Ferdinand and Isabella tie the knot
Celebrated marriage paves the way for a united Spain
It was October 1469, I and in Valladolid the 18-year-old Princess Isabella, heir to the Castilian throne, waited for the man with whom she would share her life. With Castilian politics a maelstrom of intrigue, the negotiations had proceeded for months in secret. But on about 12 October, the teenage princess’s second cousin, Ferdinand of Aragon, rode in secret into Valladolid – and for the first time, one of history’s most celebrated couples laid eyes on one another.
Both Ferdinand and Isabella were delighted with what they saw. For his part, the young Aragonese was a model Renaissance prince, brave, courteous and dashing. Isabella, meanwhile, was famously beautiful: "The handsomest lady," one witness said, "that I ever beheld." No doubt some of this was propaganda. 'ven so, observers agreed that the first meeting was a great success, auguring well for the creation of a single Spanish monarchy.
On 19 October, roughly a week after they had met, the royal couple were married at Valladolid’s Vivero Palace. Strapped for cash, they borrowed money from their aristocratic friends to pay for the ceremony, and some 2,000 people reportedly looked on as Ferdinand swore to uphold the laws of Castile. The royal couple even produced a papal bull, signed by Pope Pius II, to get around the awkward fact that they were so closely related. That it was a complete forgery was beside the point. The wedding was a triumph, and in that moment a united Spain was born.