Customer Reviews

Isabella of Castile: The First Renaissance Queen

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Any potentional historian of Spain must contend with the work of William Prescott. Though cutting edge historians of Spain dismiss Prescott as old fashioned (he wrote over 150 years ago), his work can still be read with pleasure and little awe (particulalry when one remembers that Prescott was blind when he was active as a historian.

Nancy Rubin makes use of Prescott and in a sense pours old wine in new bottles. Her Isabella is more acceasable than Prescott's pius queen. She also very ably puts Isabella in the proper perspective as the co-founder of modern Spain (at least from a geographic perspective). Isabella's reputation rests on her funding of the voyages of Columbus, but as Ms. Rubin's book ably demonstrates, she was much more than that. In a time when political couples (like FDR and Eleanor) are described as "political partners" Isabella and Ferdinand were true co-equals. He fought the wars and she tended to the quartermaster functions. No wonder they were a magnificent success.

If this book has one problem it is the rather ambiguous relationship between Isabella and the Jews and Moslems of Spain. Though she made use of the former throughout her career (particularly early on), she later was a willing participant in their forcible conversion. Perhaps this subject requires a book of its own.

Nancy Rubin's work on Isabel la Católica was very refreshing and difficult to put down. As a Spanish Literature student at UCLA, I recommend this book to anyone interested in the brightening their knowledge of this great woman. The chronology was consistant and the surrounding facts of the Catholic Queen were just the right size. It emphasized the rennovations that the queen implemented on the broken kingdom and the tenacity of her character, all fueled by her faith.

Maybe should be called, "I, Isabella". One could think Isabella's reign was decidedly a mixed blessing, but still appreciate the drama of this book. Rubin takes us step by step through the bewildering maze of Spanish politics; she suggests answers to a lot of nagging questions (we see what a long shot it was against Columbus getting his funding); she conveys, ultimately, a sense of the loss and tragedy that followed on power.

This enjoyable book gives a fairly comprehensive look at Isabella of Castile. It does a good job of presenting the relationship between Ferdinand and Isabella - a rather unique one for that period of time since Isabella had more power. The author obviously admires Isabella, not a bad thing since she had many admirable qualities, but this causes her to gloss over a few of the not so admirable things Isabella did. The Spanish Inquisition barely gets mentioned, and her treatment of the Jews is presented in a more sympathetic light than perhaps it deserves. Those short comings aside, I found this book to be highly informative and definitely worth reading.