From 14 September 1504, Queen Isabella I of Castile officially withdrew from government affairs, and she no longer signed state papers.
She had been greatly affected by the tragedies that had befallen her family in the past few years. The deaths of John and the stillbirth of his daughter, the death of her elder daughter Isabella and the subsequent death of Isabella’s son, Miguel, had been devastating.
Her health had been declining as well, and she was no longer able to travel longer distances. She spent Easter and June 1504 in a convent at Mejorada de Olmedo but spent most of the time at Medina del Campo. She spent much time in bed, and both she and Ferdinand fell ill with a fever in July. But while Ferdinand shook it off, Isabella had barely recovered when she was hit with another fever. The first signs of dropsy were also beginning to show.
At the end of September, Ferdinand secretly wrote to his daughter Joanna, Isabella’s heir, and her husband, Philip. He wrote, “Keep secret what I am about to tell you. No living person apart from the princess and the prince should know. I have not wanted to write about the illness and indisposition of the serene Queen, my very dear and much-loved wife, before because I thought that our Lord would give her health… but given what has happened and her current state, I am very fearful… our Lord might take her.”1
At the beginning of October, one Pedro Martir wrote, “The fever has not yet disappeared and seems to be in her very marrow. Day and night, she has an insatiable thirst and loathes food. The deadly tumour is between her skin and her flesh.”2
On 12 October 1504, she signed her final document – her will. She named Joanna as her heir, but she and Ferdinand feared that her husband, Philip, would be the true ruler. She also named Ferdinand as an administrator in her kingdoms until Joanna was able to come.
As her health deteriorated, she said, “Do not weep for me, nor waste your time in fruitless recovery but pray rather for my soul.”3
On the morning of 26 November, Isabella received the sacraments from her confessor. She sighed and crossed herself. Just before noon, Isabella took her final breath. Ferdinand, who had been by her side, later wrote, “Her passing is for us the deepest grief that could ever happen to us in this life, for we have lost the best and most excellent wife that a king ever had.”4
Historian Jerónimo Zurita later wrote, “In all the realms, her death was mourned with such great pain and sentiment, not just by her subjects and countrymen, but commonly by all, that the least of the praise was that she had been the most excellent and valiant woman seen, not just in her time but for many centuries. This very Christian Queen took great account of sacred things and to increasing our Holy Catholic faith, and she did it with such study and care that it served to the advantage of everyone who reigns in all Christendom.”5
Not everyone was so full of praise. The Inquisition and the expulsion of the Jews had left scars. One denunciation made to the Royal Council in 1507 read, “The Queen is in hell, for she oppressed people…. Those kingdoms were very badly governed, and the King of Aragon and she did nothing but rob those kingdoms and were very tyrannical.”6
Her daughters learned the news of their mother’s death in various ways. Catherine in England likely only learned the news in December and her response has not been left to us. Maria in Portugal was heavily pregnant with her third child, and “almost in the final days of her expected labour”, and the devastating news was kept from her.7
The new Queen of Castile was also pregnant, and her father advised her husband in December to keep the news from her to avoid it affecting the pregnancy.8 Letters confirming Isabella’s death reached Flanders on 12 December, but Philip refused to inform Joanna of her mother’s death. Nevertheless, within 12 days of the arrival of the letters with the bishop of Cordoba, Joanna received him and the news.9
- Isabella of Castile by Giles Tremlett p.464
- Catherine of Aragon: an intimate life of Henry VIII’s true wife by Amy Licence p.157
- Isabella of Castile: the first Renaissance queen by Nancy Rubin p.415
- Isabella of Castile by Gilet Tremlett p.475
- Isabella, the Warrior Queen by Kirstin Downey p.406
- Isabel the Queen by Peggy K. Liss p.352
- Rainhas consortes de D. Manuel I by Isabel dos Guimarães Sá p.140
- Juana I: Legitimacy and Conflict in Sixteenth-Century Castile by Gillian B. Fleming p.81
- Juana the Mad by Bethany Aram p.79
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