When the Arabs invaded Spain in the eighth century, they introduced the game of chess. The chess piece which later became known as the queen was originally a male member of the royal court.
But in the 15th century, during the reign of King Ferdinand and his wife, the powerful Queen Isabella I, the figure became the first female chess piece. Originally, the queen's movements were limited. But by 1495, as Isabella's influence and power grew, game rules changed and the queen piece was able to move anywhere on the chess board.
Today the queen is the most powerful chess piece in the game.
Queen Isabella was born on this day in 1451. She and her husband King Ferdinand ruled Aragon and Castile. Their daughter Catherine later married King Henry VIII of England.
- Little White Book, Diocese of Saginaw