Isabella of Castile

Women in the court of Queen Isabella I of Castile

Isabella cultivated a court consisting of important women known by their contemporaries as "puellae doctae" (learned girls). Queen Isabella of Castile made Catalina de Medrano y Bravo de Lagunas her lady-in-waiting in 1497 and shortly after became the patron and protector of the first female professor in Europe, Luisa de Medrano. Luisa de Medrano's intellectual abilities and solid formation caught the attention of the Queen and enabled her to teach Latin at the University of Salamanca. She received the chair left by Antonio de Nebrija (Antonio Martínez de Cala) in 1508 (Poetry and Grammar), although it is not known how long she maintained the post. Under the protection of Queen Isabel I, Luisa de Medrano learned history, culture and humanist philosophy alongside children of the royal family. Luisa de Medrano not only received a privileged and nurtured education with the royal daughters, Isabel and Juana, she undoubtedly benefited from living in the climate of tolerance and advancement for women that Isabel I actively cultivated in her court, and which disappeared after her death.