la & Ferdinand

[Preston Pittman]

Hi Kathy - there are several good books about Isabel I.  One of my favorites
(for readability and descriptions of the time) is by Nancy Rubin and I think
the title is simply "Isabella of Castile" or something like that.  I don't
know what happened to my copy so I can't provide ISBN, however I think it
should be easy to find at Barnes & Noble or Amazon.  She is a remarkable and
fascinating human being.  From what I've read about her she was sincerely
and deeply religious but she also seemed to turn a blind eye at many abuses
of power by the Church - namely the Inquisition.  She seems to have been
profoundly in love with Ferdinand to her death.  She was very ambitious for
her children and she was a great patroness of the arts in Spain.  A lot of
Europe's major painters, music composers and architects worked on
commissions for her.  She was very well educated and spoke several languages
fluently.  It was also said that she could converse intelligently with
Churchmen in Latin on theological issues.
peace,
Preston


>From: Kathy Gower <kathygaCIIS.EDU>
>Reply-To: kathygaCIIS.EDU
>To: GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu
>Subject: la & Ferdinand
>Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 08:34:42 -0800
>
>I am interested in finding out more about the "personalities" of Ferdinand
>and in particular, Isabella.
>
>These two characters figure prominently in a certain stage of the life of
>the camino...from the pilgrim's hospital turned parador in Santiago and on
>back to their castle in Burgos where their daughter, Juana de Loca and her
>husband, Philip the Fair lived for a time.
>
>Can any of you medieval scholars steer me in the right direction?

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com