1494 PART I Europe     { 1 } THE PRINCESS and the PRINCE I N 1468, the seventeen-year-old Isabella''s marriage prospects were not good. The younger half-sister to Enrique, the reigning king of Castile, Isabella found the king''s first choice for her husband, the aging and grasping king of Portugal, Afonso V, to be unpleasant. Although a renowned warrior and crusader who a decade earlier had beaten back the Moors from Morocco, Afonso was now more than twice Isabella''s age and already had an adult son who would be his heir. He had grown plump and unappealing as well as politically impotent--a disadvantage for any children that might arise from the union. He was also related to Isabella, a reality not uncommon in dynastic marriages in Europe in the late Middle Ages, but nonetheless requiring a papal dispensation. The thought of this man as her lifelong bedmate and as the father of her children was enough to make Isabella weep. But Isabella''s marriage was a matter of state interest; from Enrique''s point of view, romance or compatibility had little to dowith it. Enrique was in favour of the match, and so was Afonso.

In fact, the two men had been discussing the betrothal for a few years, and the proposal had been firmly yet diplomatically resisted by Isabella for just as long. At one point the stubborn princess had informed her half-brother that she "could not be disposed of in marriage without the consent of the nobles of the realm," which was an accurate if audacious claim. Enrique knew that consent from his nobles would not be readily forthcoming in the current complicated political climate, particularly if Isabella chose to cause trouble. But the pressure from Portugal to meet the proposal, and his own need for Portuguese military support, was so great that Enrique eventually threatened Isabella with imprisonment in the Alcázar in Madrid if she refused to agree to the marriage. A Portuguese courtier implied that Portuguese armies would march on Castile in retaliation if she persisted in her humiliating refusal. Isabella may have appeared passive--she was fond of reading and devoted to lengthy prayer sessions--but years of dangerous court intrigue had made her a master dissembler. Although her placid smile conveyed a disarming neutrality, she had her own plans and dreams, held close to her heart and shared only with her closest supporters and advisers. Those dreams did not correspond with the wishes of her king and many of the grandees of the realm.

Known to history for having a strong and independent will throughout her life, Isabella made it abundantly clear in 1468 while still a teenager that she would not have the repulsive Portuguese monarch as her consort and spouse, regardless of the consequences. Her exasperating display of independence was threatening to derail plans that had been years in the making, and possibly to agitate the fragile peace between the two nations. Enrique considered his options. He consulted with his advisers and explored other possibilities for Isabella''s marriage. His half-sister''s marriage had become a personal as well as political concern. Isabella''s claim to the Castilian throne, were Enrique todie suddenly, was now stronger even than the claim of his own six-year-old daughter, Juana. Named after her mother, the vivacious Juana of Portugal, his daughter coincidentally was the niece of the Portuguese King Afonso-Enrique''s wife, Juana of Portugal, was Afonso''s younger sister. But the younger Juana was widely suspected to have been sired by one of Enrique''s court favourites, the dashing Beltrán de la Cueva, and therefore illegitimate for purposes of political inheritance.

In fact Enrique, at the strenuous urging of his nobles following several years of simmering civil war, had recently made a public proclamation that Juana was not his offspring. The unfortunate girl was nicknamed "La Beltraneja," a name that stuck with her not only throughout her life but down through the centuries. It did not help his position that his queen had recently given birth to yet another child who could not possibly have been sired by Enrique because the royal couple had been living in different places. Despite the great efforts made to conceal the pregnancy with tight gowns, the impropriety had been discovered. It was now widely claimed in the Castilian court that the queen "has not used her person cleanly, as comports with her duty as servant to the king." The marriage was duly annulled by the papal legate, and the oaths of allegiance to Juana that Enrique had extracted from his nobles were likewise annulled. Owing to the child''s acknowledged illegitimacy, and lacking direct legitimate descendants, the thirty-eight-year-old Enrique, snidely known as "the Impotent," had little choice but to name his half-sister, Isabella, as the princess of Asturias, next in line to succeed to the throne of Castile as the one true heir. But he had forced a concession from her: he would have the authority to choose her husband.

