Isabella of Castile: The First Renaissance Queen

by Nancy Rubin Stuart

Overview

"An artful, sensitive biography... A prerequisite for understanding Isabella is understanding the period and Rubin excels at delineating both." --Booklist

"Rubin succeeds admirably in recounting the story of Spain's greatest queen and the impact of her reign on her country and the world... a first rate exposition." --Kirkus

"An excellent, well-developed picture of the complex, often contradictory forces of the European scene from which Columbus sailed." --Washington Times

"Classic... will make permanent literary history by dispelling many schoolroom myths." --Tulsa World

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780595320769
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	06/13/2004
Pages:	504
Sales rank:	950,456
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.12(d)

Editorial Reviews

Isabella (1441-1504) was a master strategist, seizing the crown of Castile and, with husband Ferdinand of Aragon, ruling both her kingdom and his and winning a virtually nonstop succession of wars to preserve their strongholds. Freelance journalist Rubin presents the queen also as loving wife and mother, promoter of the arts and sponsor of Columbus, views emphasized to soften the dominant persona: Isabella la Catolica. Her goal to make Spain exclusively and permanently Catholic drove the queen to supporting the tortures of the Inquisition, burning dissenters at the stake and evicting Jews from the country. Packed with information, the book holds the reader's interest, despite pedestrian prose and a clear bias in Isabella's favor. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The flow of books connected with the quincentenary of Columbus's voyage to the Americas continues. General readers interested in the remarkable woman who pressed the unification of the several kingdoms constituting medieval Spain; pacified a rebellious nobility; made Catholicism a national unifying force by using the Inquisition against Muslims and Jews; supported the new learning of the Renaissance; produced five children around whom the history of 16th-century Europe revolved; and, almost by accident, financed the Genoese sailor who ``discovered'' America believing it was India will find this an enjoyable study. Rubin, however, has a very sketchy knowledge of late medieval-early modern European history, nor is she familiar with the rich recent literature on Muslim Spain, the reconquista , and the direction of current scholarship. The book also suffers from clumsy organization, with 62 short chapters, too many romantic conjectures, contradictions, and a prolix style. The serious student and scholar must look to scholarly monographs. Previewed in ``Rediscovering Columbus,'' LJ 8/91, p. 120-122.-- Bennett D. Hill, Georgetown Univ., Washington, D.C.

Library Journal