[Magdalen] Spanish Royaly.

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

There's an intriguing statue of Isabella, commemorating the discovery.
Around the pedestal are names of various individuals who gave funds to
underwrite the voyage.

She was a remarkable lady.  She had a prenup with Ferdinand which enabled
her to maintain a great deal of her own power, and Ferdinand was not
willing to underwrite the voyage, but she did it on her own. From the
various memorials it's apparent she gained a great deal of positive
regard.  She almost lost out on the whole Columbian venture, however.
Columbus felt he would never get the money for the voyage, so he decided to
run off and seek sponsors elsewhere. Spies discovered his plans, however,
and brought him back. (forerunners of today's intel analysts)
A short time later, the Moors were entirely expelled from Spain, and it was
at that point that Isabella (her name is Elizabeth in Latin, I noticed) had
the freedom to invest in this voyage of discovery.
Granada was the last hold-out of the Muslims, so it's no surprise that the
royalty took a special view of that city.

It's also noteworthy that an American from my stomping grounds, Washington
Irving, lived for a time in the AlHambra and wrote his still fascinating
book, _Tales of the Alhambra_. There's a commemorative plaque.
Considering the history of the site, it's amazing so much remains today.
One can only guess at the wonders that may have been there, but have been
lost.

A direct descendant of Columbus (Cristobal Colon) has been in the Spanish
Navy up until recently. A few years ago, there were two Cristobal Colons.
One was an admiral. His son was an ensign when his father was assassinated
by Basques a few years ago. At that time, there was speculation that he
would replace the elder Colon in commanding the squadron of three caravels
(actually the Santa Maria was a nao, larger than a caravel, but, oh,
details, details...) that recreated that voyage, but the commander was
actually someone else. However, he did get some percs.
Cristóbal Colón de Carvajal y Gorosábel, 18th Duke of Veragua, was
designated co-grand-marshall of the Roses Parade in 1992.
They have frequently had a ship named after Cristobal Colon. The current
one is, I believe, an Aegis cruiser.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Fri, Oct 7, 2016 at 11:09 AM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen <
magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:

>
>
> I was sorting through some slides taken at Granada, Spain, years ago.
>  They
> are mostly of the Alhambra, but the Chapel Royal there contains the tombs
> of
> Ferdinand II & Isabella I
>
> I remembered that for Isabella, the greatest achievement of her reign  was
> the driving of the Moors out of Spain.  However, she still bankrolled  the
> European discovery of American via Columbus' voyages, and also by her
> marriage to Ferdinand, united Aragon and Castille into what we now  call
> Spain.
>
> Seeing the tabulation of the rulers of the multiple sections that make  up
> modern Spain, I am bewildered by the complexity of the royal family
> tree which I think surpasses that of England.  US history is a breeze
> by comparison.  The Bourbons and the Hapsburgs are in the mix,  too.
>
>
>
> David S.
>