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Primary sourceArtifact1505–1517 (founded 1504)

Royal Chapel of Granada

Enrique Egas · 1505–1517 (founded 1504)

A church built in Granada to be the burial place of Isabella and Ferdinand, founded by Isabella in 1504.

Isabella founded this chapel as her and Ferdinand's burial place, linking her death to the conquest of Granada.

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Exterior facade of a richly carved Gothic-style stone building in sunlight, with ornate pinnacles, openwork balustrades, a carved stone portal with a wooden double door, and arched windows with iron grilles. A person in dark clothing stands at the lower left edge.
Royal Chapel of Granada, built 1505–1517.

About this source

What it is

The Royal Chapel of Granada is an Isabelline Gothic building constructed in the early 1500s as the burial place of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. It stands beside Granada Cathedral and also holds the tombs of their daughter Joanna and her husband Philip, plus a museum of royal possessions.

Why it matters

Isabella chose Granada as her resting place because the conquest of the city in 1492 marked the end of Moorish rule in Spain and was a defining moment of her reign. The chapel shows how rulers used architecture and burial sites to shape how later generations would remember them.

Look closer

  • Why might Isabella have wanted to be buried in Granada rather than elsewhere in her kingdom?
  • What does the chapel's decoration tell us about the wealth and taste of the Spanish court?
  • What is left out of a grand royal building like this about the people the conquest affected?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Queen Isabella I on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Alhambra Decree

Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon · 31 March 1492

Open bound register showing two manuscript pages of handwritten Spanish legal text in brown ink on aged parchment, with a signature and date line near the top right of the right page. Dark background surrounds the book.Document

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Capitulations of Santa Fe

Catholic Monarchs · 17 April 1492

Photograph of a handwritten manuscript page in brown and black ink in Gothic-style script, with decorated illuminated capital letters at the top and middle. Blue circular library stamps reading Lisboa and Biblioteca Nacional appear at the top and bottom, along with a handwritten shelfmark and signatures at the bottom.Document

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Treaty of Tordesillas

7 June 1494

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Testament of Isabella I of Castile

Isabella I of Castile · 12 October 1504

Painted portrait of a woman against a dark background, shown from the shoulders up. She wears a white veil covering her head, a white embroidered blouse with black patterned stripes, and a dark gown. A gold cross pendant hangs from a pearl-edged ornament at her chest. Her blue eyes look directly forward.Painting

Primary source

Portrait of Isabella the Catholic

Juan de Flandes · c. 1500

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