Isabel la Catolica, Queen of Castile: Critical Essays

Contemporary Review, July, 2004

Isabel la Catolica, Queen of Castile: Critical Essays. David A. Boruchoff, editor. Palgrave Macmillan. [pounds sterling]45.00. xviii 312 pages. ISBN 0-312-29307-0. In this collection of eleven articles, scholars from Spain, Canada, the U.S. and France revalue various aspects of Spain's most important mediaeval Queen Regnant, Isabel I of Castile.

Her marriage with Ferdinand II of Aragon is commonly regarded as the beginning of a united Spain but she is a far more important figure than this. The aim of these contributions is to separate fact from fiction, the reigning sovereign from the legends surrounding her. After an introduction by the editor in which he traces the historiography of Isabel I, the essays discuss the Europe of her time, her own personal history, the myths surrounding her and the various historical interpretations, Isabel's role in the discovery of America, the Queen as compared to literary archetypes of her time, her role as patron of religious art and literature, the role she and her husband played in medicine and in law in Castile, Isabel's relations with Jews and Moors, the theatrical treatment of Isabel by Lope de Vega and, finally, Isabel and Ferdinand's influence on the development of 'poetic historiography' in Spain. These contributions give us the latest thinking on Isabel and her world and are a fitting addition to Palgrave's impressive series, 'The New Middle Ages'. (R.T.P.)