The history of fifteenth-century Castile seemed to be one of cosmic chaos, a period of almost constant anarchy until Isabel 'the Catholic' and her husband, Ferdinand of Aragon, restored law and order in the 1480s. Castile was overwhelmingly of greater significance, emerging as the dominant partner of the uneasily 'united' Spain established towards the end of the century, while the small realm of Navarre, retaining a precarious independence. The 'Catholic Monarchs', credited with introducing new notions about enhanced royal authority, even 'absolutism', were simply building on the work of their predecessors, particularly Isabel's father, Juan II. For administrative purposes, above all as far as taxation was concerned, Navarre was organised into regions known as merindades, the royal financial administration betraying French rather than Castilian influences. In 1449, therefore, the two principal disruptive elements in Castilian political life, noble intrigue and hostility towards the conversos, fused together to produce a serious rebellion in the city of Toledo.