Ferdinand II of Aragon

Ferdinand of Aragon is the king whom the Encyclopaedia of Islam calls "Ferdinand of Aragon" in its article on al-Andalus and "Fernando (V)" in its article on the Nasrids. ^{1 2} The museum's title follows the Aragonese numbering, Ferdinand II. He was the husband of Isabella of Castile, and the pair are known as the Catholic Kings or the Catholic Monarchs. ¹ The articles read here treat him almost entirely through the end of Muslim rule in Granada, and they give little about his life apart from that, so this record is deliberately short. ²

According to the article on the Nasrids, the crown of Aragon passed to Fernando in 1479, on the death of Juan II. He was the husband of Isabel of Castile, whose throne had been contested since her accession late in 1474. ² Her position then rested on firmer ground with the Treaty of Alcacobas, dated 4 September 1479, which ended the civil war in Castile, confirmed its peace with Portugal and brought about the pacification of Extremadura. ² The author concludes that the Catholic Monarchs could now give their attention to Granada and the Reconquest. ²

The article on al-Andalus says that with the advent of the Catholic Kings the Christian offensive became co-ordinated and was conducted on a wider scale. It lists Loja in 1486, Velez-Malaga, Malaga and Almeria the following year, and Baza in 1489. ¹ The Nasrid article describes the taking of Alhama in February 1482 as the first major step towards the final Christian victory, and adds that the sultan Abu al-Hasan Ali's attempts to recover it failed. ² The article on Alhama says the Catholic Monarchs were determined to keep the town, to dominate the whole kingdom of Granada from it, and so reinforced it with numerous troops; see the fall of Alhama. ⁴

The Nasrid article lists further towns that passed into Christian hands: Malaga, which it calls hard won, in 1487, Vera in 1488, and Baza and Guadix in 1489. ⁵ It reports that al-Zaghal surrendered Almeria and Guadix in return for a tiny semi-autonomous principality in the Alpujarras, then sold all his lands in 1490 and sailed for Oran. ⁵ In 1491, during the siege of Granada, the Catholic Monarchs built the town of Santa Fe, which the article on sieges names, together with al-Mansura near Tlemcen, among the best-known cases of a besiegers' camp that grew into a fortified town. ⁶

The Nasrid article explains the outcome mainly through Muslim weakness and Castilian method. It points to the split between Boabdil and al-Zaghal, which in 1486 made Granada itself a scene of bitter fighting; to Castile's habit of exploiting divisions in the Nasrid camp, deploying artillery more and more efficiently and devastating cultivated land to wear down morale; and to the Maghrib's inability to send help. ^{5 7} It adds that when Mamluk Egypt was asked for aid in 1487 it offered only diplomatic intervention and goodwill. ⁷ These are the author's judgements and are not stated by the museum.

Boabdil, Muhammad XII, formally surrendered Granada to the Catholic Monarchs on 2 January 1492. ⁵ The article on Granada gives the surrender of the keep as 1 Rabi I 897, 2 January 1492, and says Ferdinand and Isabella entered the Alhambra on 6 January. ⁸ The article on al-Andalus dates the surrender to 2 Rabi I 897, 3 January 1492, so the sources differ by a day; see the surrender of Granada. ¹ Under the Capitulations of Granada, the Nasrid article says, Boabdil held the rights of a Mudejar. ⁵

The article on Granada says the Alhambra's ramparts and palaces were not damaged during the collapse of the kingdom, and that the Catholic Monarchs had the palaces strengthened and restored. ^{8 9} The article on the Mudejars records that the Catholic Kings decreed compulsory conversion in 1502 for the Castilian domains, which ended Mudejarism in the strict sense there and gave rise to the converts known as Moriscos. ¹⁰

The article on Algiers gives the death of "King Ferdinand the Catholic" on 22 January 1516, and says the people of Algiers, on hearing it, tried to rid themselves of the Spanish fortress on the Penon and appealed to Arudj, who had ships and cannon but bombarded it without success. ³

The articles read here do not give his birth date, his family, or his personal views, and they say nothing of his policy outside the Granada war and its aftermath. Those points are left blank rather than filled from outside the cited sources.