prize13-4, Exercise 2: Isabella of Castile

Model answer (check the details):

The story links the strong queen to the prominent queen of Castile in the later fifteenth century. It is attractive, but no text of the time says that she, or any monarch, ordered or inspired the change. The earliest texts that record the new queen come from Valencia, and they do not mention her. The change also looks gradual, with old and new rules side by side for a while, which does not fit a single royal decision. A coincidence of time is not evidence of cause.

Evidence that would change my mind: a dated contemporary source connecting the change to her, or a pattern showing the new rules spreading outward from her court at the right time.

Care: the same caution applies to any neat story that gives one cause for a gradual change.