Isabella and Ferdinand V

The Document That Made ColumbusÕs Discovery of America Possible.

      The Document That Made ColumbusÕs Discovery of America Possible.The Original Amnesty of Zamora.It United Christian Spain Under Ferdinand and Isabella, and Decided the Fate of the New World ~In the Middle Ages, Spain was not a unified nation, but a group of separate states. Castille and Leon ran down the middle of the Iberian Peninsula and over atop Portugal to the west. Aragon was to the northeast, while the Moorish kingdom of Granada remained in the southeast. In 1469, Princess Isabella (1451-1504), sister of King Henry IV of Castille and Leon and heir to its throne, married Prince Ferdinand (1452-1516), son of King Juan II of Aragon and heir to its throne. Ferdinand and Isabella would one day inherit and join together their two kingdoms, which composed some 90% of Spain. Then, once the Moors were driven out, Spain would be united under their rule. That was the intention. However, this plan would not go unchallenged by strong and determined forces. Upon the death of her brother in 1474, IsabellaÕs right to the throne of Castille and Leon was hotly contested. The rival claimant was Juana (called ÒLa BeltranejaÓ), wife of King Alfonso V of Portugal, which was then a wealthy and powerful nation. Juana was theoretically King HenryÕs daughter, but was popularly thought to be the illegitimate child of a Beltran de la Cueva (as Henry was widely believed to be impotent). Like Ferdinand and Isabella, Alfonso had a vision of unification; his, however, was incompatible with theirs. Through his wife, he claimed the throne of Castille and Leon for Portugal, thus hoping to unite the two states into a regional super-power, led from Lisbon, which would dominate the rest of the Iberian Peninsula. Although most Castilians favored Isabella, Juana had very substantial support.Zamora is a town northwest of Madrid, near Salamanca, and not far from the Portugese border. The town sympathized with JuanaÕs cause and the fortress there was held by supporters of Portugal at the start of the contest for the throne. Ferdinand took the initiative, and starting in 1475, a Castilian force led by him besieged Zamora. King Alfonso led a Portuguese army of 8,500 to Zamora's relief in February 1476. The Portuguese, being well equipped with artillery and arquebusiers, bombarded the Castilian positions for two weeks before moving in the direction of nearby Toro. Ferdinand pursued and caught the Portuguese five miles from Toro at 4 pm on March 1, 1476, as they negotiated a narrow pass beside the River Duero. The Portuguese formed up beyond the hills and allowed the Castilians through the gap to face them. Some of Ferdinand's infantry got left behind in the rapid pursuit, so he was slightly outnumbered. The Castilian right was disordered by the Portuguese arquebusiers facing them and the action of the Portuguese cavalry. However, reinforced by late arrivals, the Castilians rallied at the pass and returned to the battle. Toward evening, after 3 hours of fighting, the Portuguese began to give, and they finally broke when their flank was turned by a massed charge of the Castilian cavalry. In the end, at this, the famed Battle of Toro, some 2,000 Portuguese were killed; and badly beaten, Alfonso returned to Portugal empty handed, his hope of ruling Spain frustrated. Although their patron was defeated at Toro and had fled, pro-Juana Spanish leaders still held Zamora and its Fortress. Ferdinand understood that as long as they remained holed up there, his work was incomplete. There would still be armed resistance to his rule, the Portugese might again try to relieve the city, or the garrison might hold out and become a rallying point for his adversaries. So he would have to besiege Zamora and risk the fortunes of war. The forces within Zamora were well aware that a siege was imminent, and knowing there was realistically no hope of being relieved from Portugal, saw that their cause was now ultimately doomed. They preferred to surrender the Fortress and transfer their allegi [Attributes: Signed Copy]