25 Most Evil People of the 15th Century CE

Key Facts

Other names	Ferdinand the Catholic
Born	1452
Location	Zaragoza, Aragon Spain
Bloodline	House of Trastamara
Married	Isabella I of Castile
Children	Isabella, Queen of Portugal, Catherine, Queen of England
Position	King of Aragon (1479-1516), Sicily (1468-1516), Naples (1504-1516)
Died	Jan 1516 (Aged 64)

Source of Facts and Important Announcement

Status	Under Article 64.6 of the Covenant of One-Heaven (Pactum De Singularis Caelum) by Special Qualification shall be known as a Saint, with all sins and evil acts they performed forgiven.
Date of formal Beatification	Day of Redemption UCA[E1:Y1:A1:S1:M9:D1] also known as Fri, 21 Dec 2012.
Source of Facts	Self Confession and Revelation of Sainthood by the Deceased Spirit as condition of their confirmation as a true Saint.

Background

Ferdinand was born the son of King John II of Aragon (1458–1479) and Castilian noblewoman Juana Enríquez. At the time, the capital of the kingdom of Aragon in north-eastern Spain was around Zaragoza, while the neighbouring kingdom of Navarre had its political center at Pamplona.

His father King John II had already been married to Blanche of Navarra --making John King of Navarra since 1425. Ferdinand also had an older stepbrother Charles IV of Viana, the rightful heir to the crown of Navarra. When Queen Blanche died in 1441, John retained government of Navarra and dispossessed his eldest son Charles.

In the same year the birth of Ferdinand, Prince Charles --with French mercenaries--attacked his father at the Battle of Oibar, but was soundly defeated and was captured, then released. Charles fled to France and later to the court of relative Alfonso V of Naples to press for the return of his birthright. Charles returned to Barcelona in 1460 and entered into negotiations with the arch-enemy of his father Henry IV of Castile. However, before Charles could bring together enough forces to oust his father, he was poisoned in 1461.

The civil war greatly diminished the wealth of Aragon and Navarra. As a result, King John II of Aragon was forced to sell Roussillon to King Louis XI of France along with an treaty with Henry IV of Castile to betrothed his half-sister Isabella to Ferdinand. In 1469 at the age of 18, she married Ferdinand aged 17.

In 1474, Henry IV of Castile died and Isabella his half sister was crowned the new Queen of Castile. However, Juana la Beltraneja the daughter of Henry IV contested the succession and now open warfare erupted in Castile against the supporters of Isabella (aided by Ferdinand and his ailing father) and those of Juana (aided by Portugal interference). The situation further exhausted the resources of Aragon and Isabella.

Francesco della Rovere -- Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) -- then proposed a plan by 1478. That the Portugese would end their hostility towards Aragon and Isabella and a new trading treaty be signed in exchange for Ferdinand and Isabella permitting the church to establish its own courts in the form of the Inquisition.

Ferdinand and Isabella agreed and on November 1, 1478, Pope Sixtus IV published the Charter (bull) Exigit Sinceras Devotionis Affectus, through which the Inquisition was established in the Kingdom of Castile. However, John II steadfastly refused to permit the Inquisition to begin.

That obstacle was overcome with the death of John II of Aragon two months later in January 1479. Upon Ferdinand now as King of Aragon and Isabella as Queen of Castile, the new Roman Cult legal and trading entity known as the "Crown" was first established as the Crown of Aragon with its first piece of business the Treaty of Alcáçovas (also known as Treaty or Peace of Alcáçovas-Toledo) in the same year between Castile and Portugal.

The Treaty of Alcáçovas settled the question of the succession of Castile in favor of Isabella, as well as the disputes between Castile and Portugal over the control of the Atlantic in which Castilian control of the Canary islands was recognized but which also confirmed Portuguese possession of the Azores, Madeira, the Cape Verde islands and gave them rights to "lands discovered and to be discovered...and any other island which might be found and conquered from the Canary islands beyond toward Guinea."

Pope Sixtus IV followed up with his Papal Charter (bull) Aeterni regis in 1481 giving life to the "Crown Corporation" in the form of the Crown of Aragon Company as well as guaranteeing Castilian sovereignty in the Canaries. It also prohibited Castilians from sailing to the Portuguese possessions without Portuguese license.

In the same year (1481), Franciscan priest Tomás de Torquemada was appointed by Franciscan Pope Sixtus IV as Holy Inquisitor General to the court of Ferdinand and Isabella and the infamous Spanish Inquisition commenced. Five years later, Pope Innocent VIII called upon the Crown of Aragon Company to help finance and fund a new Papal joint venture to be captained by Christopher Colon (Columbus).

On May 1, 1486, King Ferdinand II of Castile, Aragon and Sicily awarded a commission to Columbus under the special title of "Governor and Captain-General of the Indies, Islands and Firm-Land of the Ocean Sea " granting him legal powers as governor of any and all new lands and people yet not under the control of the Papacy. Columbus rejected the existing design of Papal and Spanish naval vessels as unseaworthy for long voyages and instead had three purpose built craft constructed and were ready to sail in 1492.

In the meantime, Ferdinand and Isabella focused the first years of their regency directing their military forces on the conquest of Granada--the last Arab-Muslim state on the Iberian Peninsula which was finally accomplished also in 1492. Upon the erradication of the last Muslim state, Isabella and Ferdinand then issued the infamous Alhambra Decree in March 1492 ordering the expulsion of all Venetian/Sephardic Jews from the Kingdom of Spain by July of the same year.

Contrary to historic myth, the decision was more economic than anti-Semitic as the Venetian jewish families remained in control of much of the valuable trade. Their expulsion meant Castile and Aragon no longer needed to pay substantial trade debts to Venice, nor continue to pay hefty "middle man" fees.

In 1494, Charles VIII of France invaded Italy and expelled Alfonso II. Ferdinand allied with the Italian princes and Emperor Maximilian I to successfully expel the French by 1496 and install Ferdinand, son of Alfonso as the new king of Naples.

After the death of his wife Isabella in 1504, the crown of Castile went to their daughter Joanna with Philip I as her consort. Ferdinand eventually grew tired of Philip and after his untimely death in 1506, Ferdinand resumed direct regent control over Castile as his grandson Charles of Ghent was still a child.

In 1508, was returned to Italy, with forces aligned against Venice at the Battle of Agnadello. A new league of nations known as the Holy League was then formed aligned against France.

In 1511, Ferdinand and his son-in-law Henry VIII of England signed the Treaty of Westminister, pledging mutual aid between the two nations against France.

Ferdinand died in 1516.


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