Government and Finance under Isabella and Ferdinand Flashcards
what was the condition of the finances of the crown when Isabella became queen in 1474?
it was very weak
vast amount son crown land along with things such as pensions had been given away. the crown itself was weak
what types of ordinary taxation and revenue raising was there?
90% of royal revenue came from the alcabala (sales tax) - the clergy were exempt, the nobility collected their own taxes and some towns payed fixed sums from 1495- in 1504 it yielded 284 maravedis and some 300 mil in 1516
there was also a taxation on sheep on wool that had a large impact as it was castles main source of trade.
what were the extraordinary methods of raising revenue?
grants from the cortes - espessialy from 1500 they helped pay for the Italian wars
the Santa Hermandad yielded an annual average of 18 million maravedis, unlike other taxes, its collection was rigorously monitored and most of it reached the treasurers
the church made sizeable donations - the ‘crusade’ tax yielded 808 million maravedis - everyone had to pay 10% of there earnings to the church
users bonds provided a large amount of income to the crown - major nobles paid large some of money to the crown and were usually promised something in turn, such as Candiz who paid 10 million in return for the village of Casares. by 1516 the crown owed 131 million back to the nobles due to interest
a significant source of revenue was coming from external sources - needed due to war
what improvements were there in tax collection?
improvements in the alcabala tax
tax farmers were to have their accounts audited every two years
cruzada was graned in perpetuity
what inefficiencies and corruption was there in revenue raising?
the investigation that the crown ran into the noble claims and mercedes actually benefited the nobles - they held more grants of perpetuity before than they did after, some nobles continued to collect mercedes whilst others bribed the nobles and tax farmers
by 1516 the reform had collapsed and the treasury had reverted back to a state of extreme disorientation and confusion with frauds of unprecedented dimensions
the were misstakes from the crown regarding the alcabala, the clergy were made exempt - nobles were confirmed in their ownership of local alcabala and were allowed to collect it themselves - this lead to ever increasing reliance on loans (which meant an ever greater reliance on interest payments)
what were the increasing costs of the crown by 1516?
a lot of money was going into military exposure - annual costs of the military went from 20 million in 1482 to 80 million in 1504 - the italian campaign alone cost 366 million from 1500-04 - grananda cost 800 million.
the annual payment of juros became a burden for the treasury by 1516 it was 131 million, they had t pay back the loss at a 10% interest.
diplomatic marriages cost a lot (Cathrine of Aragon - 60 million)
in the last 10 years of her reign Isabella spent 75 million on ambassadors
what were the aspects of unity across the kingdoms by 1516?
the nobles actively helped out the crown by providing them with loans from their own pockets
the church, cortes and santa hermandad all helped the crown financialy - showing a union through finance,
was there any lack of unity across the kingdoms by 1516?
as th tax was collected by tax farmers and the nobles in which a reasonably large sum of money was pocketed, although this was attempted to be stopped by Isabella’s reforms it continued to happen however only ant slower level
the crowns increasing income started to mean less and less as its spendings was all increasing due to campaigns such as the italian wars
the monarchs also did not hold back on there household spendings nor n their grants of royal patronage - from 1474-1504 court costs quadrupled along with pensions which doubled - this showed that the financial unity of the crown was tearing itself apart,
castile and Aragon still not financially unified.
