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When Ferdinand II (1479–1516; also known as Ferdinand V of Castile from 1474) succeeded to the Crown of Aragon in 1479, the union of Aragon (roughly eastern Spain) and Castile (roughly western Spain) was finally achieved, and the Trastámara became the second most powerful monarchs in Europe, after the Valois of France.

different royal houses of the Iberian Peninsula had long sought a union of their crowns and had practiced intermarriage for generations.

The reasons that led John II of Aragon to arrange the marriage of his son and heir, Ferdinand, with Isabella of Castile in 1469 were essentially tactical: he needed Castilian support against French aggression

founder of the house of Trastámara, which lasted until 1504.

The illegitimate son of Alfonso XI of Castile, Henry rebelled against his younger half brother, Peter I (Peter the Cruel), invaded Castile with French aid in 1366, and was crowned king at Burgos. Peter sought English aid, and Henry was routed by Edward the Black Prince

captured Peter, whom he murdered on March 23, 1369

king of Aragon from January 1336, son of Alfonso IV.

Peter had to contend with revolt in Sardinia throughout his reign; but he succeeded, by political and military means, in preparing the future reunion of Sicily to the Aragonese crown and was recognized by the Catalan Almogávares as duke of Athens and Neopatras in 1380.

Although the mercenaries succeeded in briefly installing Henry of Trastámara on the Castilian throne, Henry failed to honour any of his promises to Peter, and after 1369 Charles V of France took no trouble to conceal that he preferred his alliance with Castile to that with Aragon. As a result, Peter now pursued a complicatedly neutral approach to the Hundred Years’ War, with some bias in favour of the English.

Under the former dauphin, now Charles V (reigned 1364–80), the fortunes of war were dramatically reversed. Charles had a high conception of royalty and a good political sense. While he shared the house of Valois’s taste for luxury and festivity, he reverted to the Capetian tradition of prudent diplomacy.

Edward III did not press to conclude the renunciations; but he reserved his authority in Aquitaine by inserting in his coronation oath a clause prohibiting the alienation of rights attached to the crown

Charles the Bad once again revolted unsuccessfully, his dynastic claim to Burgundy running afoul of the king’s; the succession to Brittany was settled by arms

He succeeded his father, Alfonso XI, at the age of 15, and John II of France saw the chance to force Castile into a military alliance against England.

At home Peter was at once confronted by a row of illegitimate half brothers, led by Henry of Trastámara (later Henry II), who, to win support for his undefined ambitions, proclaimed himself defender of the magnates’ privileges against the growing power of the crown.

From 1356 to 1366 Peter was engaged in a bitter war with Aragon, whose king, Peter IV, supported Henry’s cause. During the war Peter won many successes against Aragon while Trastamaran propaganda failed to undermine Castilian loyalty toward him. In 1365, therefore, the French king Charles V, Pope Urban V, and Peter IV—to save Aragon from being overrun—paid veteran French mercenaries, led by Bertrand du Guesclin, to go to Spain and overthrow Peter, replacing him by Henry.