Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Catholic Monarchs and their family

[RomanovFan]

I know that their daughter, Katherine married two princes of England, but didn't they have more children?

[Prince_Christopher]

Children of Isabella and Ferdinand:

**Isabella (1470-1498) m. (1490) Prince Alfonso of Portugal (d.1491), m. (2)(1497) King Emmanuel of Portugal.
**John (1478-1497) m.(1497) Margaret, dau. of Emp. Maximilian I.  John was the only son to survive to adulthood, and after the deaths of he and his sister, Isabella, the succession passed to the next sister,
**Juana (1479-1555) "Juana la loca" or "the Mad" m.(1494) Philip I, the Fair, Duke of Burgundy (d.1506).  Juana went insane after his death, refusing to part with his corpse, and spent most of her life locked away, a raving madwoman.
**Maria (1482-1517) m.(1500) her sister's widower, King Emmanuel of Portugal.
**Catherine (1485-1536) m. (1501) Arthur, Prince of Wales (d.1502), and (2) Henry VIII, King of England.

[Prince_Lieven]

Juana was the most beautiful, I beleive, but Isabella (or Isabel, as she is sometimes called) was regarded as the greatest catch. Ferdinand and Isabella didn't want her to marry into the Portuguese royal house, because they feared if anything happened to Juan she would be Queen of Castile and Aragon, and thus control over those countries would pass to Portugal.

Juan was a handsome, glamorous young man, which leads people to beleive that his sister Catherine, who viewed her nephew Charles V (son of Juana) as an ally during her troubles in England, expected Charles to something of a carbon copy of Juan. How wrong she was!

It's interesting that Juana was always called 'Juana of Castile' and Catherine (or Catalina, as was her Spanish name) was always styled 'Infanta of Castile' that history knows her as Catherine of Aragon.

[Prince_Christopher]

I think that during that time, Aragon and Castile may have been used interchangeably by Isabella and Ferdinand's children, as Ferdinand was king of Aragon and Isabella was queen of Castile in her own right.  Their marriage joined the two countries.

[Prince_Christopher]

Does anyone know if Ferdinand had any children by his second wife, Germaine de Foix.  I would assume there were no sons, but daughters, perhaps?

[umigon]

Prince Lieven, marrying Isabel (JR.) into the Portuguese Royal Family was exactly one of Isabella and Ferdinand's main purposes, in fact she married a Crown Prince of Portugal first, and a King afterwards!

Ferdinand had an only son by his second wife, Juan, born and died after a few hours on May 3rd, 1509.

Ferdinand and Isabella also produced two other children: a miscarried boy in 1475 and Maria's twin sister, who was stillborn (1482).

Ferdinand also had several illegitimate children by some mistresses.

[Prince_Christopher]

I find it ironic that while Henry VIII attempted to divorce Catherine on the grounds that she had previously been married to his brother Arthur, the same thing had happened already in Catherine's family, before she even married Arthur.  King Emmanuel of Portugal married Catherine's sister Isabel, and after her death, he married her younger sister, Maria.  This did not seem to have been a big deal.

In fact, now that I think of it, was it Emmanuel's brother or cousin who was previously married to Isabel?

[Grand_Duke]

In fact, now that I think of it, was it Emmanuel's brother or cousin who was previously married to Isabel?

Isabel was married first with prince Afonso of Portugal, son of King John II.

King John II and Emmanuel were cousins in 1st degree (and brothers-in-law because John was married to his cousin Eleanor, Emmanuel's sister).

So, John II's son - Alfonso - was a 2nd degree cousin of Emmanuel.

Alfonso died very young of a fall from a horse. John II only had one bastard son, that he unsuccefully tried to legitimize, so the throne passed to his cousin and brother-in-law Emmanuel - the Wheel of Fortune is always turning!

[cimbrio]

Germana de Foix, second wife of Ferdinand of Aragon, had an illegitimate daughter with her step-grandson, Charles I of Spain, whom they called Isabel and who was locked away quickly in a convent, but she died shortly after her father's accession to the throne.

