First Impressions

When I was younger, and I suppose even now, I loved princesses. My favorite princess was surprisingly not a Disney heroine. Forget Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora, Belle - the whole lot of them! I loved to watch the Royal Diaries movies from our library. These three movies told the stories of Elizabeth 1 of England, Cleopatra, and Isabel of Spain. Isabel was my favorite, hands down. She was SO cool! 

Awesome clothes, a great prince, etc etc etc. When I first read about her in history, she became 10 points cooler because she allowed Columbus to discover America. So far as princesses and queens went, she was definitely tops.

And then I read Lysbeth: A Tale of the Dutch by H. Rider Haggard. And I found out the truth.

Today is the anniversary of my former favorite's marriage to Ferdinand of Aragon. The awesome prince in the movie. The cruel Catholic Monarch in real life. Through the Spanish Inquisition, Ferdinand and Isabella saw to the burning of thousands of Christians in order to purify their country. Catholicism and Catholicism alone would be the religion of Spain if they had their say. The torture methods used on the Christians of Spain were indescribably terrible. I remember crying as I read some of the stories in a history book I checked out at the library. 

My first impressions were wrong. 

How many other times have I been wrong in my first impression? More times than I could count. It's important to search out a matter before coming to conclusions, whether it's judging people you've just met or hearing stories about old friends. Searching things out really applies to a lot in life. Sometimes it's what's beyond the surface that makes all the difference.