Spanish Royalty, 15th-17th centuries Quiz

Answer: The Catholic Monarchs

The title of Catholic Monarchs (Los Reyes Católicos in Spanish) was bestowed upon the couple in 1496 by Pope Alexander VI, in recognition of their defense of Catholic teaching throughout their realms. It is still frequently used to refer to Ferdinand and Isabella (Fernando and Isabel), especially in Spain.

The marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella united the crowns of Castile and Aragon under one royal family for the first time, and under their rule the Muslim kingdom of Granada was captured, completing the Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. Therefore, the reign of the Catholic monarchs effectively marks the birth of modern Spain.

Answer: Henry annulled the marriage

At the age of 15 Katherine married Arthur, Prince of Wales, only to find herself a widow less than 5 months later. She testified that the marriage had not been consummated - which was not unusual for such a young couple at the time - and so it was declared invalid, clearing the way for her subsequent marriage to Arthur's brother (and later king), Henry.

However, by 1525 Katherine was 40 years old and had borne no sons who had lived more than a few weeks. Henry came to believe that their union was cursed because of her earlier marriage to his brother. He sought an annulment in order to marry the much younger Anne Boleyn, which led to the breach between the English crown and the Catholic church.

Answer: Joanna the Mad

Joanna of Castile (Juana la Loca) was a daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella and first queen regnant of what is now Spain. Although she reigned for 50 years, her father, husband and son acted as regents and she spent most of this time forcibly confined to a convent on the pretext of mental illness.

Historians debate the veracity of the claims about her mental state, with many suggesting that she suffered clinical depression exacerbated by the long years of isolation, rather than the extreme psychosis described at the time.

Answer: The Habsburgs

Philip was Duke of Burgundy and son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. He married the Spanish Infanta Joanna in 1496 in a political arrangement intended to strengthen the Habsburg/Trastámara alliance against France; his sister Margaret likewise married John, Prince of Asturias who was Philip's brother-in-law and heir apparent to the crowns of Castile and Aragon.

When John died childless in 1497, his sister Isabella died in childbirth the following year, and Isabella's son died in infancy in 1500, the Spanish succession was thrown into turmoil. A political alliance that was never intended to cede power over Spanish lands to the Habsburgs turned out to do just that.

Answer: Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles was the son of Philip and Joanna. As he was the first king to rule Castile-León and Aragon simultaneously in his own right, he became the first King of Spain. Charles was also the heir to the House of Valois-Burgundy and the House of Habsburg by virtue of which he became Holy Roman Emperor at age 19.

At its height, Charles' empire covered Spain, Austria (and nominally at least, most of the German-speaking lands), Italy, the Low Countries (now Belgium and the Netherlands), and Spanish territory in the Americas.

Answer: The Counter Reformation

The Council of Trent, which met from 1545 till 1563, aimed to clarify Catholic teaching and respond to disputes raised by Martin Luther and other instigators of the Protestant Reformation. Charles, as Holy Roman Emperor, took an active role in trying to resolve disagreements between Rome and various German Protestant princes. When this failed Charles lobbied the Pope to convene a council to unite factions within the Catholic church.

In very broad terms, the Counter Reformation refers to the Catholic attempt to reverse the Reformation and to the decades after the Council of Trent.

Answer: Queen Mary I

Philip II was the son of Holy Roman Emperor and Spanish King Charles V. His claim to his father's title of Holy Roman Emperor was the subject of a family dispute and eventually Philip relinquished his claim in favour of his cousin Maximilian.

Philip married four times. His first wife died giving birth to their first child. He later married Queen Mary I of England, but their four year union produced no children and when Mary died in 1558 Philip's largely nominal role as King of England ended. (He had the title, but only for the duration of his marriage. When Mary died in 1558, his right to the title ended and his head ceased to appear on any English coins).

Answer: The Thirty Years' War

The politics of Central Europe in the early 17th century was marked by complex dynastic relationships and religious allegiances. With the Habsburgs on the throne in Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor, Philip brought his empire into a conflict between Catholic and Protestant factions in Central Europe when France intervened on the Protestant side.

It was a protracted war that cost an estimated 8 million lives.

Answer: 8%

The total land surface area of the world is approximately 148.9 million square kilometres. Philip's empire was more than one-quarter larger than modern day China in total area, with large territories in the Americas as well as colonies in Africa, Asia and land in Central and Southern Europe.

Answer: It threatened to unite the Spanish and French crowns

Charles II was known as Charles the Hexed because his many severe disabilities, the result generations of inbreeding. At the time these were widely said to be evidence of a curse. Despite being married twice, for a total of 20 years, he had no children. His will named as his successor Philip, Duke of Anjou and grandson of French King Louis XIV.

The English, Dutch and Austrian rulers, among others, feared that Philip's ascension to the Spanish throne would give the French Bourbon dynasty too much power in Europe. Louis XIV's aggressive actions to consolidate French power on the continent, exacerbated by his recognition of James Stuart ("The Old Pretender") as the King of England, led to the hostilities that became a decade-long continental war.