Isabel — Season 1
13 Episodes · Premiered September 10, 2012 · Ended December 3, 2012
Episodes
Isabel and her brother Alfonso live happily in Arévalo with their mother Isabel de Portugal, widow of King Juan II of Castile. Together with them, his tutor, and almost father, Don Gonzalo Chacón and his companion, and best friend throughout his life, Beatriz de Bobadilla.However, one bad day they are taken by force to the court of Segovia by order of his brother, King Henry IV, on the occasion of the pregnancy of his wife, Mrs. Juana de Avis. A pregnancy especially yearned after years without getting offspring, which has stoked the rumors about the impotence of the king.Upon arriving in Segovia, Isabel and Alfonso remain under the care of the queen, who despises and fears them at the same time because they constitute a threat to the future of the daughter she is waiting for. The hostile environment of the court, the dissolute life of the courtiers and the continuous political intrigues make them mature quickly. Isabel soon understands that they have become mere pawns for the interests of the powerful, and in this game both her brother and she are in danger.
The conspiracy led by Pacheco y Carrillo reaches its fullness with the Rebellion of the Nobles, where King Enrique is accused of kidnapping Isabel and Alfonso, of leaving power in the hands of Beltrán de la Cueva and not stopping Moors and Jews . Furthermore, they formally accuse the king of not being the father of his daughter Juana.Despite the advice of his faithful (Diego Mendoza, Beltrán de la Cueva, Archbishop Fonseca), King Enrique decides to negotiate instead of using force. However, he will soon see that accepting to negotiate would lead him to be a king without command, in the hands of the ambitions of the nobles. And, above all, Pacheco, who asks for the expulsion of Beltrán from the Cave of the Court and that Alfonso leave Segovia and pass into his custody, far from King Enrique.
The civil war causes chaos and anarchy in an already revolted Castile. The rebel army, led by Carrillo and Pedro Girón as armed arms of Pacheco, take the initiative in the fight.Isabel suffers for her brother Alfonso and for his desire to become what he never was: a soldier. Just knowing that Gonzalo de Córdoba is with Alfonso gives him some peace of mind. Meanwhile, in the Court follows the course of life, despite the war. And Beatriz de Bobadilla is engaged in a wedding, without her consent to Don Andrés Cabrera, mayordomo of Palacio. Soon Isabel will know that she will suffer the same fate. Because Enrique IV, king little friend of the wars, tries to arrive at a pact to avoid a greater shedding of blood
After the death of his brother Girón, Pacheco abandons the enriched side and returns with the nobiliary League attracted by Carrillo, who does not hesitate to offer one of his main ambitions: the Order of Santiago. The war intensifies and the two rival armies are summoned in a crucial battle: that of Olmedo. Isabel and Juana pray in Segovia in the same room watching the men go to war, but one for her husband and one for her brother, rivals on the battlefield. In the case of Isabel, the fear is great, knowing that Alfonso, grown by the flattery and lies of Pacheco, is prepared to enter into battle. The battle of Olmedo, equalized, will be decided unexpectedly by the abandonment of it by King Henry, impressed by the carnage.This flight gives the victory to the side of Alfonso, turning him into a hero, believing all that he really fought and not Gonzalo.
After the death of her brother Alfonso, Isabel is deeply distressed and morally sunk. Her life has turned into a succession of losses. In his environment, Carrillo is clear that the war must continue and that Isabel must succeed as queen on the side previously headed by Alfonso. Chacón, is not it so much? And Pacheco continues playing between two waters. Even so, Isabel assumes at first the relief and signature as queen in the letters that notify towns and cities of the death of her brother.But Isabel needs to see her mother, to inform her of what happened in person. And it goes to Arévalo along with Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba. There, sad to see his mother worsen by the news, longing for other times, find refuge in the friendship of Gonzalo.
The days go by and negotiations in Guisando do not come to fruition. As Chacón and Cárdenas feared, Enrique's good words do not become facts. Pacheco helps to delay negotiations until the exhaustion of those present and the papal legate, Veneris, arbitrator of them. Meanwhile, the Mendoza have made public their defense of the rights of the daughter of the king, rights for which they swore solemnly. Contrary to the negotiations with Isabel and fed up with the king's swings, they even threaten to denounce their dealings with Rome. Isabel and his people, surprised that the Mendoza do not support, as is tradition in them, the king, decide to find out what happens and discover the pregnancy of the queen with a lover, which increases the doubts of Enrique's fatherhood.
