Isabella I was one of the great women of history. She was whip-smart educated and very progressive in her thinking. She is overlooked for several reasons:
(1) She wasn't English, Her daughter Katherine of Aragon gets far more attention, even though by comparison she wasn't nearly as bright as her mother.
(2) She was perceived as racist for expelling the jews from Spain
(3) She didn't support funding Colombus, while her husband did. In reality Isabella made the logical decision, because the educated people knew the true diameter of the planet. They knew that colombus could never reach Asia in 7 weeks and would surely starve at sea. Her husband funded Colombus, who essentially got lucky and landed at a "new world" which no one knew existed. Ferdnand took credit for funding this high risk operation which was one the most profitable voyage in the history of the world.
--------------
Although Isabel wasn't naive, and she knew that her daughters needed to marry important kings. However she wanted them educated first.
