As you could read before John of Spain, heir apparent of the throne of Spain and his daughter both died in 1497.
His widow, Margaret of Austria had no issue on her own so it was then John’s older sister Isabella of Aragon who became the new heiress presumptive.
The issue with that was that Isabella was a bit messed up at the time. Isabella had not had the easiest childhood because she often accompanied her parents who were fighting quite a lot to expand their influence and power. Isabella’s mom Isabella I had even fought with her niece Joan of Castille about the succession of the Portuguese throne. They waged war and the Portuguese won. They forced Isabella I and Ferdinand II to sign a treaty where Spain had to pay quite some money to Portugal and they had to promise that their oldest child Isabella would marry the Portuguese prince Afonso even though he was her cousin and 5 years younger. Afonso was expected to become king of Portugal. She also had to go and live with Afonso right away to make sure that her parents would honor the conditions in the treatment. Isabella was 10 at the time so literally double the age of her fiancee. She had to stay there 3 years. After 3 years she could live with her parents again until she actually married Afonso in 1490.
Isabella and Afonso married by proxy first in spring 1490 and then Isabella traveled to Portugal where she first met Afonso’s uncle Manuel I and 3 days before she was reunited with her now husband Afonso in November 1490. Despite the age difference it became a love match. Unfortunately their union would only last 8 months because Afonso died in july the following year. Isabella who was now a widow would return to her parents in Spain and she vowed that she would never marry anyone again. She was really heartbroken.
Initially her parents respected her wishes, but in 1495 Manuel I the new king of Portugal asked them for Isabella’s hand. They tried to offer him one of their younger daughters instead but Manuel I insisted he wanted to marry Isabella. Isabella who was very religious, just like her parents Isabella I and Ferdinand II founders of the inquisition, said she would marry him on one condition. He would have to expel the Jews just like her parents had done a couple of years before in Spain. Isabella had the ridiculous idea that her husband had died, because God was angry that Portugal had become a refuge for the Jews that had been expelled from Spain by Isabella’s parents. Manuel I agreed to this and so the Jews of Portugal were now forced to either convert to Christianity or leave the country without their children.
Isabella and Manuel I married in 1497 just before John I expectantly died. It should have been clear that Isabella was now the new heir but her brother-in-law Philip the Handsome claimed the throne even though he had just married into the family and not showing any respect for the tragic losses of the family of both their son/brother and his only child (which was Philips own niece!). The family now had to defend Isabella’s right in a court in Toledo. Isabella was pregnant at the time and that was an advantage because that meant there was a 50 % chance of a male heir. People preferred a king on the throne even though women could inherit the throne. So a couple of months later the family gathered in Toledo to discuss the situation. This was in 1498. Isabella and Manuel I won and it was decided that they were the legitimate heirs of the Spanish crown. After that the family went to the city of Zaragoza. On 23 August she gave birth to a son Miguel de Paz. Unfortunately Isabella died hours after giving birth to her son. Isabella had requested to be dressed as a nun and she wanted to be buried in the convent of Isabela in Toledo.
This meant Manuel I wouldn’t become king of Spain after all, because he could only become the king through Isabella.But the child became the new heir apparent. Unfortunately young Miguel de Paz died after 2 years in 1500. He died in his grandmothers arms. He was buried in the Royal Chapel in Granada.
So in 1500 they needed again a new heir for the Spanish throne and now only 3 daughters remained: Joana of Castile, Maria of Aragon and Catherine of Aragon. Who would be the new heiress?
here you can see a video as well: youtube
Buenos noches mis amigos, Hilde