Introduction
Ever hear of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile? You might remember them as a footnote in your history text books. Briefly being mentioned as the patrons of Christopher Columbus, financing his voyages to the New World. Well what if I were to tell you that they were not just some footnote, but rather two of the most significant people to ever live. 
History
Now you might be wondering why, I have them on a list of the most significant people in history, so let me set the scene. In 1470, the Iberian Peninsula was divided into 5 kingdoms; 
Portugal, Castile, Navarre, Aragon, and Nasrid. To be as brief as possible the political situation at the time was rather complicated. Castile was pursuing closer relations with Portugal, and in an attempt to cement an alliance the King of Castile, Henry IV, attempted to marry his sister Isabella to a Portuguese prince. Angered by Henry’s actions (for he had promised that Isabella would not be married off without her consent), Isabella worked in secret with the King of Aragon to arrange a marriage between herself and Ferdinand II, the son of the King of Aragon. Eventually, she would eloped to Aragon in order to marry Ferdinand. She remained there until her brother died in 1474. Because Henry did not have an heir, Isabella was named Queen of Castile. Within the first year of her reign, Isabella was forced to wage a war against the Portuguese, who had used the uncertain succession as an opportunity to claim the throne of Castile. Following her victory in the war in 1479, she and Ferdinand (who ascend the throne of Aragon shortly before the end of the war) ruled their kingdoms in a period of relative peace until 1482. In 1482, the two declared war on the last Arab kingdom in Iberia, the Kingdom of Nasrid. They defeated the Kingdom of Nasrid in 1492, just in time to fund the first voyage of Columbus to the New World. Isabella reigned until her death in 1504, Ferdinand reigned for an additional 12 years. During these 12 years, Ferdinand was able to become the King of Naples, he died in 1516, leaving his daughter Joanna I as the first ruler of a unified Spain.
Significance
Now that I have gone over the history of Isabella and Ferdinand, I can explain why I chose to include on this list. The first thing that we have to take into account is that the two of them funded Columbus’s voyage to the New World. While Columbus was certainly not the first European to discover the Americas, he was the first to find gold in the new continents. The discovery of gold would lead Isabella and Ferdinand to establish colonies in the New World to exploit the resources of the New World.
Consequently, the discovery of vast sums of American gold allowed the Spanish to become rich enough and powerful enough to dominate Europe as the sole hegemonic power for nearly a century. During this Spanish Golden Age, the Spanish monarch and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (grandson of Isabella and Ferdinand), and his son Philip II (great-grandson of Isabella and Ferdinand) would play a role in nearly every major European conflict, allowing Spain to influence the outcome of some of the world’s most important events.
While a great chunk of Ferdinand and Isabella’s significance can be traced to their support of Columbus, it is also important to examine the prenuptial agreement that Ferdinand and Isabella made before their marriage. This agreement stated that any children born of their match would inherit both kingdoms, in effect meaning that upon their deaths the two kingdoms would be united into one. The union of these two kingdoms would have never happened organically if it were not for Isabella and Ferdinand’s marriage, meaning that the nation of Spain would have never existed without Isabella and Ferdinand.
In conclusion, Isabella and Ferdinand are so significant to history because they created the Kingdom of Spain, funded Columbus’s voyages to the New World, and strengthened Spain to such a degree that it was able to dominate European politics until 1588 and greatly influence European affairs until 1648.
Natalie Etcheson September 18, 2022
According to my Ancestry, I am a descendent of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
Elena October 14, 2019
Their history has been overlooked by the people of the USA perhaps because too much attention has been placed on Columbus., and not on those who sponsored his trip. King Ferdinand & Queen Isabela were great rulers ( royalty) and accomplished a lot. There’s a series on Fire stick “ Isabela”
Those who READ can learn a lot by using the internet or going to the library.
Denise Frescas April 16, 2024
I was trying to leave a message for the writer of this article, but I don’t know how to do that. I just found out through my ancestry that my mothers father’s father was a descendent of king Ferdinand illegitimate, son, Alonso de Aragón and does that mean anything to me I mean, do we have any rights of any sort, I would love to find out how to to learn more
Elena October 14, 2019
You can watch the Spanish series on the Fire stick. It’s in Spanish.
KA May 1, 2019
Hey! This is great information, but I need an author in order to cite it for my research project.
ljr5433 September 7, 2018
Really interesting post-I enjoy reading about history! I had no idea that the resources that Columbus discovered in the New World contributed so directly to the rise of Spain as a global power. It might be cool to do a post about a major person in the Spanish-American War since you mentioned the fall of the Spanish Empire briefly at the end of the post.