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She not only united countries against the Turks, but also started the dreaded Spanish Inquisition in an attempt to save her Church. Isabella remains a complicated figure. She could be a symbol for woman's power She united separate kingdoms into what people now think of as Spain It was a very good read that taught me a lot. Clearly, the author did a great deal of research. But that's a minor point in a very educational book. Recommended to anyone interested in European history, religious history, women's history, or just plain learning more about a really fascinating historical figure.

Sep 11, Doubleday Books rated it it was amazing Shelves: This was an amazing and fascinating look at a greatly influential woman in history. Not only does Kirstin Downey dig into the life of the "warrior queen" of Spain, she also provides insight into her relationships with other important figures in history, such as Christopher Columbus and Rodrigo Borgia. Her reach and influence expanded continents and her legacy continues to this day.

For anyone who is a fan of history, this book is a must-read! It was not expected that Isabella would reign, as her father King Juan of Castile already had a son, Enrique, by his first wife and it was assumed that he or his offspring would rule. In this biography of Isabella author Kirstin Downey provides us with a potted history of Spain from ancient times. Later it was overrun by Visigoths. Isabella believed herself to be descended from them. Her red-blond hair and blue eyes might well have been a Visigoth legacy.

During the eighth century the Muslim conquest took place. By the time that Isabella came along, the Muslims still held sway over the province of Granada. When she was two years old another major event occurred, namely the fall of Constantinople. She grew up under the threat of new Muslim invasions. She was also influenced by the young religious warrior Joan of Arc. Isabella It seems that Isabella had been very strong willed from an early age as she defied her step-brother, King Enrique, by marrying Ferdinand, heir to the kingdom of Aragon. Within hours after it ended, she took off the dark dress of mourning and reemerged wearing resplendent garb, decked in gold jewellery and precious stones.

She headed back toward the same church, to have herself proclaimed queen. Neither did she go out to meet him on his arrival in Segovia. He was magnificently turned out, but he had to go to her and he also had to sign an agreement that he would serve as prince consort rather than king. The castle at Segovia She started her reign with several problems, including having to appease her husband. A war with Portugal was looming and the country had a debased currency and was wracked by crime.

She initiated various controls, made changes to the Royal Council, presided over some trials, introduced better administration and sought to clear out corruption. She was initially inhibited by her limited knowledge of Latin, but soon made it a major project as it was the diplomatic language of that time.

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The reconquest of Granada and the Inquisition Isabella of course took a very active role in the reconquest of Granada, and she and her family spent much time travelling. There are some detailed descriptions of what this entailed. She was an excellent quartermaster. I would have preferred more detail of her role during the conquest, but I imagine that there is enough material on that subject for an entire book.

Granada as seen from the Alhambra The reconquest of Granada took ten gruelling years, but on the 2nd January Boabdil ceremoniously handed over the keys to the city to the conquerors Ferdinand and Isabella. Various rights were granted to both Muslims and Jews, but eventually they had to convert to Christianity.

Somewhere along the line doubt crept in about these conversos people who had converted to Christianity and this in turn led to the very pious Isabella applying to the Pope to institute the Inquisition. She formally launched it in and it proved to be so effective a form of government repression and control that it continued for three hundred years. It seems that on the one hand Isabella dispensed justice and on the other hand she meted out injustice.

He had to wait some considerable time before it happened, but finally he set sail on 3rd August, in uncharted seas. Initially they landed at an island in the Caribbean where they were received in a friendly manner, but almost immediately Columbus had thoughts about enslaving these people who offered them hospitality.

As they continued sailing they named the various islands they encountered. The crews' there were initially three ships various adventures including close encounters with cannibals and discoveries are described in the book. There were further expeditions and much treasure was brought back to Spain. However, Columbus repeatedly disobeyed the queen who had instructed him to be friendly to the natives and to treat them kindly.

She was horrified when he returned from one expedition with a load of slaves and ordered that they be returned to their own country. There were also voyages of exploration by other Spanish explorers. Isabella was the one to see the significance of their finds, and applied to the Pope who promptly granted all these lands to the Spanish on the proviso that they would minister to the locals and convert them to Christianity. This meant that with the stroke of a pen Spain became exceedingly wealthy, but there were also unforeseen consequences. The Spaniards infected the natives of these newly acquired territories with diseases common to Europeans, and in turn several of the Spaniards brought syphilis to Europe.

