King Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452–1516), known as Ferdinand the Catholic, reigned as King of Aragon from 1479 until his death and as King of Castile (as Ferdinand V) alongside his wife, Queen Isabella I, from 1475 to 1504. Together they are remembered as Los Reyes Católicos—the Catholic Monarchs—who united the Iberian crowns under one dynastic rule, completed the Reconquista with the fall of Granada in 1492, and laid the foundations of the Spanish Empire. Ferdinand is often regarded as the de facto first King of Spain, presiding over an era of profound religious consolidation, maritime exploration, and global expansion.

During Ferdinand’s reign, it is believed that Basque mariners—renowned for their mastery of shipbuilding (producing over 80% of the world’s ships at the time), navigation, and deep-sea fishing—had already been venturing across the Atlantic decades before Cristóbal Colón’s (Christopher Columbus’s) voyage. Kept as trade secrets for their economic dominance they quietly harvesting cod and whale oil in the rich waters off Newfoundland and Red Bay, Labrador (northeast Canada). Their advanced seafaring knowledge and experience along the North Atlantic routes played an unspoken yet pivotal role in Spain’s early transoceanic ventures. Indeed, a significant portion of Columbus’s crew was Basque, and one of his ships, the Santa María, is believed to have been built in the Basque Country and manned largely by Basque sailors.

Ferdinand’s influence extended beyond Spain’s shores not only through empire but through blood. He fathered Don Alonso de Estrada, his acknowledged out-of-wedlock son, who later served as Treasurer and interim Governor of New Spain (Mexico). Through Alonso’s descendants—families who intermarried with Spanish, Basque, and colonial nobility as they migrated northward—Ferdinand’s lineage reached the frontier lands of northern New Spain and early Texas, intertwining royal heritage with the pioneering settlers who carried forth the enduring legacy of the Catholic Monarchs across the Atlantic world.