Ferdiand and Isabella General Flashcards
Santa Hermandad
- To combat what?
- When Established/ Disbanded
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
Lawlessness - Farce of Avola + Civil War
Bandits - villages destroyed as nobles carried out vendettas against one another - waging private wars
Courts open to the influence of those w. Wealth and power
Santa Hermandad → Set up 1476, added to the Royal Council - 50+ inhabitants
(Only) Full competence in cases of violent crime
Often brutal justice over those who had been caught
In the aftermath of the civil war, seems to have popular support
1498 = DISBANDED central mechanism for organisation, but allowed local hermandas to survive but with considerably reduced powers + only where there was support for them
→ Disbanded bc less need for it // successful in its aim
→ only meant to be a temporary measure anyway
Kamen → Argues its law enforcement role has assumed too great a significance in the minds of historians + it only survived so long because crown had other important uses for it → No Summoning of courtes between 1480 + 1498 → Disbanded largely because prolonged of council as tax granting body -Comprised of representatives of towns that contributed to it // crown had standing forum for discussing policy with + obtaining taxes from towns without the bother of summoning Cortes
Was in effect an armed militia
Rather than disband it when civil war concluded, F + I used its 3,000 members as the core of the royal army in conquest of Granada → as war progressed, grew to 10,000
Santa Hermandad
Argaon: Nobles in Aragon resisted the imposition of an Hermanda in cities of Aragon (fueros) - although introduced here → was very short lives
// Several towns reluctant to join eg. Mercia but local opposition overridden → eg. Seville only joined after the royal army occupied them 1477
Could only deal with small disorders
Other law officials disliked their impinging on their jurisdiction
Financial contributions to the crown seen as a burden
// difficult to introduce them into all part of the country
Letrados
HIV = had governed Castile through a Royal Council comprising of 12 members, 8 of whom were Letrados
Use of Letrados
Cortes of Toledo (1480) confirmed the dominant position of the letrado in Royal Council
1493 = body consisted entirely of Lawyers with at least 10 years study of the law at Uni
→ Actually trained in the law- gave authority to these best able to advise the crown + implement policy directly
→ Grandees actively participated in the foreign policy chamber = as required military resources + experience
Grandees + leading prelates had the right to attend meeting of the royal council still - F + I could not easily withdraw this privilege
→ Grandees actively participated in the foreign policy chamber = as required military resources + experience
Inquisition
Conversos Initially:
→ Worried they were incincear in their religion
→ Purity of blood, ‘New Christians’ shouldn’t have same rights as ‘Old Christians’
Came to extent to ppl:
→ Witchcraft
→ Usery
→ Blasphem
2000 in 50 years of Start of Operation
Inquisition: 1480 Castile and 1481 Aragon
= TORQUEMADA - Inquisitor General of Castile and Aragon
Jews
1492: Decree all Jews had to leave or convert within 4 months
- 70,000 Castilinas
- 10,000 Aragonese
Peripertetic
Calculated F + I visited every single major centre of population in Spain at least once during joint reign
Entertained influential local magnates + members of urban elite // gaining PERSONAL support
Able to keep an eye on all the rulings
Held audiencias to hear grievances of subjects great + small who felt they were being denied justice
Corregidors when not there to help govern
Geographically hard to navigate Spain due to geography → if revolt happened in one part of country, and they were in opposite end // hard - could not be in two places at once
→ BUT - dealt with the revolt in Galicaia 1485-6 speedly // minor rebellions did not turn into major ones
DANGEROUS - lawlessness + bandits
Time Consuming
Nobles - Carrots
To encourage the loyalty of nobles - more important during the war of succession
Helps solve all previous problems
Security of Spain meant working with nobles rather than against them
Civil War - promises made during civil war
Confirmed traditional rights of nobility eg. exemption from taxation + primary jurisdiction over their tenants + non chartered towns on their estates
