Isabella I

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Isabella I (1451–1504) Queen of Castile (1474–1504), whose marriage to Ferdinand II of Aragon (Ferdinand V of Castile and León) led to the unification of Spain and its emergence as a dominant European power. Daughter of John II, she won a dispute over the succession by 1468 and married Ferdinand (1469). With his support, she reformed royal administration in Castile and encouraged humanist scholarship in Spain, although she was also responsible for the Spanish Inquisition (1487) and the expulsion of Jews (1492). Her popularity was enhanced by the conquest of Granada (1492). She supported the voyages of Columbus, which led to the establishment of the Spanish Empire in the New World.

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Isabella I