CATHOLIC MONARCHS

also called Catholic Kings, or Catholic Majesties, Spanish Reyes Catlicos, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, whose marriage (1469) led to the unification of Spain, of which they were the first monarchs. Although employed earlier, the appellation Catlicos was formally conferred on them in a bull published by Pope Alexander VI in 1494, in recognition of their reconquest of Granada from the Moors (148192), their New World discoveries (1492), and their strengthening of the church by such agencies as the Spanish Inquisition and such measures as compelling Jews to convert to Christianity or face exile (1492). The title of Catlicos was afterward transmitted to the successors of Ferdinand and Isabella.