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The two Iberian kingdoms of Castile and Aragón united in 1479, when Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragón, married since 1469, inherited the thrones of their respective dominions. Seeking to consolidate their power over the whole peninsula, the monarchs swiftly pressed for the pacification of the countryside and the subordination of the nobles, the Church, and the military orders, which had gained power during the final stages of the reconquista. The couple’s strategy for accomplishing their plans proved shrewd and inventive–even cunning. In order to suppress criminal activity, for instance, Isabella co‐opted the medieval institution of the hermandad, turning what had begun as municipal brotherhoods to defend mutual interests–ironically against the nobility–into a standing army for the Crown. Political gains made by individuals at the local level during the reconquista thus receded as los reyes católicos (the Catholic kings) began the task of molding Spain into a sovereign nation.

With a semblance of peace and unity restored domestically, the monarchs turned their attention to foreign policy. By the fifteenth century, technological advances enabled Spain to expand its commerce. Much of the new technology came from Portugal, where Prince Henry the Navigator had made brilliant strides in map making and ship building in an effort to see his own country be the first to probe the African coastline, establish sea routes to the Orient, and find a friendly ally for a besieged Christian Europe. As fate determined, it was Portugal’s rival, Spain, that used Henry’s inventions to discover a world completely unknown to Europe.