Ferdinand II & Isabella I

(1479 - 1504)

Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile married in 1469 and ten years later became joint sovereigns of a confederation of kingdoms that laid the basis for modern Spain. In 1478, the rulers obtained a papal bull from Sixtus IV establishing the Inquisition to deal with the rise in power of Christian-converted Jews, and in March 1492, they issued an edict calling for the expulsion of all Spain’s Jews. A few months prior, they assisted in the financing and launch of Christopher Columbus’ expedition to, they expected, India.