Manuscript Document written in ink, signed by Isabella "Yo La Reyna"; also signed by her Secretary, Gaspar de Trizio. With additional manuscript notations on the reverse, undoubtedly for docketing purposes. 12¼x8¾.

Very interesting document signed by The Catholic Queen of Spain. The order is addressed to her Chamberlain, Sancho de Paredes, instructing him to give a quantity of cloth (7-1/3 yards) and two dresses of fine black cloth to the Infantas, i.e. the Queen's daughters, with no receipt necessary. Possibly the cloth was to be used to make the dresses. The daughters were, of course Catharine of Aragon, later to become the first wife of England's King Henry the VIII following her brief marriage to Henry's elder brother Arthur, who died in 1502; and Joanna, who was to marry Philip of Burgundy, the son of Emperor Maximilian I. Joanna and Philip were to produce two sons, the future emperors Charles V and Ferdinand I, and four daughters. Joanna would have been twenty years of age when the document was written, and Catharine fourteen. Two years later the latter was on her way to England to become the bride of the Prince of Wales, Arthur, but within a year he had died of "consumption," and she was a widow at 16. Eight years later, following a merry-go-round of romantic and dynastic intrigue, she would marry Henry VIII, six years her junior, a union which would have important consequences for religion in England. It is likely that, on her initial voyage to England, Catharine took with her the dress referred to in the present document. Isabella herself can easily be considered the most influential woman in Spanish history, perhaps even the most important monarch, ruling with her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon. Besides sponsoring Christopher Columbus's voyage of exploration westward in search of Oriental treasures, the joint monarchs united Catharine's Castile and Ferdinand's Aragon and occupied Granada, expelling or converting the Moors and establishing Spain in its present form. The document has been cancelled with a triagular cut below and through a portion of the signature, but this has been expertly repaired with no paper loss, and is barely noticeable.