She had a great love for beautiful tapestries and owned hundreds. Amongst other things she commissioned a series of 47 paintings depicting scenes from the life of Christ. To celebrate and honour the birth of their son Juan, Isabella and Fernando had the famous Florentine architect Donato Bramante construct the Tempietto, a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture.

The Tempietto Children She arranged marriages for her children which were meant to cement the ties with other countries and to bring the children fame and fortune. Unfortunately these marriages did not have happy endings. Towards the end of her life she created a detailed will, in which she stated that Juana was to be her heir, but that Ferdinand should serve as regent if Juana was unable or unwilling to reign.

She specified where she wanted to be buried and next to whom. She bequeathed money, arranged for debts to be settled and for donations to the poor. Unfortunately her will was largely ignored. I have given a very brief overview of what you can expect to read about in this book. There is much, much more: It is a very interesting book with a great deal of information. If there are any errors in the above, shoot me and not the author! Photos of places featured: Other photos are my own. View all 33 comments. Nov 09, Quanjun rated it did not like it Shelves: Very conflicted about this book. Let's talk about the strong points first.

This is a very readable biography of Isabella I of Castile, the Queen who funded Columbus's voyages, led many successful campaigns against the Turks that threatened her borders and started the Spanish Inquisition. This book certainly contains a lot of information, but not so much that retention becomes difficult. The author also does a good job of illustrating the relationships of Isabella and her family with the major play Very conflicted about this book. The author also does a good job of illustrating the relationships of Isabella and her family with the major players of the time, not just their public interactions but the private ones as well.

I think this is what the book did best. However the weaknesses of the book is really quite damaging. I want to make it clear that it's not a badly written book. I just feel like as a nonfiction, it should've been written more responsibly and carefully. Firstly, the author isn't conservative enough. She pitches ideas that were not strongly supported by facts and evidence and does her best to convince the reader she is right instead of offering the opposing views and downplaying these ideas.

For example, view spoiler [she claimed that the men in Isabella's household were victims to pedophiles who later became their advisors and controlled every respect of their lives. While it was demonstrably true that these men were heavily influenced by a specific aide, it is a far fetched conclusion. She provides evidence that one of the advisors had been accused to be a pedophile. But she was accusing more than 1 man. Surely we're not going to say that study applies to 15th century princes and kings?

She also wrote in the afterword that she came to this conclusion after speaking to psychologists about these cases. I think given this amount of evidence, many history writers would not have put this speculation to print. Additionally, throughout the entire book, for every event, she doesn't share differing views of other historians but writes in a singular narrative voice.

I know some people prefer books like these as it flows better but I really don't, I prefer accuracy and more than that, I prefer thinking about these things and coming to my own conclusion. Secondly, the author has a habit of framing the events in a way that's quite biased. Many have complained about the way she wrote about muslims in this book. I have no problem with that, I don't think she expressed much, if any opinion on that except to say that the practices were cruel when they were and tolerant when they were.

But she did express opinions on many of the deeds that went on within Isabella's borders. For example, the inquisition. Isabella was written as not really for it, but just sat back and let it happened. And then she went on to say that the inquisition was "unChristian". Look, I can't take someone seriously if they, in defence of a religion, says that events or individuals were not part of that religion when they did something distasteful. Considering the inquisition's main purpose was to persecute bad Christians, I cannot imagine it would have come around if not for Christianity.

She made a similarly annoying point regarding Columbus's treatment of the natives of the islands of America he discovered, claiming that Catholicism brought to them "support for family, respect for education, [ This was after she wrote about all the bad things that happened, and she wrote in the following passage that Catholicism was also responsible for the inquisition inflicted on them.

I just find it in bad taste, not to mention factually incorrect, to suggest that Catholicism was responsible for these fundamental human values and thus benefited the Indians. It looked to me that the Indians clearly did not benefit at all. Because she has a tendency to do this, and I'm very unfamiliar with this terrain of history, I have to wonder if she was doing it to frame a particular view and it was too subtle for me to notice it.

