The Queen of Spain. The most famous queens of Spain

Spain emerged on the world map only at the end of the XV century, after the Castilian-Aragones union of 1479. Until then, on the Iberian peninsula, there were several separate states. Although they were rather closely related, but each of them had their own kings and queens. Spain as such did not exist yet.

Princess Isabella of Castile

In fact, it is she who is the first and still extremely revered by the queen of Spain. Isabella was born in 1451 and was the daughter of Juan II, and also sister of Enrique IV. She grew up far from the palace, in the wilderness of Arevalo, where she was brought up in piety.

In her youth, Isabella had never thought about royal power, since the lands were ruled by her older brother Enrique, who legitimately took the throne when her sister was only three years old. In addition, the royal family had another child, whose name was Alphonse. Only becoming a teenager, a girl could appear in the palace. The gossip, squabbles and intrigues that reigned there were alien to her-she preferred to pray to God, and not to give orders to her subordinates.

The struggle for power

It must be said that Isabella's royal brother, Enrique IV, had the nickname "El Impotente." And, as they say, not without reason. In 1462, his wife, Joao of Portugal, gave birth to a daughter, and almost everyone was sure that the father of the child was her lover Beltran de la Cueva, Duke of Albuquerque.

It is this circumstance that largely influenced the further political events that occurred in 1468. The fact is that at this time Isabella's brother and Enrique, Alphonse, who is barely 14 years old, suddenly die. Immediately the question arose: who will be the next heir to the Castilian throne?

By law, the crown was to be inherited by daughter Enrique IV Juan Beltraneh. But the opposition, consisting of the highest nobility, headed by the Archbishop of Toledo, did not want to hear about the illegitimate royal son, preferring to Princess Isabella.

Marriage of the Princess

After the sudden death of Alphonse, under the pressure of the nobility, Enrique was forced to conclude an agreement with his sister Isabella, according to which it was she who was to become his heir. But the king put forward one princess condition - she could not marry without his consent. With this treaty, he actually confirmed the betrayal of his wife, thereby removing his only daughter Juan from the succession. However, the king's wife was not going to give up so easily and was eager to rehabilitate herself before her husband and courtiers, and before the people. The conflict was brewing.

He erupted in 1469, before Isabella decided to secretly marry Ferdinand II of Aragon. Then Enrique IV again proclaimed his daughter to Juan his heir, accusing his sister of violating the agreements. This discontent of the king was caused by Isabella's refusal to marry the Portuguese King Afonso V, the brother of his wife Joana.

First Queen of Spain

After the death of Enrique IV, a real civil war erupted in the country - the supporters of Juan Beltranehi and Isabella of Castile fought against life and death. The culmination of this confrontation is the Battle of Toro, held in 1479 after it was signed Castile-Aragon Union, which raised Isabella I to the Spanish throne.

During her reign, literally for some 20-30 years, she, together with her husband Ferdinand II, managed to unite almost all the Spanish lands. In 1492, the conquest of Granada took place, as well as the conquest of the Canary Islands, once called Happy. It was with the support of Queen Isabella I that Columbus went in search of new lands and discovered America. Contemporaries, and in particular Hernando del Pulgar, noted her calm nature, softness and cheerfulness, but at the same time she could give tough orders and make unexpected and correct decisions.

The indomitable nature of her spirit clearly manifested itself when she accompanied her husband during the invasion of Spain by the Spanish troops in Granada in 1491. She experienced all the vicissitudes of the war and entered with her husband into the conquered capital. By the way, it is in Granada, in the Royal Chapel, that this married couple is buried.

The Queen of Spain, Isabella I gave birth to seven children. Most of them she survived for several years. The last and most powerful blow to her in 1497 was the death of her son and heir to the throne of don Juan of Asturias. Isabella died in 1504 at the age of 53. Her successor was the daughter of Juan, later nicknamed Madness, who even during her lifetime had a very unbalanced character. Considering this fact, several special conditions were introduced into the will.

