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Isabel:
Jewel of Castilla,
Spain, 1466
Written by Carolyn Meyer
To the Discussion Leader
Carolyn Meyer is an award-winning author known for her exciting historical fiction. Here she uses her writing talent to bring young readers to Spain in 1466. Readers are taken inside the castle walls to view the world of royalty, arranged marriages, political intrigue, and power struggles that turn brother against brother.
As a young student, Meyer says she hated history. "It always seemed to be about dates and battles and generals and treaties, and I cared more about what people ate and what they wore and what they did all day." Isabel: Jewel of Castilla reflects Meyer's interests. Costumes, customs, dining habits, and leisure activities bring the people and history of this period to life.
Queen Isabel's diary portrays a strong girl who grows up to be a powerful ruler whose reign was noted for both the horrors of the Inquisition and a spectacular growth of art and literature that has been called the Golden Age of Spain.
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Summary
"I am guilty of the sin of envy - envy of my own younger brother, whose education is so much more interesting than mine." Fifteen-year old Isabel, princess and future Queen of Spain, records her frustration, desires, hopes, joys, and sorrows in the diary she begins on Ash Wednesday, 1466. But rather than becoming a "Book of Deadly Sins" as she intends, Isabel's diary becomes a record of her ascension to the throne as one of the Fifteenth Century's most powerful and influential rulers.
Isabel lives in a time of great turmoil: her father's death transforms her mother into a grieving widow who doesn't even recognize her own children. Furthermore, King Enrique, Isabel's older brother, has isolated her and their younger brother, Alfonso, from the grieving Queen Widow and placed them in the care of his wife, Queen Juana. "For weeks after our arrival, Enrique kept Alfonso locked up in a castle tower, and freed him only after he learned that Queen Juana had tried to poison Alfonso." The treachery commences.
The conspirators and schemers include princes, grandes or wealthy influential nobles, bishops, and even servants. Spies lurk behind every fan; no one can be trusted. Even the ladies who surround Isabel aren't loyal. The object of these plots is no less than the throne — the power — of the monarchy. "Some of these grandes and churchmen set up a rebel throne and placed my younger brother upon it, proclaiming him King Alfonso. Now Castilla has two kings, the kingdom is divided, and the people do not know which king to serve."
Through Isabel's royal diary, author Carolyn Meyer reveals a teenager who emerges as Christopher Columbus' benefactor, providing the money, ships, and sailors for his explorations. But we also learn of an Isabel history books rarely discuss — a girl who refuses to marry the vulgar, elderly king her brother selects; a girl who harbors doubts about her friends because they were once Jewish; a girl whose confessor is remembered as one of history's most notorious and infamous villains, Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition. Isabel: Jewel of Castilla is an exciting glimpse into the everyday life of a teenager who one day will be crowned Queen of Spain.
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Thinking About the Book
1. Princess Isabel begins her diary on orders from her confessor, Padre Tomás de Torquemada. "I am to examine my conscience regularly. Whenever I commit a Deadly Sin, I am to write about it here and meditate upon it" (February 19, 1466). Keep a list of the deadly sins Isabel writes about in her diary. Do you think writing about these faults helps her avoid them? Why?
2. What are the personal qualities that make Beatríz such a good friend to Isabel?
3. King Enrique offers Isabel as a wife to several different men including King Alfonso of Portugal, the French Duke of Berry, and Fernando, Prince of Aragón and King of Sicily. Even without meeting him, Isabel chooses Fernando. What were the factors that influenced her choice? Discuss how royal marriages were arranged during this time. What were the political and religious reasons that influenced Enrique's choices?
4. How did Isabel's life differ from the life of a princess in a fairy tale?
5. Isabel invents nicknames for some of the people in her life based on the person's character and personality. El Escorpión, El Zorro, and El Torro are three names she uses often. What do these names mean? What characteristics are implied by each name? Why are these names appropriate for the men to whom she gives them?
6. What is the connection between Isabel and Christopher Columbus?
7. At the end of her diary, Isabel writes, "My life is about to change completely, and therefore I believe it is time to put aside this book. But I shall not write 'The End.' Instead I write —THE BEGINNING" (October 18, 1469). What part of life is ending for Isabel? Do you think her life will really change? Do you agree that she should put aside her diary?
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Student Activities
1. Isabel spends a good deal of time in her diary describing what people look like and what they wear and trying her own hand at drawing. Based on her descriptions, draw a picture of both Fernando and El Escorpión.
2. Using your copy of Isabel's diary and reference sources in your library or classroom, find out what each of these words means.
