Isabel of Aragon was the firstborn child of the Catholic Monarchs, born in Dueรฑas, on 2 October 1470. When her parents ascended the throne of Castile in December 1474, she became the Princess of Asturias, sworn in as such during the session of the Cortes in April 1476. During the said session her hand was also promised in marriage to Ferdinand, Prince of Capua, the grandson of Ferdinand I of Naples, formerly having been engaged to Dauphin Charles [future Charles VIII of France]. After her brother Juan was born, on 30 June 1478, she became second in the line of succession. The negotiations with Portugal to end the war of the Castilian Succession began at the time, and according to the Treaty of Alcรกรงovas, signed on 4 September 1479, Isabel was to marry Alfonso, the grandson of Alfonso V of Portugal, the only son of Prince John of Portugal and his wife Eleanor of Viseu. It was also stipulated the infanta had to move to Portugal in order to live with her betrothed in the Castle of Moura, in the custody of Beatriz of Portugal, Duchess of Viseu, her motherโs aunt until 1483. The marriage was contracted by proxy in Seville, on 18 April 1490, and was ratified in รvora, on 27 November. One year later the prince fell off his horse and died. Isabel was claimed back by her parents. She was devastated, starved herself and plunged into depression, determined not to remarry. At first her father agreed not to force her into new marriage, but when John II of Portugal died in 1495, and Manuel I succeeded him, Fernando changed his mind, considering the new king had declined his proposal to marry his younger daughter, Marรญa. Manuel I was determined to marry Isabel. It cost the Catholic Monarchs a lot to persuade their daughter, and although she eventually agreed, she demanded something in return; the expulsion of Jews from Portugal, although it is being debated by scholars whether she had a definitive say in Manuelโs decision on the matter. Isabelโs second marriage took place in Valencia de Alcรกntara, on 30 September 1497. Her brother, Prince Juan, died four days later, and shortly afterward his widow, Margaret of Austria, suffered a miscarriage. Those unfortunate events made Isabel and her newly-wed husband the new princes of Asturias, sworn in as such at the Cortes of Toledo, on 29 April 1498. Unfortunately, Isabel died in childbirth in Saragossa, on 23 August 1498, while she was waiting to be sworn in as the Princess of Girona by the Aragonese Cortes. Her son, Miguel de la Paz, died on 19 July 1500.
I am not asking Your Highness for forgiveness for not writing to you more often because it is not possible for you to make me feel more shame, no matter how blamed I might be, than the shame I feel for not being able to do it as I would like, and even more so, guessing the command of Your Highness, to abide by and satisfy these people [the Portuguese], who are very lovely, I cannot do as I wish, and the best I can is to see myself having palaces at my disposal until I am deadly tired both physically and spiritually. Truly, my Lord, now I would gladly excuse myself from such pleasures in order to find myself at the service and in the presence of Your Highnesses, so we could live together through the sorrow, that I am hoping our Lord, considering His infinite mercy, will soothe by giving the Lady Princess [Margaret of Austria] a son, guarding him and making him as Your Highnesses wish, in the face of such a misfortune [Juanโs death], we should promptly expect His compassion. And I, my Lord, live in this hope, and I beg Your Highness to take relief in it and in any other thing that may bring it. And for the love of God, sometimes Your Highness ought to take a rest, with all the rest you might have, such distress is very sorrowful and disguised to kill. May God guard Your Highness as the Queen, my Lady, desires, and it seems to me such sorrow is particularly bad for the kidneys. I hope Your Highness has not felt it that way and never will. I kiss the feet and the hands of Your Highness for such favor you do me, by the care you have for my well-being, that everything I would do, following the orders of Your Highness, and everything that would come of it, is for my sake. I, my Lord, will work as much as I can to do so, and will do everything in my power to follow the customs of this place [Portugal], and later I will do so in everything. As for other trivialities of my household and the treatment I receive; no woman has been treated in a more honorable manner by her husband; and I believe it will serve Your Highness better that it is to my advantage and honor of my household, unlike it was under the King of Portugal, my Lord [John II], for he was not well-disposed. I am of such goodwill to show myself Portuguese that without such urgency as the counsel of Your Highness, which is a command to me, I have shown myself as such; and thus I determined to follow the rule of using horses, but now for the trip that we are to take, to visit the Queen of Portugal, my Lady [Eleanor of Viseu, John II of Portugalโs wife and Manuel Iโs sister], the King, my Lord, let the Castilian women travel on mules, and the two Portuguese women, whom I already have in my household, are to go on horses that their father will provide them with, so they can have them in my stable. [The Catholic Monarchsโ court traveled on mules.] As for the other things of this place, [Portugal] if I had such a good knowledge of them as Your Highness has of those of that place [Castile and Aragon], when it was necessary for me to show myself Portuguese, considering there are a few Castilians here, I would already speak, but Your Highness should believe that since the majority of people I have to spend time with, are those whom I did not have much contact with when I was here for the first time, I still have much work to do in getting to know them. And without this, and knowing well the things of this place, which are very different from those of the other, I would err in what I would like to say. The King, my Lord, has told me to occupy myself with certain business, pray God I may do this in such a manner that I learn and so that it serves him and Your Highnesses. May God guard and increase the royal life and state of Your Highness with much pleasure, and let me serve Your Highness as I wish. The favor you do me, besides others, in writing to me about the state of the Queen, my Lady, and the Lady Princess [Margaret of Austria], God knows the pity I feel at all times, knowing they are not doing very well; I would like it to be extended, and for Your Highness to command someone to write to me about Your Highness, so that I am informed of everything.
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