Pope Alexander VI bestowed the title of "Reina Catolica" upon Isabella, a very religious person, and her husband. In spite of the honor, Isabella did not approve of this pope's secularism.
Along with the physical unification of Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand embarked on a process of spiritual unification of the citizens of the country by trying to bring them under one faith (Roman Catholicism). As part of this process, the Inquisition became institutionalized. Isabella's confessor, Francisco Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros was named Archbishop of Toledo, Spain. He was instrumental in a program of rehabilitation of the religious institutions of Spain, laying the groundwork for the later Counter-Reformation. As Chancellor, he exerted more and more power.
Isabella and her husband, who had created an empire, were in latter years consumed with administration and politics. They were worried about succession and worked to link the Spanish crown to the other rulers they favored in Europe through the marriage of their children. Specifically, they attempted to outflank France and to unite the Iberian Peninsula. In 1497 Juan, the Crown Prince, married Margaret of Austria, establishing the connection to the Habsburgs. The eldest daughter, Isabelle, married Manuel I of Portugal, and Juana was married to another Habsburg prince, Philip.