Black Death
cittern
caballeros
ague
blood letting
3. Have the members of your discussion group each choose one diary entry that they believe will get others interested in reading Isabel: Jewel of Castilla. Ask individual discussion group members to explain why they chose the passage they did.
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An Interview with Carolyn Meyer
Richard F. Abrahamson, Ph.D. & Linda M. Pavonetti: This is your first book in the Royal Diary series. How did the writing of Isabel's diary differ from creating your other historical fiction novels?
Carolyn Meyer: I didn't realize how hard it would be to tell Isabel's story in diary form! In my other novels the main character narrates his or her own story already knowing how it all turns out in the end. But the character who is telling a story through a diary can know only what has just happened, and not what will happen tomorrow, or next month, or next year. So it's a much harder job for the author to set up the diary entries to create a story that's exciting and involving for the reader.
RFA & LMP: In your research, did you find much evidence of Isabel's education? Did she receive formal tutoring in reading, writing, history, geography, and numbers? Who were the powerful influences in her intellectual life?
CM: Isabel had a poor education. She learned to read and write, probably from her mother. She was taught to embroider by the nuns at a local convent, who also gave her religious instruction. But she spoke French poorly, if at all; she learned no Latin; she didn't study history or mathematics or science. This was because Spanish girls were thought to be inferior to boys, morally and intellectually. To let girls study philosophy or geometry, for instance, would weaken their frail moral fiber! Later, when Isabel had children, she insisted that her daughters be well educated. She invited famous scholars to her court, and she introduced a Golden Age of art and literature in Spain that lasted for more than a century after her death.
RFA & LMP: Isabel's mother is a sad figure. Did your research lead you to any interesting information about Isabel's relationship with her mother, or suggest any explanation for the Queen Mother's withdrawal from society?
CM: Isabel was devoted to her mother, despite the queen's deteriorating mental condition. Her depression seems to have begun with the death of her husband's closest friend, whom she hated. She believed that she was responsible for his death and claimed that the river near her castle whispered his name night and day. After King Enrique summoned Isabel and her younger brother Alfonso to court in Madrid, the Queen Mother became even more distraught. Eventually Isabel's mother was lost to madness.
RFA & LMP: Most people assume that royalty are wealthy and yet you often refer to Isabel's lack of funds. Was she really that poverty-stricken?
CM: Although Isabel always had food, clothing, and a castle to live in, like other members of royalty she had to provide for a huge number of servants and retainers who were dependent upon her. It costs money to run a castle! In the last entry of her diary when she writes about her wedding plans, Isabel doesn't mention that she and Fernando had to borrow their wedding finery and to rely on their friends to provide food for the two thousand invited guests. For years after their marriage, the couple was strapped for money. Later, as they accumulated wealth, Isabel was sometimes criticized for the fine jewels and rich garments that she loved to wear, but she always insisted that she dressed as she did for "political reasons" —to demonstrate her royal power— and not out of personal vanity.
RFA & LMP: How did your trip to Spain influence you in writing Isabel's diary?
CM: Spain is a very old country with a rich history. That richness is reflected in the ancient castles and open plazas and narrow, crooked streets where Isabel and Fernando, their friends and their enemies, once walked. No amount of book research can replace the exhilaration of actually being there and later describing the look and feel of a place. It's not always possible to visit the places I write about, but I never turn down the opportunity.
RFA & LMP: It has been said that many of your novels feature a main character who is an outsider. Is Isabel also one of those outsiders?
CM: In most of my novels I've written about (and identified with) main characters who are outsiders, but I don't think that's true of Isabel. I was drawn to her because of her intellectual curiosity, her courage, and her physical and emotional strength — characteristics that made her a great ruler. Fernando's talents complemented hers, and they learned to work as a team — she was the planner, he was the doer. Theirs was a real love match at a time when marriages had to do with politics and power, not love.
RFA & LMP: What is one question you'd like to ask children after they've finished reading the diary?
CM: Isabel faced many challenges in her early life. What do you think was the most difficult for her to overcome?
RFA & LMP: What is one thing you hope young readers will take with them after reading Isabel: Jewel of Castilla?
CM: A sense of Isabel's brilliance, combined with her deep, and sometimes deeply flawed, humanity. The common thread throughout all the Royal Diaries is that the characters —including Isabel— were all flesh-and-blood people who lived real lives as children and teenagers before accidents of history shoved them onto centre stage. And that's a valuable lesson for all of us.
Discussion Guide written by Richard F. Abrahamson, Ph.D., Professor of Literature for Children and Young Adults, University of Houston, Houston, Texas and Linda M. Pavonetti, Ed.D., Assistant Professor, Oakland University, Department of Reading and Language Arts, Rochester, Michigan.
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