The Royal Academy of History with the support of the Rafael del Pino Foundation organised the series of conferences "Ferdinand the Catholic, the King of Aragon who imagined Spain", which took place in April and May 2015 according to the following programme:
- 8 April 2015
Ferdinand II of Aragon, Hispaniarum rex. Mr. José Ángel Sesma Muñoz
- 15 April
Image and message. The representations of Ferdinand II of Aragon. Carmen Morte García
- 22 April
Emblems of King Ferdinand. Mr. Faustino Menéndez Pidal de Navascués
- 29 April
The literary glorification of Ferdinand the Catholic. The case of the war of Granada. Mr. Nicasio Salvador Miguel
- 6 May
The Hispanic Monarchy of Ferdinand and Isabella. Miguel Ángel Ladero Quesada
- 13 May
The formation of the Monarchy and the configuration of the court administration. Feliciano Barrios
- 20 May
The integration of Sicily and Naples into the Spanish monarchy. Luis A. Ribot García
- 27 May
Ferdinand the Catholic and the Inquisition. Mr. José Antonio Escudero
In a few months' time it will be the fifth centenary of the death of King Ferdinand II of Aragon, known as the Catholic, the twentieth in the line of the Aragonese monarchy inaugurated by Ramiro I in 1035. Born in the Aragonese village of Sos on 10 March 1452, he died in Madrigalejo, a village in Extremadura near Trujillo, on 23 January 1516. He was King of Sicily for forty-eight years, and in Aragon his reign lasted thirty-seven years, which are included in the forty-two years of his rule in Castile (thirty of them together with Queen Isabella), a period which is usually referred to as the "reign of the Catholic Monarchs", It is one of the most brilliant periods in Spanish history, not only because it paved the way for the Spain of today, but also because it marked the great opening of the Spanish monarchy in Europe.
Ferdinand is the monarch who, when he was very young, imagined Spain and dedicated his efforts to building it by bringing together under a single monarchy the fragments that had been formed during the medieval centuries by the Christian reconquesting action. And he is the one who at the end of his life declared with satisfaction "For more than seven hundred years the crown of Spain has never been so large or so great as it is now, both in the West and in the East, and all, after God, through my work and labour".
The series of conferences aims to analyse and disseminate the King's reign, with the help of some of the leading scholars on the subjects addressed.
Catholicism and the projection of its actions in the formulation of Spain.
All the lectures in the series will take place at the headquarters of the Royal Academy of History, located at Calle Amor de Dios, 2, Madrid, at 19.00 hours.
Free attendance. Limited capacity. Attendance control (Optional to obtain the certificate).
