Welcome to the History Tricks where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.

And here's your 30-second summary.

In a turbulent era, she staged a coup, turned her part of Europe around, and caused the mass settlement of the Americas for better or for worse.

She's responsible for the powerful chess piece, called the Queen, and a terrible era, called the Spanish Inquisition.

Never before have we covered a person whose influence has lasted longer and grown so exponentially.

The End

Let's talk about Isabella of Castile.

But first, let's drop her into history.

In 1474, the Republic of Venice established the world's first patent system.

In England, the wars of the roses were in a holding pattern, as Yorkist Edward IV sat on the throne.

Ivan the Great, grandfather of Ivan the Terrible, ruled as the grand prince of Moscow, and was taking over territories of what would soon become Russia.

Louis XI, also known as Louis the Prudent, was mid-rain as the King of France, and had his fingers in the Burgundian Wars, which helped to formalize Switzerland as an independent country.

270 years after the death of Eleanor of Aquitaine, 43 years after the death of Joan of Arc, Henry IV, King of Castile and Leon died,

and in 1474, his half-sister Isabella boldly claimed his crown as her own.

Princess Isabelle, spelled YSA-B-E-L of Castile, was born on April 22nd, 1451, in a town called Madrigal de las Altas Torres.

The first of the two children of her mother, Isabella of Portugal, and the fifth of the six children of her father, won the second, King of Castile and Leon.

Papa had been married before, to his cousin Maria of Ergon, like you do when you're royalty, with whom he had had four children, but three of them had died before their third birthday.

There was only one child left from his first marriage.

That was a man at this point. He's 26 years old. His name is Enrique, and he is the heir to King Wandsthrone. It's already established.

26 years older than his sister, YSA-B-E-L, who we are going to call from now on. I hope you understand Isabella, as that is how she is known to history.

Papa, as a King, well, he liked the glittery parts of ruling, the parties, the pageantry, the lady persons, but what he valued most was the free time.

He did surround himself with intellectuals, he liked literature and philosophy, but as far as actual Kinging goes, he left all of that to his advisors.

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