Isabella I of Castile

8 minute lives · Aug 2, 2026 · 8m

Hi there, and welcome to 8 Minute Lives. In December 1474, a twenty-three-year-old woman walked through the streets of Segovia behind a nobleman carrying an unsheathed sword, its point raised to the sky. The sword was a symbol of royal justice, and by ancient custom it was carried before a king. It had never been carried before a queen who intended to rule in her own right. Onlookers muttered that it was improper. She didn't care. Her half-brother the king had died two days earlier, and she was not going to wait for permission, for a council, or for her husband, who was away in another…