Ferdinand II of Aragon, Ferdinand the Catholic, was the king of Castile, Aragon, Sicily and Naples.
Background
He was the son of John I of Aragon by his second marriage with Joanna Henriquez, of the family of the hereditary grand admirals of Castile, and was born at Sos in Aragon on the 16th of March 1452. Smart and energetic mother raised Ferdinand in severity. From a young age he took part in campaigns, experienced the danger of war during the siege of Barcelona. At the age of seventeen, he was proclaimed King of Sicily and Father's viceroy in Aragon.
Career
In 1482, Ferdinand and Isabella began a war against the Granada Mohammedans and led it continuously for a period of ten years. The outbreak of hostilities was unsuccessful for Christians. In the first year of the war, Ferdinand went to the valley of Genil and besieged the rich and strongly fortified city of Lohu. Moors made a sortie and defeated the Spaniards, who then lost many brave knights. Another campaign also ended in defeat the following year. But soon in Granada there began a quarrel between Emir Abul-Hasan and his son Abu Abdullah. Christians began to gain victories. In 1487 Ferdinand besieged Malaga. Within three months there was a fierce war on the sea, on earth and underground; explosions of mines destroyed part of the city wall; the inhabitants began to languish with hunger and thirst. In August they surrendered to the mercy of the winner. Ferdinand and Isabella, however, reacted to them without any indulgence: all the property of Muslims was confiscated, and they were enslaved and sold to Africa. In 1488 Ferdinand went to Basu. This city was almost impregnable and had large food reserves. The siege lasted nine months. Finally, the residents surrendered on the condition of preserving their property. After that the Spaniards submitted to the whole mountainous region. In 1490 the siege of Granada began. Its inhabitants also capitulated when they were promised the preservation of their faith, customs and property. In January 1492, Isabella and Ferdinand solemnly entered the conquered city. Thus, the domination of Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula ended. That was the first successful war, which was conducted by United Spain. Her power soon felt in other parts of Europe. In 1493, the French King Charles VIII gave back Rusillon and Serdan to Ferdinand, captured by his father Louis XI. In the 1502-1504 the Spaniards drove the French out of the kingdom of Naples and captured southern Italy. In 1504, Isabella died. According to the law, her daughter Juan should be inthrone. But because of the mental disorder, she could not rule on her own. Ferdinand was declared the regent of his daughter until the coming of age of her son Carl. But not all Castilians were satisfied with that state of affairs. Grandees did not want to be ruled by a Aragon. The Castilians appealed for support to the husband of Juan Philip I, the Archduke of Austria, who then lived in Flanders. Ferdinand did not want to yield the son-in-law of Castile, and in order to upset his alliance with the French king, he married in 1506 on the niece of Louis XII Germain de Foa. At the same time, an agreement was reached on the kingdom of Neapolitan - the rights to it were transferred to Germaine and her children. In view of that, Philip had to abandon the war with his father-in-law. In April 1506 he came with his wife to Castile and was enthusiastically greeted there by the nobles. Ferdinand saw that it was dangerous to fight now with Philip. In June, he refused to regency in favor of his son-in-law, but was convinced that he was losing power for a short time. And in September of the same year Philip died of a fever. After that, Juan finally went insane. The Castilians had no choice but to recognize Ferdinand's regency again. In 1507, he arrived in Castile, and since then his authority there had not been questioned. He ruled carefully observing legal forms, did not take revenge on any of his enemies, and thus strengthened the connection of the two queens. These and subsequent years were the peak of Ferdinand's power. He so succeeded in cunning and intrigue that he managed to outwit all his external enemies. In December 1508 he signed in Cambra an alliance with Pope Julius II, Emperor Maximilian and Louis XII against Venice, which owned several ports within the Naples Kingdom. Leaving his allies to exhaust forces in the war with the Venetians, Ferdinand confined himself only to seizing these ports. Then, when the French began to win one victory after another and became dangerous neighbors, Ferdinand in 1511 formed a coalition against them, which included Venice, the English king and the emperor. In 1512 France suffered several defeats and lost all Italian possessions. Ferdinand meanwhile conquered the Spanish half of Navarre. He died shortly thereafter, bequeathing both kingdoms and all Spanish possessions in the Old and New World to the daughter of Juan and her descendants.
Achievements
Politics
He was not very well educated and did not show his generals talents, but was a master of political intrigue. Ferdinand and Isabella established lasting peace in the country, strengthened the royal power and, through its active foreign policy, and also by colonial expansion made Spain the most powerful power in Europe. With the help of Isabella Ferdinand managed to centralize power by suppressing the resistance of the feudal nobility, clergy and cities. Instead of representatives of the higher aristocracy the important people were appointed to the important administrative posts and to the royal council of the middle class and the lower nobility. The monarchs began a struggle against the abuses of officials, feudal freemen and robbery on the roads, followed the strict observance of laws and adopted a number of decrees aimed at protecting and developing trade and entrepreneurship. However, they largely devalued these measures and dealt a heavy blow to the country's economy when, with the blessing of Pope Sixtus IV (1478), the Inquisition was established in Spain and the Jews were banished from the country (1492). Ferdinand and Isabella can also be blamed for their patronage of Place, the guild of sheep breeding, which reduced to the pastures of the forest and thereby inflicted irreparable damage to the agriculture of Castile. In general, the royal agrarian policy was aimed at the concentration of land in the hands of the aristocracy, which aggravated the social and economic problems of Spain. At the same time in Catalonia, Ferdinand put an end to the bitter struggle of the peasants and feudal lords by abolishing the serfdom in this kingdom (Guadalupe maxim, 1486), which enabled 50, 000 peasants to become small landowners.
Personality
Ferdinand was very handsome, combining the qualities of a brilliant knight and dexterous politician.
Quotes from others about the person
"There is one sovereign nowadays. .. who, except peace and faithfulness, never preaches anything. In fact, he is a great enemy to both; and truly if he is faithful and peaceful, he would have lost both glory and state long ago", Machiavelli
Connections
In 1468, when the Castilian Princess Isabella was looking for a fiancé, she opted for Ferdinand without much hesitation, largely because of his personal merits. This marriage also had the advantage of leading the unification of Aragonia and Castile in a single state. The union of Ferdinand and Izarella was successful. Despite the fact that Ferdinand was cheating on his wife (the couple lived apart for a long time, each in his own kingdom), she loved him dearly and wholeheartedly.