Explain how Ferdinand and Isabella dealt with the problems facing them before 1479.

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HISTORY AS-LEVEL 2003

European History Essay Paper – Past Question Plans.

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Explain how Ferdinand and Isabella dealt with the problems facing them before 1479.

This is an ‘explain’ type question – so it’s asking you to do just that, but also a little more. Merely describing the measures Ferdinand and Isabella took to cope with various problems will get some marks, but more marks will be gained if you weigh up the outcomes of these policies, and register how successful they were. For example, you may say in the essay that Ferdinand and Isabella faced economic problems, and you may go on to explain what policy(ies) they introduced to solve the problem. This would be ‘explaining’ how they ‘dealt’ with the problem, but you can go further and say how well they dealt with it compared to other issues, etc. Also, refer to historians and what they said about how they dealt with problems. Always link back to the question.

So – you must:

a) Show what the problems were

b) What measures they took to deal with them

c) How successful these measures were, evaluating against other issues, historiographical interpretations, short-term/long-term instances.

The essay:

PARA 1 – WHAT WERE THE PROBLEMS:

i) Civil War in Aragon – decline of Barcelona, civil disorder, social unrest.

ii) Lack of Grandee support for Isabella.

iii) Lack of Town support for Isabella.

iv) Foreign menaces.

v) Religious issues – Jews, Muslims, Reconquista.

PARA 2 – HOW THEY DEALT WITH THEM:

i) Civil War in Aragon: well, King John of Aragon was very much in favour of a marriage alliance of Ferdinand with Isabella. John saw this as a way of engineering territorial security in area like Catalonia, keeping the French at bay. He also saw the possibility of better economic ties that would help halt the decline of Barcelona and peasant unrest. Thus, Chroniclers depicted Ferdinand – King in January 1479 – as the founder of a new Age, a ‘Messiah’. The real problems in Aragon, however, like that of town control over financial policy, were not even attempted to be sorted out until after 1479 when Ferdinand had been King for a few years. However, between 1469 and 1479, we can see the ideal behind John’s plan to marry Ferdinand and Isabella, as it was meant to give Ferdinand a better chance to reviving Aragon’s fortunes – something, in the long-term, which slowly starts to happen, for example with the emergence of town consulados, etc.

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ii) Lack of Grandee support for Isabella: Isabella had some Grandee support – but she needed more in order to win her succession. The succession crisis was the biggest issue, and within that, the lack of Grandee support – an important problem that needed to be addressed. So, she had to make deals to get support. She needed their support as Grandees had land, money, power and men – they could make or break a monarch. So, she bought them off: Cardinal Mendoza was promised a Chancellorship, his brother was created Duke of Infantado; Enriquez was made Admiral of ...

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There is a great deal of relevant and well explained information about the rule of Ferdinand and Isabella here. The majority of advice about how to structure responses is very useful. 5 out of 5 stars.