdoms, but it was a royal partnership in which Isabella more than held her own. Ahead of her lay the considerable challenge not only of being a young, female ruler in an overwhelmingly male-dominated world, but also of reforming a major European kingdom that was riddled with crime, corruption, and violent political factionism. In 1474, a twenty-three year old woman ascended the throne of Castile, the largest and strongest kingdom in Spain.
WINNER OF THE 2018 ELIZABETH LONGFORD PRIZE
Click here to purchase from Rakuten Kobo 'Packed with vivid character sketches and lyrical description, Tremlett has told a gripping story, full of beauty and darkness' The Times
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