Isabel RulesA deconstruction of the strategies used to shape the image of a powerful woman ruler As queen of Spain, Isabel I of Castile (known to history as Isabella the Catholic, 14741504) oversaw the creation of Europes first nation state and laid the foundations for its emergence as the largest empire the West has ever knownnearly a century before the better known and more widely studied Elizabeth I of England. What we know of this remarkable ruler is