Ferdinand II of Aragon Ferdinand II ( 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516 ) , called the Catholic , was in his own right the King of Sicily from 1468 and King of Aragon from 1479 . As Ferdinand V he was the King of Castile in his right of his wife , Isabella I , from 1475 until her death in 1504 . He was recognised as regent of Castile for his daughter and heir , Joanna , from 1508 until his own death . In 1504 , after a war with France , he became King of Naples as Ferdinand III , reuniting Naples with Sicily for the first time since 1458 . In 1512 , he became King of Navarre by conquest after asserting a hereditary claim . Ferdinand is today best known for his role in inaugurating the discovery of the New World , since he and Isabella sponsored the first voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492 . That year he also fought the final war with Granada which expunged the last Islamic state on Spanish soil , thus bringing to a close the centuries - long " Reconquista " . At his death he was succeeded by Joanna , who co - ruled with her son , Charles V , over all the Iberian kingdoms ( save Portugal ) . Biography . Acquiring titles and powers . Ferdinand was born in Sos del Rey Católico , Aragon , as the son of John II of Aragon ( whose family was a cadet branch of the House of Trastámara ) by his second wife , Juana Enríquez . He married Infanta Isabella , the half - sister and heiress of Henry IV of Castile , on 19 October 1469 in Valladolid . Isabella also belonged to the royal House of Trastámara , and the two were cousins by descent from John I of Castile . They were married with a clear prenuptial agreement on sharing power , and under the joint motto " tanto monta , monta tanto " . He became " jure uxoris " King of Castile when Isabella succeeded her deceased brother in 1474 to be crowned as Queen Isabella I of Castile . The two young monarchs were initially obliged to fight a civil war against Joan of Castile ( also known as Juana la Beltraneja ) , the purported daughter of Henry IV , and were swiftly successful . When Ferdinand succeeded his father as King of Aragon in 1479 , the Crown of Castile and the various territories of the Crown of Aragon were united in a personal union creating for the first time since the 8th century a single political unit referred to as " España ( Spain ) " , the root of which is the ancient name " Hispania " . The various states were not formally administered as a single unit , but as separate political units under the same Crown . ( The legal merging of Aragon and Castile into a single Spain occurred under Philip V in 1707 - 1715 . ) The first years of Ferdinand and Isabella ' s joint rule saw the Spanish conquest of the Nasrid dynasty of the Emirate of Granada ( Moorish Kingdom of Granada ) , the last Islamic al - Andalus entity on the Iberian peninsula , completed in 1492 . The completion of the Reconquista was not the only significant act performed by Ferdinand and Isabella in that year . In March 1492 , the monarchs issued the Edict of Expulsion of the Jews , also called the Alhambra Decree , a document which ordered all Jews either to be baptized and convert to Christianity or to leave the country . That document was signed with the defeated Moorish Emir of Granada Muhammad XII . It allowed Mudéjar Moors ( Islamic ) and converso Marrano Jews to stay , while expelling all unconverted Jews from Castile and Aragon . 1492 was also the year in which the monarchs commissioned Christopher Columbus to find a westward maritime route for access to Asia , which resulted in the Spanish arrival in the Americas . In 1494 the Treaty of Tordesillas divided the entire world beyond Europe between Portugal and Castile ( Spain ) for conquest and dominion purposes — by a north - south line drawn down the Atlantic Ocean . Forced conversions . During 1492 and beyond , Ferdinand did a lot more than just sponsor for Christopher Columbus ' s voyage . Ferdinand violated the 1492 Alhambra Decree peace treaty in 1502 by dismissing the clearly guaranteed religious freedom for Mudéjar Muslims . Ferdinand forced all Muslims in Castile and Aragon to convert , " converso " " Morisco s " , to Catholicism , or else be expelled . Some of the Muslims who remained were mudéjar artisans , who could design and build in the Moorish style . This was also practiced by the Spanish inquisitors on the " converso " Marrano Jewish population of Spain . The main architect behind the Spanish Inquisition was King Ferdinand II . Ferdinand destroyed over ten thousand Arabic manuscripts in Granada alone , burning them . The latter part of Ferdinand ' s life was largely taken up with disputes with successive Kings of France over control of Italy , the so - called Italian Wars . In 1494 , Charles VIII of France invaded Italy and expelled Alfonso II , who was Ferdinand ' s first cousin once removed and stepson of Ferdinand ' s sister , from the throne of Naples . Ferdinand allied with various Italian princes and with Emperor Maximilian I to expel the French by 1496 and install Alfonso ' s son , Ferdinand , on the Neapolitan throne . In 1501 , following the death of Ferdinand II of Naples and his succession by his uncle Frederick , Ferdinand of Aragon signed an agreement with Charles VIII ' s successor , Louis XII , who had just successfully asserted his claims to the Duchy of Milan , to partition Naples between them , with Campania and the Abruzzi , including Naples itself , going to the French and Ferdinand taking Apulia and Calabria . The agreement soon fell apart and , over the next several years , Ferdinand ' s great general Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba fought to take Naples from the French , finally succeeding by 1504 . After Isabella . After Isabella I ' s death in 1504 , her kingdom went to their daughter Joanna . Ferdinand II served as the latter ' s regent during her absence in the Netherlands , ruled by her husband Archduke Philip . Ferdinand attempted to retain the regency permanently , but was rebuffed by the Castilian nobility and replaced with Joanna ' s husband , who became Philip I of Castile . After Philip ' s death in 1506 , with Joanna supposedly mentally unstable , and her and Philip ' s son , the future Emperor Charles V , was only six years old , Ferdinand resumed the regency , ruling through Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros , the Chancellor of the Kingdom . Charles I ( to later become Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ) became the King of Aragon in 1516 , with his mother Joanna as Queen in name , upon Ferdinand ' s death . Ferdinand disagreed with the policies and foreigness of Philip I . Ferdinand remarried to Germaine of Foix in 1505 , the granddaughter of his half - sister Queen Eleanor of Navarre and niece of Louis XII of France . His hope was to father a new heir of Aragon , separating it from Castile , was not realized . It would have denied his son - in - law Philip I , and his grandson Charles I , from inheriting the crown and governance of Aragon . A son , John , Prince of Girona , was born , but died within hours . John was buried in the convent of Saint Paul in Valladolid , and later transferred to Poblet Monastery , traditional burial site of the kings of Aragon . Ferdinand also had children from his mistress , Aldonza Ruiz de Iborre y Alemany of Cervera . He had a son , Alfonso de Aragon ( born in 1469 ) , who later became Archbishop of Saragossa , and a daughter Joanna ( born in 1471 ) , who married Bernardino Fernández de Velasco , 1st Duke of Frías . In the 16th century his son Alfonso de Aragon , who later became Archbishop of Saragossa in Aragon , found a hidden study under Ferdinand ' s palace containing over 400 documents written by Ferdinand . In these documents Ferdinand explained his general outlook on political power , and his true goals behind all his decisions during life as the King of Castile and Aragon . Also through these documents , Ferdinand wrote that " during times of very complicated decision making he blindfolded himself to concentrate on the true matter of a situation , and not let other things ' cloud his judgment ' . " In 1508 war resumed in Italy , this time against the Republic of Venice , which all the other powers with interests on the Italian peninsula , including Louis XII , Ferdinand II , Maximilian , and Pope Julius II joined together against as the ' League of Cambrai ' . Although the French were victorious against Venice at the Battle of Agnadello , the League of Cambrai soon fell apart , as both the Pope and Ferdinand II became suspicious of French intentions . Instead , the ' Holy League ' was formed , in which now all the powers joined together against Louis XII and France . In November 1511 Ferdinand II and his son - in - law King Henry VIII of England signed the Treaty of Westminster , pledging mutual aid between the two against Navarre and France ahead of the Castilian invasion of Navarre as of July 1512 . After the fall of Granada in 1492 , he had maneuvered for years to take over the throne of the Basque kingdom , ruled by Queen Catherine of Navarre and King John III of Navarre , also lords of Béarn and other sizable territories of the Pyrenees and western Gascony . Ferdinand annexed Navarre first to the Crown of Aragon , but later on under the pressure of Castille noblemen , to the Crown of Castile . The Holy League was generally successful in Italy , as well , driving the French from Milan , which was restored to its Sforza dukes by the peace treaty in 1513 . The French were successful in reconquering Milan two years later , however . Ferdinand II died in 1516 in Madrigalejo , Extremadura . He is entombed at " la Capilla Real " or the Royal Chapel of Granada , in Andalucia . Isabella I , Joanna I , and Philip I are beside him there . Legacy and succession . Ferdinand and Isabella established a highly effective cosovereignity under equal terms . They utilized a prenuptial agreement to lay down their terms . During their reign they supported each other effectively in accordance to their joint motto of equality : " Tanto monta ( or monta tanto ) , Isabel como Fernando " , ( " They amount to the same , Isabel and Ferdinand " ) . Isabella and Ferdinand ' s achievements were remarkable : Spain was united , or at least more united than it ever was , the crown power was centralized , at least in name , the reconquista was successfully concluded , the groundwork for the most dominant military machine of the next century and a half was laid , a legal framework was created , the church reformed . Even without the benefit of the American expansion , Spain would have been a major European power . Columbus ' discovery set the country on the course for the first modern world power . In 1502 , the members of the Aragonese " Cortes " gathered in Zaragoza , and Parliaments of the Kingdom of Valencia and the Pincipaute of Catalonia in Barcelona , as members of the Crown of Aragon , swore an oath of loyalty to their daughter Joanna as heiress , but Alonso de Aragón , Archbishop of Saragossa , stated firmly that this oath was invalid and did not change the law of succession which could only be done by formal legislation by the " Cortes " with the King . So , when King Ferdinand died on 23 January 1516 , his daughter Joanna inherited the Crown of Aragon , and his grandson Charles became Governor General ( regent ) . Nevertheless , the Flemish wished that Charles assume the royal title , and this was supported by his paternal grandfather the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and by Pope Leo X . Consequently , after Ferdinand II ' s funeral on 14 March 1516 , Charles I was proclaimed King of Castile and of Aragon jointly with his mother . Finally , the Castilian Regent , Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros accepted the " fait accompli " , and the Castilian and Aragonese " Cortes " paid homage to him as King of Aragon jointly with his mother . His grandson and successor Charles , was to inherit not only the Spanish lands of his maternal grandparents , but the Habsburg and Burgundian lands of his paternal family , which would make his heirs the most powerful rulers on the continent and , with the discoveries and conquests in the Americas and elsewhere , of the first truly global Empire . Issue . With his wife Isabella I the Catholic ( whom he married 19 October 1469 ) , King Ferdinand had 6 children : With his second wife , Germaine of Foix , niece of King Louis XII of France ( whom he married on 19 October 1505 in Blois ) King Ferdinand had one son : He also had one illegitimate son , with Dona Luisa Estrada , daughter of Fernan Estrada , the Spanish Ambassador to England . He also left several illegitimate children . With Aldonza Ruiz de Iborre y Alemany , a Catalan noblewoman of Cervera , he had : With an unknown mistress , he had :