Isabel La Catolica, Queen of Castile

Queen Isabel of Castile (1451-1504) is one of the most famous female figures of the Middle Ages yet most of what we know about her character is the result of Isabel's own manipulation of history. This volume presents eleven specially commissioned essays which aim to discover the truth about this woman who wielded power authoritatively, went to war enthusiastically and hoped to be judged kindly by the future'. The contributions, all published in English, consider Isabel's family, her place in myth, her role in contact with America, her zenophobia, her patronage of literature and religious art, her interference in medicine and law, her relationship with Jews and Moors and her presentation of herself as the Catholic Monarch'.