[Eurohistory]

Carlos Quinto succeeded his grandfather Fernando V at the tender age of 16 years.  You mean to tell us that by then, Carlos who had fathered a child with his stepmother, a baby who was put in a convent?

Most peculiar...

Arturo Beéche

[umigon]

I read this story about Charles and Germaine's sister Isabel de Castilla. The little we know about her is that she must have been born around 1517 or 1518 and that she must have died after 1536.


We know this because in her last will Germaine wrote something like this (I can`t recall the exact words): "dejo estas joyas a mi muy cara hija, Isabel, hija del cuerpo de su Majestad el Emperador" (I leave this jewels to my beloved daughter, Isabel, daughter of the body of His Majesty, the Emperor). Nothing more is known about this bastard of Charles V. The issue was secretly preserved, as for the people of those times, Isabel was the daughter of Charles and his own grandmother (even though she was his step-grandmother).

[cimbrio]

I have more info on this Isabel in a History magazine I have stached somewhere, I'll post more on her later on

[Prince_Lieven]

Prince Lieven, marrying Isabel (JR.) into the Portuguese Royal Family was exactly one of Isabella and Ferdinand's main purposes, in fact she married a Crown Prince of Portugal first, and a King afterwards!

Ferdinand had an only son by his second wife, Juan, born and died after a few hours on May 3rd, 1509.

Ferdinand and Isabella also produced two other children: a miscarried boy in 1475 and Maria's twin sister, who was stillborn (1482).

Ferdinand also had several illegitimate children by some mistresses.

Hm. That certainly set me straight. I'm sure I read somewhere that they weren't keen on it. Re Maria marrying Isabel's widower. That same man went on to marry Juana's daughter Eleanor (or Eleanora), sister od Charles V. Eleanor then later married Francis II of France as his second wife, so she was a Queen twice over.

[aron]

I have read that Isabel had at least 10 children. I only count five:
King FERNANDO II "the Catolic" of Aragon (1479-1516), Sicily and Naples (1506-16) as Ferrante III, *Sos, Zaragosa 10.5.1452, +Madrigalejo 23.1.1516; 1m: Valladolid 19.10.1469 Queen Isabel I of Castile (*22.4.1451 +26.11.1504); 2m: Blois 1505 Germaine de Foix (+1538)
G1. Juan, Pr of the Asturias, *Seville 1478, +Salamanca 1497; m.Burgos 1497 Archduchess Margareta of Austria (*Brussels 1480, +Malines 1530)
G2. Infanta Isabel, *Duenas 1470, +Zaragoza 15.8.1498, bur Toledo; 1m: Infant Affonso of Portugal (+1491); 2m: Valencia de Alcantara X.1497 King Manoel I of Portugal (*1.6.1469 +13.12.1521)
G3. Queen JUANA of Spain, *Toledo 6.11.1479, +Castle Tordesillas, Valladolid 12.4.1555, bur Capilla Real, Granada; m.Lille 12.11.1496 Philip von Habsburg, later King Felipe I of Spain (*22.6.1478 +25.9.1506)
G4. Infanta Maria, *Cordoba 29.6.1482, +Lisbon 7.3.1517, bur Belem; m.Alcazar de Sal 30.10.1500 King Manoel I of Portugal (*1.6.1469 +13.12.1521)
G5. Catalina, *Alcala de Henares 15.12.1485, +Kimbolton Castle 7.1.1536; 1m: London 14.11.1501 Pr Arthur of Wales (+1502); 2m: Greenwich 11.6.1509 (div 1533) King Henry VIII of England (*28.6.1491 +18.2.1547)

I know that Maria had a stillborn twinsister in 1482 and that Isabel miscarried a boy in 1476.
that makes 7 children>
when were the (at least) 3 children born?

[umigon]

I have only heard about seven pregnancies, the miscarried boy in May 1475, instead of 76, after my sources. Where did you read it? It is very possible that Isabel also had other three miscarriages, I don't see why not, but I have never heard about them!


Lets see what the rest can tell us!