In 1469 Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon were married in an attempt to unite the Peninsula into a single nation. The two monarchs belonged to the family of Trastámara, but their marriage also signified political and religious unification. Yet, the presence of an independent, Muslim kingdom in the South, the Emirate of Granada, was an inconvenience that had to be solved. In 1482 they initiated their efforts to conquer Granada, a venture that would last for almost ten years, until January 2, 1492. Pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia, saw the kings as true crusaders and perhaps he was right to see them as such. The conquest took place the same year that Christopher Columbus would help the Kings to further expand their influence with the discovery of America. It was clear that a new era was about to start...