What If: Queen Isabella the Catholic born a boy?

Fergie11

On the 22nd of April 1451, Isabella of Portugal, Queen of Castile gave birth to a baby girl in Ávila‎. That baby girl was named Isabella, and she would go on to become possibly one of the most famous Queens in all of history.

So the WI is, what if Queen Isabella I of Castile "The Catholic" was born a boy? For the sake of the discussion, let's just say that male Isabella has all the same traits etc as his female counterpart. From the top of my head: male Isabella would be ahead of Alfonso of Castile in the Succession and so first of all it would affect the Castilian War of Succession, there would be no Spain (at least not as we know it or it would be delayed), would he marry La Beltraneja or would he turn to the likes of Infanta Joanna of Aragon or Joanna of Portugal etc?

And with a POD this early, there could be multiple butterflies affecting Europe.
 
ordinarylittleme

ordinarylittleme

He will NOT wed la Beltraneja. If all is identical except for the gender then they will still fight. Plus Beltaneja was considered bastard so there's no way he needs her as wife.
Fernando II of Aragon needs a different wife...but he has sister, Joanna that could work well for this infante
 
ordinarylittleme

ordinarylittleme

I doubt there will be a war of succession quite frankly. IOTL it happened between two women. Here, "Isa" (possible male form of Isabella) is a male with strong claim. So it will be a bit like what happened in France: he takes the throne and implements Salic Law
 
pandizzy

pandizzy

1-800-wandsthetic said:
I doubt there will be a war of succession quite frankly. IOTL it happened between two women. Here, "Isa" (possible male form of Isabella) is a male with strong claim. So it will be a bit like what happened in France: he takes the throne and implements Salic Law
Click to expand...
Isa is a nickname for Isabella as far as I know. Like Ned for Edward or Harry for Henry. He'd probably be named Juan after his father, if not outright Alfonso.
 
ordinarylittleme

ordinarylittleme

pandizzy said:
Isa is a nickname for Isabella as far as I know. Like Ned for Edward or Harry for Henry. He'd probably be named Juan after his father, if not outright Alfonso.
Click to expand...
For the sake of not confusing Alfonso IOTL and Alfonso ITTL I think it best to not use Alfonso for Isabella as a boy...Juan is likely though
 

isabella

1-800-wandsthetic said:
For the sake of not confusing Alfonso IOTL and Alfonso ITTL I think it best to not use Alfonso for Isabella as a boy...Juan is likely though
Click to expand...
She would be called Alfonso and OTL Alfonso will be likely called Juan and you can be sure who ATL Alfonso will marry la Beltraneja…
 

Fergie11

well if it's la beltraneja and alfonso then who will ferdinand get? i know at some point there were plans for him to mary of burgundy but would those go through or perhaps an infanta of portugal?
 

isabella

Zygmunt Stary said:
Well that would avoid civil war so yeah, it's probable.
Click to expand...
christopher said:
well if it's la beltraneja and alfonso then who will ferdinand get? i know at some point there were plans for him to mary of burgundy but would those go through or perhaps an infanta of portugal?
Click to expand...
Likely Eleanor or Isabella of Viseu unless OTL Alfonso of Castile is born as Isabella and live. And considering who we are talking about iberian royals I would not exclude one of his half-niece from Navarre. Beatrice of Naples or a french princess also are not impossible matches
 
Last edited:
Kynan

Kynan

Ferdinand in this scenario would probably marry with the aim of securing the last of Navarre and full supremacy there, since Castile is off the table. He might go for one of the Foix girls if he can swing it, or a French proxy bride to neutralise their support of his opponents.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top