Isabella Portuguese

Her husband, Charles V Habsburg, rallied all the Spanish lands even more firmly, and after the declaration of him as the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, Isabella became also the queen of Italy, Germany, Sicily and Naples, and also the Duchess of Burgundy. For many years she remained the regent of Spain, as her husband was often absent, doing important state affairs outside the home.

Isabella, the Queen of Spain, was born on October 24, 1503. She was the eldest daughter of the Portuguese King Manuel I and his second wife, the infants of Maria of Castile and Aragon. The future husband of Charles V was her cousin. Their alliance was concluded in November 1525 for political reasons, but, nevertheless, he later turned into a marriage of love. As her contemporaries noted, Isabella was extremely intelligent and beautiful.

She died while in Toledo, in early May 1539, was ill with either a flu or pneumonia. At that time Isabella was pregnant for the sixth time. The Emperor was not around, but her sudden death struck him to the core. After this tragedy, he never married again and for the rest of his life wore only black clothes.

Elizabeth of France (Valois)

She was born on April 2, 1545. Elizabeth was a representative of the famous dynasty of Valois. Her father is King Henry II of France, and his mother is Catherine de Medici. Despite the fact that the princess was originally engaged to another Spaniard, the Infanta Don Carlos, she was married to another.

So it turned out that the peace treaty signed in Kato-Cambresis in 1559 on the occasion of the end of the war between Spain and France had one point where the prerequisite for his conclusion was the marriage of Princess Elizabeth and King Philip II. She was then only a teenager, when she had to get used to a new life away from home. Contemporaries noted that Elizabeth - the queen of Spain - could not but admire her beauty, fashionable clothes and elegant manners. This she won not only her husband and courtiers, but all the people.

The fact that the husband loved and valued her very much, says the following fact: when the young queen was ill with smallpox, Philip II almost did not leave his wife and selflessly courted her. And this despite the danger of contracting yourself! As you know, the king was very unfriendly, cold-blooded and calculating, but after the marriage he turned into a loving husband and a cheerful person.

This queen of Spain was five times pregnant, but she could not give his wife the heir to the throne. The first time Elizabeth gave birth to a son, but he died in just a few hours. The next birth was premature, since her health was very weak. But still in 1566 she gave birth to a daughter Isabella Clara Eugenia, and a year later - Catalina Mikaela. In 1568, during another pregnancy and unsuccessful birth, she died at the age of 23. Soon the monarch married for the fourth time. The chosen one of the king was his niece, Anne of Austria, who gave him a son, the long-awaited heir to the throne.

The history of Spain knows a lot of queens, which should be told in more detail, but it is impossible to do this in one article. Therefore, let's talk about the living.

Sofia Greek and Danish

She was born in Athens on November 2, 1938. Sofia is a representative of the dynasty of the Glücksburgs. Her mother is Princess Frederick of Hanover, and her father is King Paul I. In addition, she is related to the Russian imperial family of Romanovs and is the great-granddaughter of Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna, who became the queen of Greece, having married Georg I.

Sophia was the eldest child in the family. In addition to her, there was also a brother who, after the death of his father, was King of Greece Constantine II, who was deposed from the throne in 1967, and Irene's younger sister. After the adoption of a new constitution in the country, royal titles completely lost their significance.

In the middle of May 1962, Sofia Greek and Danish married the Spanish prince Juan Carlos. She had to abandon Orthodoxy and accept the faith of her spouse - Catholicism. In late November 1975, immediately after the death of the dictator Franco, Juan Carlos was proclaimed king. So the Greek princess became the queen of Spain. By now, the monarchy has three children and eight grandchildren.

Social activity

Besides that Sofia travels everywhere with her husband both within the country and abroad, she is also engaged in charity. She is the president of her own fund, which in 1993 allocated a lot of funds that contributed to the liberation and subsequent economic support of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, now the former Queen of Spain deals with education and support for the disabled. But she pays special attention to the Fund, which was specially created to combat drug addiction.

