The Rise of Isabel of Castile

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 28 July 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

**This episode contains sexually explicit language**

In an age when powerful female rulers were few and far between, Isabel of Castile rose against the odds to become one of Europe's most formidable monarchs. Crowned ruler of a chaotic, divided kingdom in 1474, Isabel transformed Castile into a powerhouse and helped forge the foundation of modern Spain. But was she a visionary queen and unifier of a fractured land or a zealot whose decisions cast long shadows? Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Isabel's biographer Giles Tremlett to explore her rise to power and her forging of a strategic alliance with Ferdinand of Aragon.

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Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, audio editor is Amy Haddow and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music used courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb.
0:02.6	If you'd like not just the Tudors ad-free to get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit.
0:10.5	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries,
0:16.0	including my own recent two-part series, A World Torn Apart, The Dissolution of the Monastries, and enjoy a new release every week.
0:25.2	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:31.9	Fancy a fever tree and vodka.
0:36.0	Yes, vodka, not gin.
0:38.7	Because this is fever tree Mexican lime soda.
0:42.1	Yes, soda, not tonic.
0:45.1	With Mexican lime and Japanese yuzu for a zesty, refreshing lime soda that's just sweet enough.
0:51.7	Delicious with vodka or on its own. Fevertree, Mexican lime soda, mix with the best.
0:59.8	Mmm, now that hits the spot.
1:06.6	Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb and welcome to Not Just the Tudors from History Hit,
1:12.4	the podcasts in which we explore everything from Anne Boleyn to the Aztecs,
1:16.8	from Holbein to the Huguenose, from Shakespeare to Samarise,
1:21.4	relieved by regular doses of murder, espionage and witchcraft.
1:25.6	Not in other words, just the Tudors, but most definitely also the Tudors.
1:34.0	At a time when female monarchs were relatively rare and powerful ones even rarer,
1:43.6	Isabelle defied expectations to become
1:46.4	one of the most formidable rulers in European history.
1:49.8	Crowned in 1474, after a disputed succession, she inherited a kingdom in disarray, riddled
1:55.7	with lawlessness, feuding nobles and a deeply decentralized system of power. Yet over the next three decades, she transformed Castile from a fractious medieval realm
	...

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