On October 18, 1469 a "fairy tale" was brought to life and this might be unknown to you even now.
Being a hopeless-romantic Filipino as we all are, you surely won't miss this for the world.
Two european monarchs lived and loved one another "against all odds": Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, cousins strived to strengthen their foothold in the Iberian Peninsula. Isabella’s half-brother, King Enrique IV of Castile, once planned for Isabella to be married off to various European nobles. Whether French, German, Italian or Catalan, it hardly meant as long as she was set away from the kingdom’s affairs.
Isabella’s niece, married to the king of Portugal, was also a claimant to the throne of Castile, instigating a bloody war of succession between the two neighbors. Ferdinand, meanwhile, was the scion of the Kingdom of Aragon’s ruling house. Though he had never met Isabella, he was dying to see her.
A popular tale handed down from generation to generation tells of how this handsome prince of Aragon gathered his trusted companions to set out on a journey to meet the princess of Castile. He was accompanied by a half-dozen compatriots, dressed as merchants; the prince himself played the role of their servant. The distance they covered was not too great, but it bears mentioning that rival families had horsemen patrolling these lands, as well as fortresses that dotted the area. Worse, the merry band left all their money at the inn after a night’s stay.
Still, the men set out, unmolested, undeterred. Who would guess that this lowly merchant was a prince? Ferdinand eluded capture; Isabella meanwhile tricked King Enrique, claiming to visit the crypt of their dead brother.
In the latter part of the tale, the two met and talked for hours. Their love arose and married each other.This seemingly teleserye kind of story captured the heart of Filipinos and their fate changed ever since.
How?
Remember the history of the union of Spain and the Philippines' name? Well it all comes down to Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella love story. If it hadn't been for them.What would the Philippines have been like had these ancestors been subjected to the same treatment? We couldn't be speaking right now or lived as Caucasians.
Woah.
Little did we know, how a cheesy love story shaped a portion of our history. These series of events happened in the past is a part of us and we carry it every day. The Philippines is composed and made whole by these cultures and happenings.
Source: TNP , Filipiknow
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