The worst of these, was when view spoiler [for the inquisition chapter, the author writes that Isabella was not antisemitic. Citing that she had appointed conversos in high places and her husband had converso ancestors. But we're talking about someone who oversaw the destruction of jewish culture and religion and exiled jews, with no care for their wellbeing, unless they became Christians and then torture them about being bad Christians.

The author wrote many times that the Jews very much preferred the Ottoman empire to Isabella's rule, but then she tries to make the case that Isabella wasn't antisemitic. The bias was almost too much and I knew I wouldn't be able to give the book a good score. I don't know why or how, but reading the book, Isabella feels like a distant character. Events don't start from her viewpoint and end with her viewpoint. They basically start wherever the excitement is and Isabella is brought into the discussion to weigh in. Even in the chapters that deal with her personal life.

The story begins where the drama is with her children or husband or whoever then we get Isabella's reactions to it. It doesn't feel like the book was centred on her, but rather a chronicle of the major events of her life. I've always been fascinated with the past, and I love reading about history when it is "humanized. But, I love, love, love reading about people and how they are shaped by what is happening around them. And, this book has that in spades! I've always been drawn to England and Scotland histories so this was new information to me. It was great to make the Spanish connection with the French and English courts.

This book told me so much about Isabella, Ferdinand, their children and grandchildren. It's just mind boggling how much was going on during her reign.

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I learned so much about world events at the time. Some of the people in this book I loved and my heart went out to them. Others made me hate, hate, hate them Philip the Handsome, I'm talking to you! Other people I felt sorry for poor Juana and some many I wanted to protect. I felt like I really got to know this family, and It was wonderful. At the beginning of this book, I struggled with wanting to continue. There were some things that I had a hard time believing were truth.

It made me question how much of this book was valid It's nonfiction - Stick to the facts please! There were a few things that I took issue with. I ended up taking some deep breaths and pushed on through, and I'm glad I did. I don't see that as a fact Is this really true? To me, The Muslims and the Spanish were both doing some pretty horrible things. The Spanish had slaves, they conquered other countries and forced them to convert to their religion. They also tortured and killed those who didn't convert "completely.

Almost as if was understandable for the Spanish to do it, but not the Muslims.

I also struggled with the way ALL the information was put together. And, let me say it's a lot! I kept a notebook so I could take notes and that helped immensely. But, it really felt like it was one step forward and five steps back. It was challenging for me to keep it all straight in my head. First I learned about Isabella up to a certain age Then it jumped back in time to Ferdinand, then again to discuss the Jews, then again the Muslims, and back in time again to learn about the Catholic church.

And, it would cycle like this for the entire book. I'd be reading about Queen Isabella having kids and then next chapter it was back in history when she was just a toddler. The whole way through it was back and forth with dates. I get that there is a lot here, and putting it all together must have been a job in itself I did appreciate the ending when the author circled back to explain some of her reasoning behind Queen Isabella's lack of a role in the Spanish Inquisition.

Honestly, I was hot the whole way through I can see, with the author's explanation, how she could have come up with the idea that Isabella didn't have a big part in the Inquisition, but it comes off as not very accurate or justified. The author spends the whole book talking about her being the leader and such s strong woman, but then glosses over the whole Inquisition as if she had no part of it. I'm also happy that the author came back to discuss the syphilis epidemic more.

That it was just the opinion at the time that it came from the America's, but testing has proven that it was found in the remains of the Neapolitan royal family Isabella of Aragon, born in earlier. But, it does seems true that is became rampant after the explores came back. The author went on to explain in the Afterword why she came to certain conclusions. She wrote this book claiming her own opinions and conclusions as fact and I don't agree that she should have done that Non-fiction is about stating all facts and ideas and letting the reader come up with their own conclusions.

For some reason, this author didn't want to paint Isabella in any kind of bad light what-so-ever. Anything great that happened, the author gave her full credit for and vice-versa. The more I think of this book after writing it Dec 27, Kate rated it did not like it Shelves: I went from simply not caring for this book to wanting to throw it across the room.