Isabella''s marriage could not be considered lightly, but Enrique''s motives were less than noble. He wished to give the appearance of selecting a suitable mate for her while neutralizing her political potential in Castile, and eventually to undermine herclaim to his throne. Enrique briefly pursued several other marriage matches for Isabella, including to the duke of Gloucester, the future King Richard III, in distant and chilly England, and the French king Louis XI''S brother, the effete Charles, duke of Berry and Guienne. An alliance with France, sealed and secured with a marriage, might allow Castile and France to surround the smaller kingdom of Aragon and perhaps claim some outlying territories. Although Charles was only five years her senior and at that time the heir to the French throne, Isabella was not enamoured with him. No newcomer to intrigue, Isabella had sent her confidante, Friar Alfonso de Coca, to France to spy on him. The friar returned with a depressing report. The young French noble seemed prematurely aged.

He was, according to de Coca, "made ugly by the extremely misshapen thin legs and watery eyes that were sometimes so bad as to be nearly blind, so that rather than weapons and a horse what he needed was a skilful guide." Charles was certainly not the man to quicken Isabella''s heart. But de Coca made another interesting discovery. He had also travelled to the neighbouring kingdom of Aragon to spy on one further marital option that had been secretly urged upon Isabella by her personal political adviser Alfonso Carillo de Acuña, the archbishop of Toledo: Ferdinand, the sixteen-year-old son and heir to King Juan II of Aragon. De Coca was pleased to inform Isabella that this young prince had "a gallant presence that could not be compared to the Duke [of Berry] . he has a singular grace that everyone who talks to him wants to serve him." Young Ferdinand was also a skilled swordsman and field commander, talents that might prove valuable should Isabella defy Enrique and proceed with a betrothal. Muscular and athletic, Ferdinand was "a great rider of the bridle and the jennet, and a great lance thrower and other activities which he performed with great skill and a grace," according to a later court historian.

He also had "marvellously beautiful, large slightly slanted eyes, thin eyebrows, a sharpnose that fit the shape and size of his face." His mouth was "often laughing" and his build "most appropriate to elegant suits and the finest clothes." It was hardly surprising when Isabella pronounced to Carillo that "it must be he and no other." A match with Ferdinand of Aragon was sure to be opposed by Enrique and many of his loyal nobles, as it would strengthen rather than weaken Isabella''s claim to the Castilian throne. (Despite his public proclamation, Enrique still schemed to pass the throne to his daughter Juana.) Any children Isabella and Ferdinand might have would be joint heirs to the thrones of both Castile and Aragon, uniting most of the Iberian peninsula in one royal house and possibly overshadowing Portugal. Isabella''s stubbornness was balanced by her sense of duty and piety, but geopolitics and the national interests of Castile--at least, Enrique''s idea of Castile''s interests--could only sway her so far. She urged her small cadre of supporters and advisers to begin secret marriage negotiations with Ferdinand.

Given the possible domestic outcomes for the lonely teenage princess--her father was long dead, her mother descended into melancholy and madness and her younger brother recently poisoned to death--Isabella seems to have demonstrated remarkable courage in defying the king and choosing her mate, and therefore determining Castile''s future political alliances. Despite her feelings of guilt at betraying her half-brother''s trust--though she knew by now that he did not have her best interests at heart--she had to proceed quickly with her plan. Enrique, who was away from his court to suppress an uprising in Andalusia, would certainly marshal forces to prevent any union with Ferdinand and perhaps even imprison Isabella or quickly marry her off to either the duke of Berry or King Afonso. Enrique had not yet accepted as final her refusal to obey him. While Isabella''s supporters--powerful aristocrats who were working to ensure her ultimate position as queen of Castile--proceeded with the touchy marriage negotiations with Ferdinand''sfather, Juan vi, king of Aragon, Isabella waited in her castle in Valladolid. The negotiations proceeded slowly as each communication had to be carted in secret across the plains and mountains by riders on horses, a journey that could.