Left Behind

The old and glorious king Henry IV of Castile lied in his cold and hard bed. His limbs stuck with the bed, just like heavy irons, unable to move. Sound of coughing was constant, and it had hardly stopped for nearly two weeks. The queen, princes, servants and government officials were worrying about the king’s health, but they were not allowed to go inside the room to visit their loved and supported king.

 

“So unnatural, I just say,” Said Leonard, the prime minister of the country. “Our king was in good condition last month, it is surprising to see such abrupt declining of his health situation.” 

 

Two days later, the king who was on the verge of death finally passed away. The things he left behind were his crown and his will. Crown of Castile, was the symbol of supreme Iberian power. The person who wins it can dominate the whole Iberian Peninsula and become the second greatest supporter of Christian Church in the Western Christendom. The question is: who would be the next owner of this sacred crown? To find the answer, the king’s will became crucial. 

 

Cardinal Juan, king’s first secretary read out the king’s will: “It was sorrowful that my healthy condition declined within a simply short time. 

 

Our nation may fall into a period with discontent and uneasy, since I did not leave any male heir, but a daughter Juana. However, My lovely girl is too young to be a capable candidate of throne. Luckily, my dear sister Isabella, along with her husband Ferdinand, king of Aragon, will succeed me. Under their domination, our magnificent Hispanic state of Castile will be ever powerful.” 

 

Isabella had long and brown hair which glittered under sunlights. Her eyes were blue, with wisdom shining inside them. She was such a charming and influential woman that even before she became the queen of the state, people in the palace bowed to her just as bowing to the king.

 

Many political leaders from Castile’s neighbouring states including Navarre, Portugal and Aragon had the intention to get married with Isabella, in order to spread their political influence to Castile, which was the greatest Christian state in the Iberian Peninsula. But finally, Isabella fell in love with her cousin Ferdinand II, king of Aragon and secretly celebrated their wedding for political need.

 

Appointed as the successor, Isabella knew that it was a real challenge for her. As a woman, her throne could not be ensured because she lack legitimacy of male bloodline. Ferdinand, who was a direct descendant of Isabella’s great-grandfather, was a legitimate heir of the Castilian crown, but his marriage with Isabella was still undeclared. Eventually, resistances against Isabella started to spread across the whole country because almost nobody could believe that a king would leave his crown to his sibling instead of his child. Most of the rebels claimed that Henry IV’s daughter Juana was the only legal successor of Castile, and her husband, king 

Alfonso V of Portugal must be her partner in ruling the country. 

 

Facing the succession crisis, Isabella carried out a great plan. As soon as she proclaimed herself the queen of Castile, she formally announced Ferdinand as her co-ruler and crowned him as Ferdinand V of Castile. As a result, the couple gained legality of ruling the country, and many Castilian people began to back up the rule of them. Despite this significant change, a lot of civilians still belonged to the Portuguese bloc, assisting the troops of Alfonso V when they invade Castile. 

 

Isabella made a final decision. She went up to the city wall of Madrid, capital of the country, giving a final speech to the citizens for mobilisation against Portuguese invasion. 

 

“Today, I stand here as the Queen of our sovereign nation of Castile, talking to you, our friendly civilians. As we know, seven hundred years ago, our ancestors fought against the Muslims from Northern Africa for independence. For almost seven centuries, we have established our own sovereign state by not letting other countries invade us. My brother, the former king Henry IV, complied with our national principle of being independent, that is, not to let a foreigner be our king. 

 

At present, those pretenders, who claim that my niece Juana should be the ruler, are letting the Portuguese invade us. This shouldn’t be allowed to happen, because it violates our principle of sovereignty. We must protect our national interest, so join the war and defend our glorious nation!” 

 

The Castilians were heartened by the queen’s speech. Instead of continuing opposing Isabella and Ferdinand’s rulership, they gathered together and got armed. Fighting with the invading troops of Alfonso V, they eventually won the war of succession and made sure Castile remain a sovereign country.

 

About three decades later, Castile and Aragon joined together, and a new strong and powerful nation named “Spain,” was set up. After a century, Spanish growing power spread across the whole world and became the “Empire without Sunsets,” eventually achieved the goal which their ancestors had never thought about. 

 

Had the king’s will left behind appointed Juana as the successor of Castile rather than Isabella, the modern Spain wouldn’t exist.