Episode Details

Isabella of Castile seized her brother's throne, married Ferdinand of Aragon against his wishes, completed the Reconquista, expelled the Jews, and financed Columbus. She was devout, brilliant, and absolutely merciless when her power or her faith was at stake. She built Spain, and the cost of building it was enormous.

This episode traces Isabella from her isolated childhood through the succession crisis, the fall of Granada, and the decisions that made Spain the dominant power in Europe.

• She claimed the throne of Castile in a succession war against her niece Juana la Beltraneja
• She completed the Reconquista by conquering the last Muslim kingdom of Granada in 1492
• She ordered the expulsion of all Jews from Spain in 1492, ending centuries of Jewish presence on the peninsula
• She financed Christopher Columbus's first voyage, launching Spain's empire in the Americas