In March 1469, the future King Ferdinand II of Aragon and his father, King John II, had signed the Capitulaciones de Cervera, which stated that Ferdinand had the right to administer justice in Castile, but everything else would have to be agreed upon by Isabella. He was not even allowed to leave Castile without Isabella’s permission. He was obliged to provide 100,000 florins and an army of 4,000 lancers after the consummation of the marriage. An upfront payment of 20,000 florins, along with a pearl and ruby necklace, was also expected.
Now, they just needed to be formally betrothed, which was quite the mission impossible. Ferdinand left Zaragoza dressed as a lowly groom. He rode for two days and two nights with five other people, served the meals and looked after the horses. They arrived at Burgo de Osma, where the Duke of Treviño waited with an escort of lancers. They didn’t wait there for very long and set out again in the middle of the night. On 9 October, Ferdinand arrived at Dueñas, where he was greeted by his aunt Teresa Enriquez.
Nevertheless, Isabella’s half-brother, King Henry IV, was not the least bit surprised by Ferdinand’s eventual arrival. About a month earlier, Isabella had written to him that she had decided to marry, and in agreement with the Treaty of the Bulls of Guisando, she, Henry and the nobles had studied four candidates. These were Ferdinand, King Afonso V of Portugal, the Duke of Berry and the future King Richard III of England. She called Henry out for trying to bully her into the Portuguese match and said that her right to choose had been ignored. She also claimed to have consulted the nobles on her own concerning a match with Ferdinand. She said, “they praised and approved of a marriage with the Prince of Aragon, King of Sicily, giving obvious reasons.” 1
Isabella knew she was about to cause a lot of trouble, and she prevailed on Henry to remember that they all shared great-grandparents and that Ferdinand came in peace and would be a faithful servant. On 12 October, she wrote to Henry that Ferdinand had arrived in Castile and asked for his blessing. She wrote, “I beg that you may approve of his coming and approve of the [good] intentions underpinning my plans.” 2 Henry did not reply to her letter.
Two days later, Isabella met Ferdinand for the first time at Juan de Vivero’s home. It was a two-hour chaperoned meeting.
On 14 October, formal promises of marriage were exchanged and recorded by a notary. The archbishop read aloud the marriage agreement and the papal dispensation due to their close blood relation (second cousins). This papal dispensation was actually a fake – supposedly issued by an earlier pope, Pius II. The papal nuncio’s silence had been bought with Aragonese gold.
The wedding was set to take place on 19 October.
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