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Journalist and historian Giles Tremlett explains how Isabella of Castile rose to the challenge of being Queen in a male-dominated world and how she united Spain and set the stage for the country’s global dominance.

Isabella came to the throne of Castile in 1474 at the age of 23. She united two kingdoms with her marriage to Ferdinand of Aragon. Tremlett explains how, by the time of her death in 1504, she had laid the foundations of modern Spain and of one of the world’s great empires. Isabella sent Columbus on his voyage to the Americas but she was also a protagonist in darker episodes, including the setting up of the Spanish Inquisition and the expulsion of Jews.

Tremlett is a contributing editor to the Guardian and a former Madrid correspondent for the Guardian and the Economist. He has been writing about Spain for 20 years and is also author of Catherine of Aragon: The Spanish Queen of Henry VIII and Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Silent Past.