Isabella of Castille

(1451–1504),queen of Castile and León brought, together with her husbandFerdinand II of Aragon, stability to both kingdoms. Later they laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V. They also financedChristopher Columbus’s 1492 voyage that led to the opening of the ‘New World’. The Catholic Monarchs pursued a policy of religious unity e.g. by the institution of the Roman Catholic Inquisition.