Isabel

This TV series recreates faithfully the historical facts about Isabel I of Castilla (Michelle Jenner) , Fernando II of Aragon (Rodolfo Sancho) and other characters as Cisneros (Eusebio Poncela) , Hernando Talavera (Lluís Soler) , Torquemada as well as essential happenings : Spain unification , America discovery by Colón (Julio Manrique) and Granada conquest . This is the environment in which occurs intrigues , emotions , feats , betrayal and spectacular battles . Many years separate us from the events are to narrate , but the shadows still hide from the public this great historic moment , and the significance of such deeds .¨Isabel¨ TV series is filled with those lights and shadows , gathers such very important known events recreated in the artistic frames , characterized and inspired by the ideas of a new world . The series contributes to historical , artistic and cultural memory of an era , with a look back to the past , offering us an interesting adaptation on important facts . This is an enough budget flick with a very good cast . Michelle Jenner gives a convincing character as sensitive and intelligent Isabel , she is marvelously photographed throughout and gives her big opportunity to really shine . And Rodolfo Sancho is pretty good as astute and womanizer Fernando II . The support cast is frankly good , plenty of familiar faces such as Jorge Bosch as Pope Alejandro VI , Fernando Gillen Cuervo as Fuensalida , Ramon Madaula as Chacon , Úrsula Corberó as Margarita de Austria , Francesc Garrido as Fonseca , Raúl Mérida as Felipe el Hermoso as special mention for Irene Escolar as Juana I De Castilla .

This costumer movie is well based on real events , these are the followings : When her father , John II of Castile , died ; Isabel's half-brother ascended to the throne as Henry IV (Pablo Derqui). When the King's wife , Joan of Portugal (Barbara Lennie) , was about to give birth to their daughter Joanna La Beltraneja , Isabella and her brother Alfonso were summoned to Segovia court to come under the direct supervision of the King . The noblemen, anxious for power , confronted King Henry , demanding that his younger half brother Infante Alfonso be named his successor . The nobles , now in control of Alfonso and claiming that he was the true heir, clashed with Henry's forces in Olmedo ; however , Alfonso died early . Then , the nobles asked Isabella to take his place as champion of the rebellion . Isabella preferred a negotiated settlement to continuing the war . She met with Henry and, at Toros de Guisando, they reached a covenant : the war would stop , Henry would name Isabella his heir-presumptive instead of Joanna, and Isabella would not marry without Henry's consent but he would not be able to force her to marry against her will . Then , Diego Pacheco , the Marquis of Villena (Gines Garcia Millan) , and his followers maintained that Joanna , daughter of Henry IV, was the rightful queen . Shortly after the Marquis made his claim , a longtime supporter of Isabella , the Archbishop of Toledo left court to plot with his great-nephew the Marquis . The Archbishop and Marquis made plans to have the Infanta Joanna marry her uncle ; subsequently King Alfonso V (Daniel Albadalejo) of Portugal invades Castile to claim the throne for themselves . In May 1475, Alfonso and his army crossed into Spain and a long and bloody war for the Castilian succession then took place , such as : battle of Toro and the decisive naval Battle of Guinea . It ended with a Castilian victory on land and a Portuguese victory on the sea . The four separate peace treaties signed at Alcáçovas (1479) reflected that result : Portugal gave up the throne of Castile in favour of Isabella in exchange for a very favourable share of the Atlantic territories disputed with Castile . Later on , Isabella had married Ferdinad of Aragon in 1469 , as their marriage became the basis for the political unification of Spain under their grandson , Holy Roman Emperor Charles V . This meant that the two powerful kingdoms of Castile and Aragon would now stand united . This well-known monarchs governed in domains where the sun never set . Free from inter-Christian war which had helped Granada survive , the kings carried out its conquest . The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492 . The aftermath of the war saw the end of coexistence -"live and let live"- between religions In the Iberian peninsula : the Jews were forced to convert to Christianity or be exiled in 1492 , and later on , all of Granada's Muslims were obliged to either convert to Christianity , become slaves, or be exiled . After eight hundred years in which took place a great splendor , in Granada happens a rivalry between Abencerrajes y Zegríes , confrontation among Boabdil (Alex Martínez) , El Zagal (Javier Mora) , Mulay-Hacén (Roberto Enriquez) , her wife Haixa (Alicia Borrachero) , but the Arabs are besieged by the Christian armies . It is really important to highlight the huge significance that the Kingdom of Granada had back then , being conquered by the Catholic Kings , they ensured an united front of Castile and Aragon against this enclave . It ended with the defeat of Granada and its annexation by Castile, ending all Islamic rule on the Iberian peninsula -Al Andalus- , being commanded by Gonzalo Fernández De Cordoba (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) , conqueror of Nápoles and part of Italy in the important battles Ceriñola and Garillano ; battling Charles VIII (Carballo) and Louis XII (Borja Luna) troops . In January 2 , 1492 Muhammad XII -Boabdil- surrendered the Emirate of Granada to the Castilian forces .