Isabella of Castile

Best known as the patron of Columbus’s voyages to North America, Isabella had an enormous impact on the history of Spain and the history of the world. She married Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469, before succeeding to the thrown of Castile and Leon. Her authority expanded in 1479, when Ferdinand gained the throne of Aragon. Uniting the kingdoms and strengthening the monarchy, she harbored far greater ambitions than her husband.

She earned her reputation as the “crusading warrior queen” by mounting battles against the Islamic Moors, the last of whom she expelled for Iberian Peninsula in 1492. In addition to her successful strategies, her endurance in battle and her skilled horsemanship were instrumental in securing Spain.

Fanatically devoted to the Roman Catholic Church, she not only rid her domain of Muslims but also expelled the Jews and instituted the Inquisition to exterminate Christian heretics. She saw Christopher Columbus’s proposal as a means to augment both Spanish and Catholic power and funded the ocean voyage that was to change the world. When Columbus returned, word of his luck rapidly spread throughout Europe, but Isabella maintained Spain’s edge in the new world by immediately sending him back.

Not long after her death, Spain controlled the entire Caribbean region, as well as large tracts of North and Central America.