Center for Medieval Studies at the University of Minnesota

Questioning the Queen: Isabel I of Castile 500 Years Later
April 30 and May 1, 2004

Conference Website

The interdisciplinary symposium was organized by Professor Barbara Weissberger of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of Isabel I of Castile, early modern Europe's first queen regnant. The Honorable Francisco Viqueira, Consul General of Spain in Chicago and Dean Steven Rosenstone of the College of Liberal Arts opened the symposium. Fifteen distinguished historians, musicologists, art historians, and literary scholars from Spain, England, and the United States presented papers analyzing various aspects of the Queen's power, patronage, and politics. Several themes emerged from the presentations and the lively dialogue that they inspired. Among them were the influence of Isabel's Portuguese and Aragonese familial connections on the dual monarchy fashioned by Isabel and Fernando as well as on their foreign policy, the changes in the nature of Isabel's power over the course of her reign, her promotion of political and didactic literature, the impact of new Franco-Flemish styles on the art and music of her court, and the political ramifications of her choices in literary patronage.

On Friday and Saturday evenings the Rose Ensemble, a Twin Cities early music group, presented a concert of Hispano-Muslim, Jewish, and Christian music in conjunction with the symposium. The program featured vocal and instrumental music dramatically interwoven with narration of texts written by or to Isabel.

Also coinciding with the symposium was the opening of an exhibit of rare books and maps of the Age of Isabel and Fernando from the collections of the University of Minnesota libraries. The exhibit was curated by Rafael Tarrago, librarian for Iberian and Ibero-american collections at Wilson Library. The exhibit can be seen through the month of May in the James Ford Bell Rare Books Library on the fourth floor of Wilson Library.  

Conference Program: (courtesey of Barbara Weissberger and Ana Adams)
Friday's Program
Saturday's Program

Unless otherwise noted, all events take place in the Mississippi Room, Coffman Memorial Union, Twin Cities campus.

Friday, April 30, 2004

9:00 Continental breakfast

9:30 Welcome
Prof. Barbara F. Weissberger, Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese Studies
Dean Steven Rosenstone, College of Liberal Arts
The Hon. Francisco Viquiera, Consul General of Spain at Chicago

10:00-12:00 Session I
"Isabel of Castile: Queen or Female King?"
Helen Nader, University of Arizona

"Politics and Poetry in Isabel's Court"
Dorothy S. Severin, University of Liverpool

"Melodies for Private Devotion at the Court of Queen Isabella"
Emilio Ros-Fábregas, Universidad de Granada

12:00-1:15 Lunch break

1:15-3:15 Session II
"Isabel's Knives of Sorrow: Private Suffering and Devotional Painting"
Francisco Prado-Vilar, Princeton University

"Cultural Anxieties: Secrecy and Surveillance in Cárcel de Amor"
E. Michael Gerli, University of Virginia

"Isabel of Castile and the Opening of the Atlantic"
William D. Phillips, University of Minnesota

4:00-5:30 Reception for Opening of the Book Exhibit

"Books of the Times of Isabel I of Castile at the University of Minnesota Libraries" James Ford Bell Library , Fourth Floor Wilson Library.

8:00 Concert by The Rose Ensemble
"The Court of Isabel, Queen of Spain: Patronage and Peril"
University Lutheran Church of Hope , 601 SE 13th Ave., Minneapolis (pre-concert discussion at 7:00)

Saturday, May 1, 2004

9:00 Continental breakfast

9:30-11:30 Session III
"The Monarch's Two Bodies: Isabel and Fernando"
Theresa Earenfight, Seattle University

"El patronato artístico de Isabel la Católica: ¿medieval o moderno?"
Rafael Domínguez Casas, Universidad de Valladolid

"Isabel of Castile: Patterns of Royal Book Patronage"
Ronald E. Surtz, Princeton University

11:30 Lunch buffet in the Mississippi Room

12:30-2:30 Session IV
"Pious Beyond Belief": Queen Isabella of Castile and Developments in Devotional Music in Renaissance Spain"
Tess Knighton, University of Cambridge

"Hernando de Talavera and Isabelline Imagery"
Chiyo Ishikawa, Seattle Art Museum

"The Queen at War: Isabel of Castile and the War Against Granada"
Elizabeth A. Lehfeldt, Cleveland State University

2:30 Break

2:45-4:45 Session V
Isabel the Queen, Revisited
Peggy K. Liss, Washington, D.C.

"Juan de Anchieta and the Rest of the World"
Kenneth Kreitner, University of Memphis

"A Woman for All Seasons: Images of Isabel in Fiction"
Nancy F. Marino, Michigan State University           

5:15-6:15 Closing Reception, Center for Medieval Studies, Nolte Center Library