Allowed nobles to continue to collect the alcabala in areas they had previous gained the right to
After
Entertained nobility lavishly at court + large scale patronage eg. creation of new titles
Granada War - Focused the attention to ‘the enemy’ = we are united in defeating them
Gave nobles plenty of opportunity to win honour + prestige → serving in royal armies sent against the Moors
Nobles rewarded with land from conquered territories - they had to get in under control
Military Orders
Active role in Henry IV Unrest - Ferdiand estimated Income was greater than that of Naples annually
1479: Tried to get control of Santeargo
- Only when it was vacant - Isabella
1487: Order of Calatrava
1494: Order of Alcantara
1489 = Royal Council added for them 1523 = Papal Bull that monarchs head of them forever
Mayorazgos
Not enough to define limits on nobles tho
→ violent disagreements between/ within families could drag crown into disputes = effect on law + order → primary concern of gov
Disagreements = mainly about inheritance of land, estates traditionally split between several heirs // at Cortes of Toro (1505) F encouraged the use of mayorazgo = an entail that prohibited the sale/ division of estates Significantly reduced the amount of conflict
Cortes of Toledo 1480
Rents
Rents 1474: 17 million
Rents 1504: 315 million maravedis
Lands Lost since 1464 = recovered
Nobles - Sticks - Loyalty of Nobles
Problem: Loyalty of Nobles
More loyal to families/ church then to the crown
Grandees/ Hidalgos during war sided with Portuguese claim
Juros - Loans // got nobles to invest in crown - crown in debt to nobles - if wanted money back – had to see crown through
Military Orders → Crown extended hold over military orders in Castile = order of chivalry, knights bound by religious vows eg. Santiago, Caltrava, Alcantrara
Had large estates + lots of wealth → // F became grandmaster of each order + 1489 a council was set up specifically for the admin of the orders
Stick Nobility - Power they Possessed
Powerful Challenge = Military Rivels
Eg. At start of reign → Marquis of Villena owned 25,000 square kilometers of land, direct authority over 150,000 men + revenues in excess of 100,000 ducats/year
Corruption - hiring bandits on own land to rob towns people
Didn’t pay taxes
Act of Resumption (1480)→ Courtes of Toledo
Confirmed nobility in possession of any land they had owned before 1464 BUT which restored to the crown most estates alienated after that date
BUT - 1464 = date which I regarded herself as the rightful heir to the throne BUT still left the bulk of her lands granted away/ seized from the crown during Henry’s reign in the hands of the aristocracy
Did not get vote in council
Limited the influence of the greater nobles over political + admin office in central gov by restricting their role on the Royal Council (letrados + could not vote in royal council)
BUT did advide in forign policy chamber → more experienced
Stopped them raising castles
Ordered the destruction of castles built recently without royal permission
Took over some strategically important cities previously in the hands of nobles
Eg. Cadiz taken away from Duke of Cadiz (1492)
ALTHOUGH Duke was compensated with lands elsewhere - point was made that the crowns needs came before those of the grandees
Santa Hermandad set up 1476 → brutal + nobles could be in charge of it
Stick - More concerned with own matters
Personal Rivalries between nobles meant they fought personal wars - if one noble pledged his support for Isabella, a rival would side with Joanna
→ eg. 1473 Cardenal Mendoza agreed to support Isabella BUT in response his bitter personal rival Archbishop Carillo abandoned Isabella + pledged resources to Joanna
Mayorazgos
Not enough to define limits on nobles tho
→ violent disagreements between/ within families could drag crown into disputes = effect on law + order → primary concern of gov
Disagreements = mainly about inheritance of land, estates traditionally split between several heirs // at Cortes of Toro (1505) F encouraged the use of mayorazgo = an entail that prohibited the sale/ division of estates Significantly reduced the amount of conflict
Alcabala
Sales Tax = amounted to 90% of the Crown Income
1481 = 150 million maravedis
1510 = 320 million maravedis
Ordinary Revenues Rose by how much
350%
Jews paid ___ for the war in Granada
58 million maravedis