Now we can say with certainty that Sophia is a queen not only by blood, but also by profession, since her entire shoulder is the burden of family problems that appear from time to time in her house. It is she who skillfully smoothes out all the conflicts that arise in connection with the rather violent temper of her husband.

Leticia Ortiz: a girl from the people

She was born on September 15, 1972 in a small town located in the north-west of Spain in the family of journalist Jesús Ortiz Alvarez and nurse Maria Rocasolano. Leticia had two more sisters: the elder - Thelma and the youngest - Erica, who for a long time suffered from depression and died in 2007 of an overdose of medications. After graduating from school, the girl entered college, organized at the University of Madrid, where she received higher education, becoming a journalist.

Before meeting the heir to the Spanish crown, Prince Philippe Letizia Ortiz managed to make a wonderful career. She first married when she was 26 years old. Her chosen one was Alfonso Perez, a teacher of literature. This marriage did not last long and disintegrated after a year, while the former spouses parted peacefully and still maintain friendly relations.

Spanish Cinderella

Crown Prince Philip, the son of King Juan Carlos I and his wife Sophia Greek, first met with Letizia Ortiz in 2003. At that time, she led a journalistic investigation into the crash of an oil tanker off the Spanish coast. Arriving at the place, the girl hurried to take comments concerning this incident from the officials. It was from them that she learned that Prince Philip also arrived here.

It is worth noting that to interview the royal offspring was not some kind of great journalistic achievement - everyone knows that the Spaniards have not experienced particularly trembling feelings for the monarchy for a long time. In addition, it's no secret that Prince Philippe is a very open person, quite willingly communicating with ordinary people. He gave an interview to Letitia, in which he commented on the whole situation, and then asked her for a phone number. After that, the lovers began to meet, but at first their meetings were secret, since Philip was afraid of condemnation from his parents. A few months later, Letizia resigned from work, and a few days later they announced their engagement.

Attacks on the Princess of Asturias

Needless to say that for the relatives of the groom, and indeed the whole of Spain, such a statement was a real surprise. The future Queen Leticia and Philip married on May 22, 2004. This event was broadcast by all major television channels, thanks to which more than 1.5 million people around the world could see this ceremony. After the wedding, the princess was rhinoplasty. According to the official version, Leticia had an innate curvature of the septum of the nose. However, in journalistic circles it was rumored that the operation was allegedly done because it did not look good enough on the photo together with the prince.

I must say that the attacks did not end there. On October 31, 2005, the first daughter of Leonor was born to the couple, and two years later, on April 29, the second one appeared, Sophia. After the birth, the future Queen Leticia began to lose her former form, so she decided to sit on a tough diet. As a result, she lost a lot of weight in a few weeks. For this, she was openly accused of almost propagating anorexia, reminding at the same time that young spaniards take the example from her. Such a wave of criticism provoked street protests. To avoid further accusations against her, the prince was forced to leave with his wife to rest, where he literally made her eat well.

Queen of Spain Letizia

In June 2014, 76-year-old King Juan Carlos I abdicated. The monarch himself announced his decision in a special appeal to the people. His son Philip, Prince of Asturias, was succeeded. So the former TV journalist became the queen of Spain. After Laetitia married the prince, she had to abandon the so beloved pantsuits and dressed in a more feminine outfit. In her wardrobe appeared elegant dresses and skirts.

Over time, journalists stopped paying attention to the scandalous episodes from the past, as, by the way, the current 43-year-old queen of Spain is not so impeccable, and more often began to talk about her as a worthy heiress to the wife of the former monarch, Sofia. For several years already, the wife of Philip VI has been spoken of as the most elegant and beautiful woman in Europe. At the same time, it is noted that the country received not only a well-prepared monarch, but also a woman worthy of being near him, who is also a former journalist, and now the queen of Spain is Letizia Ortiz.