Through the union of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile came the birth of Imperial Spain. This union was regarded as a union of equals although each kingdom preserved its own social, political, and economic realities according to its own unique history. Aragon was an empire in decline while Castile was just beginning to develop under its energetic young queen. Isabella was a devout Christian and this religious conviction motivated her fanatic campaign to expel the Moors and Jews from Iberian and spread Christianity to the rest of the world. Ferdinand, on the other hand, focused on Aragon's Italian possessions and a series of royal marriages with the other royal houses of Europe. Through Isabella and Ferdinand these two kingdoms would share the same foreign policy and become partners instead of rivals. This partnership laid the foundations for Cortes expedition and the force with which he forced Christianity upon the Aztec people after infiltrating their culture. Unlike the other Iberian kingdoms, Castile was the most isolated from foreign influence. As a result, Castilian society had kept the legacy of the proceeding centuries more alive than their neighbours in Aragon or Portugal. This inheritance included a Castilian militancy that firmly believed that expansion meant conquest. Cortes was born and raised in Castile and matured upon the morals and values of Castilian society. The firm belief in expansion spurring conquest had a resounding influence over his desire to explore and conquer unknown territories of the New World. Cortes once stated “We Spaniards know a sickness of the heart that only gold can cure”.
After the Castilian Civil War of 1474 (through which Isabella gained political victory after years of economic turmoil leading to the uprising) Isabella and Ferdinand began restricting the power of the aristocracy by unifying their government and expanding their judicial system. These actions placed the Crown in the position of being able to employ Castile's invigorated economic growth created by its expanding wool trade. Under Isabella and Ferdinand's leadership Castile could now devote more of its resources towards overseas expansion.
“No single factor was more important in this than the increase of the royal income in Castile. New taxes were not levied, but the royal patrimony was extended and the tax collection system improved. Without seriously imposing on the domestic economy, the royal income--not allowing for a certain degree of inflation--increased some thirtyfold between 1474 and 1504. This made possible the conquest of Granada and a vigorously expansive policy overseas.”
During the early 16th Century Castile and Aragon became the strongest political powers in Europe under Ferdinand and Isabella. Their political and Economic position in Europe held dominance due to the overthrow of the one remaining threat on the Iberian Peninsula, hindering unification and total power. The Muslim enclave of Granada had been a fortified centre for Muslim faith and worship. The military prowess of Ferdinand’s Aragon and the Economic strength of Isabella’s Castile united to win over the stronghold in 1492. The infliction of the Catholic Faith upon the Muslim inhabitants is directly reflective of Cortes’ enforcement of Catholicism upon the Aztec persons: “I said everything to them I could to divert them from their idolatries, and draw them to a knowledge of God our Lord”. Due to Christian Missionary and Anti-Islamic fervour, Isabella funded the first Spanish expedition to the West Indies, Christopher Columbus. discovered the “New World” with a fleet of 3 ships and 87 men, Columbus returned to a united Spain with gold and spices, creating great material profit for Spain.