If you'd like to learn about Queen Isabella, I strongly suggest you pick up a different book. There are so many problems here I'm not even sure where to start. It's Islamophobic, and in general lacks religious literacy. In the acknowledgments, she thanks her husband for teaching her things about the history of Christianity, and I repeatedly wondered if that's where she got her background I went from simply not caring for this book to wanting to throw it across the room. In the acknowledgments, she thanks her husband for teaching her things about the history of Christianity, and I repeatedly wondered if that's where she got her background information.

Downey spends page after page railing against murderous, evil Muslim rulers, but will later spend page after page excusing Isabella and Christians in general, but especially Isabella from the same behavior. Muslim rulers enslaving Christians? Isabella freeing Christian slaves--and enslaving Muslims?

Actually she had one Jewish friend, and two converso friends. And the Jewish friend, a rabbi, "decided" to convert during the Inquisition. She was at his oh-so-totally-voluntary baptism, beaming with joy. At this point I just couldn't continue. Anyone who says "well see she had Jewish friends! This is not scholarship. I wrote a paper like this once in 10th grade and I'm still embarrassed when I reflect upon it.

If you ever write a biography, don't fall in love with your subject. Also, have a good editor--the kind who's not afraid to sit you down, look you in the eye, and tell you to knock it off with your bullcrap. Sep 30, Biblio Files takingadayoff rated it it was amazing.

It's already evident from the title that Kirstin Downey regards Ferdinand as the less interesting half of the power couple.

Isabella: The Warrior Queen by Kirstin Downey

You know them as Ferdinand and Isabella, but here Isabella takes the title role alone. Downey goes on, in pages, to show why she regards Isabella as the consequential half of the pair. It's a well researched and clearly presented biography. This was a new slice of history for me -- having read some English and other histories of the turn of the 16th century, I was only It's already evident from the title that Kirstin Downey regards Ferdinand as the less interesting half of the power couple. This was a new slice of history for me -- having read some English and other histories of the turn of the 16th century, I was only aware of what Spain was up to as a sort of off camera side show -- Catherine of Aragon showed up in England to marry Prince Arthur and then Henry VIII.

A daughter called Crazy Juana. It was through Collins that she met Charles Dickens. Collins had asked her to play in the amateur performances of The Frozen Deep , a play he had co-written with Dickens. In December she married the Very Rev. Gilbert Elliot, Dean of Bristol , a widower twenty years her senior with three children from his first wife. However, within three years, that marriage was also in serious trouble.

1. Introduction

She eventually left Elliot and returned to Italy, although the couple were never legally separated or divorced. Francis Minto Elliot died in Siena on 26 October , aged She is buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome near the grave of her second daughter, Mary Lucy, who had died in Rome in at the age of Frances Elliot's work was published under a variety of names during her lifetime: In Hunters and Gatherers: In The Wine-Dark Sea: In The Third Policeman: In Keep the Aspidistra Flying: In The Road to Wigan Pier: In Coming Up for Air: In The Black Book: In Books Do Furnish a Room: In the A Dance to the Music of Time series: In Hearing Secret Harmonies: In What's Become of Waring: In Good Omens with Neil Gaiman: In Aberystwyth Mon Amour: This is a list of books mentioned in the Harry Potter series.

Titles specifically mentioned as textbooks are listed first, by class, followed by other books listed by general topic. Note that three of the following fictional books have since been written and published in the real world: In The Documents in the Case: In Have His Carcase: In Nifft the Lean: In The Bad Beginning: In The Miserable Mill: In The Reptile Room: In The Penultimate Peril: In The Finishing School: In The Girls of Slender Means: In Loitering with Intent: In Cryptonomicon and Quicksilver: In The Diamond Age: In The Daughter of Time: In Miss Pym Disposes: The Center Cannot Hold: In In High Places: In at the Death: In The Eyes of the Overworld: In The Palace of Love: In Rhialto the Marvellous: In The Star King: In The Book of the Long Sun: In The Book of the New Sun: In The Book of the Short Sun: In The Doctor of Death Island: In The Fifth Head of Cerberus: In From the Desk of Gilmer C.

Merton from the short story collection Storeys from the Old Hotel. In Useful Phrases from the short story collection Strange Travelers: In The Day of the Triffids. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. Learn how and when to remove these template messages. This article may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Please consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding or removing subheadings. This article may be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia's layout guidelines.

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