In terms of popular understanding of the history of this reign, the patronage of Columbus and his discovery of America overshadows far more significant social, political, religious, and economic developments resulting from the contemporary liberalism of these two monarchs, called The Catholic Kings. In 1469, Isabella of Castile married Ferdinand of Aragon. In 1474, when Henry IV of Castile died, he the half-brother of Isabella, Isabella became Queen of Castile. In 1479, John II of Aragon died, and Ferdinand inherited his throne. With their great minister, Cardinal Mimenes, they worked harmoniously in fusing all the states of Spain into a political and ecclesiastical unity. Reorganizing the Santa Hermandad, or Holy Brotherhood, a body of some 2,000 police, they checked robberies …