Catholic Monarchs

The Catholic Monarchs (Spanish: los Reyes Católicos) is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. The title of "Catholic King and Queen" was bestowed on them by the Pope Alexander VI. They married in 1469 in Valladolid, uniting both crowns and eventually through their descendants creating the Kingdom of Spain. The Catholic Monarchs had three children: Catherine (Catherine of Aragon), Juana (Joanna of Castille) and Juan.

Ferdinand and Isabella were noted for being the monarchs of the newly-united Spain at the dawn of the modern era. They oversaw the final stages of the Reconquista of Iberian territory from the Moors with the conquest of Granada, expelled the Jews from Spain under the Alhambra decree, and authorized the expedition of Christopher Columbus, who discovered the New World(nearly 500 years after Leif Erickson) and led to an influx of wealth into Spain, funding the coffers of the new state that would prove to be the hegemon of Europe for the next two centuries.

In 1476 the Catholic Monarchs set out to establish royal authority in Spain. To accomplish their goal, they first created a group named the Holy Brotherhood. These men were used as a judicial police force for Spain. To replace the courts, the Catholic Monarchs created the Royal Council, and appointed chief magistrates (judges) to run the towns and cities.

Their joint motto was Tanto monta, monta tanto ("It amounts so much, so much it amounts"). The motto was created by Antonio de Nebrija and was either an allusion to the Gordian Knot: Tanto monta, monta tanto, cortar como desatar ("...cutting as untying"), or an explanation of the equality of the monarchs: Tanto monta, monta tanto, Isabel como Fernando ("..., Isabella as Ferdinand")

Their symbol was el yugo y las flechas, a yoke and a fasces of arrows. The yoke is another allusion to the Gordian knot. Y and F are the initials of Ysabel (archaic spelling) and Fernando. This symbol was later used by the fascist Spanish political party Falange, which claimed to represent the inherited glory and the ideals of the Reyes Católicos.