Isabel, frightened and sunk by the threats received, does not decide who to marry: the Duke of Guyena or Fernando de Aragón. Both are of the same age. And the Frenchman guarantees that he will avoid further tensions with his brother the king, who holds him responsible, should he refuse, for a new war. That is why he asks Cárdenas to travel to Zaragoza and Paris, get to know both suitors thoroughly and inform him with hairs and signs of how they are. And then, will she decide? Cárdenas fulfills the order of Isabel¿ but, as Chacón y Carrillo, his bet is clear: Fernando de Aragón. The bet of Juan II, king of Aragon, is also clear: Aragon, at war with France, needs support. Your financial situation is complicated? And this wedding can be a good option for the future, by uniting the interests of your kingdom with those of Castilla.
Isabel waits in Valladolid for Fernando ... The problem now is how Fernando will get there.Cárdenas goes to Aragon to inform him of everything ... and Fernando assumes what he has to take risks and travel to Castilla. Knowing that Pacheco has spies in Aragon, Fernando organizes a stratagem: to make believe that he is going to fight Catalonia ... For then, disguised as a servant of one of the soldiers who accompany him, travel incognito to Valladolid. A trip that will be full of dangers, because Pacheco (especially embittered by the deception of Aragon and decide that Fernando marries Isabel and not his daughter) takes the issue especially seriously. And decides to populate soldiers every point where Fernando could cross Castilla. This forces Fernando and his soldiers to travel through safe and hard to reach places
Isabel is shocked. The fact of knowing Fernando has increased the nervousness more. She can not define her emotions, but she is obviously attracted to him. Fernando realizes his nervousness and tries to win her talking ... But his impetus as a man accustomed to knowing a thousand and one women contrasts so much with Isabel's candidness, in these matters, ends up spoiling his good intentions. In addition, he captures that Gonzalo is especially aware of Isabel. And establishes a relationship with him. There he will realize that he is very similar to him: a soldier with nobility and discipline. With ideals Loyal to a cause until death. The wedding is coming. Clara, the wife of Chacón, appears in Valladolid by express order of Isabel's mother to support her in such a special moment. Know that your daughter needs someone to act as a mother? She, sick, can not go and delegates to her other "mother", who nursed her as a child: Clara, who will help Isabel in such special moments.
The wedding of Isabel and Fernando has been a success: many nobles support them, the people acclaim them and see in them the birth of a new Castile, but there are still many pitfalls. And time is against them, because they do not have a bull and that will make them unpopular. Start a married life not easy. The fight with Enrique continues while Aragón continues to ruin. Isabel and Fernando are left without money and without support, how are they going to get to sit on the throne? And winter comes. And the forecasts of Pacheco are met one by one. Without money, almost without food, Isabel and her family live moments of tension. Fernando begins to have friction with Carrillo that Chacón tries to avoid with difficulty. Hunger takes its toll on the people who go from hailing Isabel to try to assault her residence in search of food. The fervor of when her wedding has disappeared.
Jealousy is installed in the relationship between Fernando and Isabel. Can you forgive him for being the father of two bastards?Besides, Carrillo and his anxieties for power make Aragón very nervous, what is the plot of the Bishop of Toledo? After fleeing Valladolid, Isabel and Fernando take refuge in Medina de Ríoseco. The humility of their rooms reveals that what were once dreams are about to become nightmares. Pacheco, supported by Enrique, decides to give the final blow attacking the cities related to Isabel and regions such as Asturias and Vasconia, inconveniencing their nobles and eliminating their privileges for the benefit of feudal lords related to Pacheco. Those who supported Isabel are persecuted and dispossessed of their property and titles if they do not renounce it.
July 26, 1471: Pope Paul II dies in Rome. A few days later, Pope Sixtus IV is elected. It is time to unblock the situation of the bull of Isabel and Fernando. John II of Aragon sends his faithful Pierres Peralta to speak with the new Pope. The influence of Aragon in Italian territories is of prime interest to Sixtus. Also, the provision of funds and the idea of an anti-Turkish crusade. Peralta brings economic congratulations (barely removed from the depleted arcas Aragonese: it is a bet to all or nothing face the future) to Sixto and tells him that he will always have Aragon in everything ... in exchange for the papal bull of marriage of his son Fernando with Isabel. Sixto accepts: it's time to change. For this, he asks for advice from a cardinal he knows well as being Valencian (and belonging to the Kingdom of Aragon). Rodrigo de Borja. And he sends it to Castilla y Aragón to know the problems firsthand.
Cabrera manages to convince the king of the need for an encounter with Isabel for the good of Castile. The management of Pacheco has led the kingdom to an ungovernable situation in many cities, overwhelmed by the power of men chosen by Pacheco. Oblivious to all this, Isabel prepares to visit her brother Enrique. Many things have happened (and few good ones) since the last time they saw each other, but she is hopeful in the step she is going to take. Carrillo does not think the same, angry still for not having been elected cardinal. Pacheco, on the other hand, moves his son.On the one hand he tries to kidnap Isabel and her daughter. On the other, he travels to Extremadura to ask Juana de Avis to ask for help from his brother the King of Portugal and his armies.
