The wedding of the Catholic Monarchs

Few marriages have been as important for the history of our country as that of Isabella and Ferdinand, monarchs who achieved a great reputation and played a leading role in major historical events. For this reason, it is important to know all the difficulties and setbacks that surrounded the wedding of the Catholic Monarchs.

Would you like to discover the most interesting facts about the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs? Stay and read this article, we will show you everything you need to know below!

Marriage without approval

One of the main drawbacks that Isabella and Ferdinand had in order to get married was the need for a papal bull. Both belonged to the Trastámara dynasty and, more specifically, were second cousins.

Henry IV, Isabella's brother and King of Castile at the time, put pressure on Rome and the papal legates to prevent the bull from being dispensed, as such a marriage could increase Isabella and Ferdinand's power, giving them the possibility of interfering in his interests with respect to the crown.

Faced with this situation, it was decided to forge a bull signed by Pius II, a pontiff who had died five years earlier, which allowed marriage between cousins up to the third degree.

Secret wedding

The next problem that Isabella and Ferdinand had to face was to produce the meeting in order to officiate the marriage. Such was Henry IV's opposition to the marriage that he tried to prevent Ferdinand from crossing the Castilian-Aragonese border.

As a result, Ferdinand had to travel clandestinely disguised as a mule driver in a group of traders until he reached Valladolid, where the marriage took place. Thus, on 19 October 1469, Isabella and Ferdinand were married in the palace of Los Viveros.

Bull of Simancas

The deception of the papal bull could not be maintained for long and cost both Isabella and Ferdinand excommunication, so that, for religious purposes, the marriage was not valid.

It took two years before a solution to the problem was found. Moreover, it came directly from the Vatican itself, since in 1471, Pope Sixtus IV, through his legate, Rodrigo Borgia, reached an agreement with the Catholic Monarchs to regularise the marriage.

The pact consisted of offering a papal bull if, when they became kings, they granted the city of Gandía and named their first-born and illegitimate son, Pedro Luis Borgia, a duke. This is how the so-called ‘Bull of Simancas’ was obtained.

Why visit the Royal Chapel of Granada?

As you have seen throughout this article on the wedding of the Catholic Monarchs, the monarchs had to face numerous obstacles in order to celebrate the marriage, thus changing our history and initiating a period of notable importance in the social, economic and cultural spheres of our country.

If you would like to visit the mausoleum and burial place of the Catholic Monarchs, you can buy tickets to the Royal Chapel of Granada on the official website of the Archdiocese of Granada. 

Let yourself be surprised by this temple and enjoy its great beauty!