redecorated the Court of the Myrtles, giving these areas much of their final appearance. After Muhammad V, relatively little major construction work occurred in the Alhambra. One exception is the Torre de las Infantas, which dates from the time of Muhammad VII (1392–1408). The 15th century saw the Nasrid dynasty in decline and in turmoil, with few significant construction projects and a more repetitive, less innovative style of architecture. Reconquista and Christian Spanish period The last Nasrid sultan, Muhammad XII of Granada, surrendered the Emirate of Granada in January 1492, without the Alhambra itself being attacked, when the forces of the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, took the surrounding territory with a force of overwhelming numbers. Muhammad XII moved the remains of his ancestors from the complex, as was verified by Leopoldo Torres Balbás in 1925, when he found seventy empty tombs. The remains are now likely to be located in Mondújar in the principality of Lecrín. After the conquest, the Alhambra became a royal palace and property of the Spanish Crown. Isabella and Ferdinand initially took up residence here and stayed in Granada for several months, up until 25 May 1492. It was during this stay that two major events happened. On 31 March the monarchs signed the Alhambra Decree, which ordered the expulsion of all Jews in Spain who refused to convert. Christopher Columbus, who had also been present to witness the surrender of Granada, presented his plans for an expedition across the Atlantic to the monarchs in the Hall of Ambassadors and on 17 April they signed the contract which set the terms for the expedition which landed in the Americas later that year. The new Christian rulers began to make additions and alterations to the palace complex. The governorship of the Alhambra was entrusted to the Tendilla family, who were given one of the Nasrid palaces, the Palacio del Partal Alto (near the Partal Palace), to use as family residence. Iñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones (d. 1515), the second Count of Tendilla, was present in Ferdinand II's entourage when Muhammad XII surrendered the keys to the Alhambra and he became the Alhambra's first Spanish governor. For almost 24 years after the conquest he made repairs and modifications to its fortifications in order to better protect it against gunpowder artillery attacks. Multiple towers and fortifications – such as