Government: Charles' Relations to the Cortes

Question 1

Did Charles ever recover from his difficult beginning with the Cortes?

Answer 1

• yes, he managed to establish a sound working relationship

Question 2

What could the Cortes do and not do?

Answer 2

• couldn’t make laws
• could only present petitions
• could refuse/ give money ie. servicio or new taxes

Question 3

Although Charles called a General Cortes 6 times in his reign, how did the Cortes of Aragon have to be dealt with?

Answer 3

• separately, there were the Cortes of Valencia, Catalonia and Aragon

Question 4

Why was it unsurprising that the Cortes of the Kingdom of Aragon weren’t called very often?

Answer 4

• because even when they agreed to a servicio it only amounted to a small amount and 1/3 had to be spent on internal purposes which meant relatively little could be spent on main desire eg. financing wars

Question 5

The Cortes of Castile was a much easier source of money as they traditionally voted grants of money before discussing matters. In 1523, the Cortes met at Valladolid and attempted to discuss political matters before grating taxes. What was the result of this?

Answer 5

• it was firmly dealt with and they ended up voting 400,000 ducats to be payable in 3 years

Question 6

In 1527, why was Charles in desperate need of money and how did he go about achieving this?

Answer 6

• to pursue his campaign against the Turks in Eastern Europe

- he wanted the nobles and clergy to agree to a special grant

Question 7

How did Charles only manage to come away from the Cortes of 1527 with a few private donations from members of the clergy?

Answer 7

• the nobles and clergy were concerned that the special grant Charles wanted would remove their freedom from taxation

Question 8

Why was the Cortes of Toledo called in 1538?

Answer 8

• Charles needed money for foreign campaigns and for ordinary expenses of government

Question 9

When the nobility refused to introduce the sisa as Charles proposed in the 1538 Cortes of Toledo, what did Charles do?

Answer 9

• he realised this attempt had been futile and there was no point in continuing so he dismissed the Cortes

Question 10

Although the Cortes refused certain requests that Charles had, what must we remember?

Answer 10

• that they were mostly supportive of Charles

Question 11

Give an example of a situation that shows that the Cortes of Castile knew they basically couldn’t deny Charles what he wanted?

Answer 11

• in 1544 they requested that they shouldn’t be summoned more frequently than every 3 years

Question 12

Why didn’t the 1518 meeting of the Cortes of Castile in Valladolid go very well?

Answer 12

• Charles was ill-advised to choose a Burgundian counsellor, Jean de Sauvage as President of the Cortes

Question 13

When Charles left for the HRE, which promise did he break and how?

Answer 13

• broke the promise not to appoint foreigners, appointed Adrian of Utrecht as regent

Question 14

How did Charles’ physicality on return contribute to the stability of the country?

Answer 14

• returned as a 22-year-old, looked and acted like a self-confident king

Question 15

What characterised this period?

Answer 15

• period of calm
• growing acceptance of him as king
• lack of major events at this time has been commented on

Question 16

How can Charles be credited for this calmness?

Answer 16

• tactfulness and wisdom in his handling

- also meant he had learnt from previous mistakes

Question 17

How does Charles reflect on himself prior to his leaving?

Answer 17

• ‘I was not old enough to know these kingdoms or experienced enough to govern them’

Question 18

What changes did Charles make to make himself more acceptable to the Spanish people?

Answer 18

• learnt and spoke Castilian at court
• had no fixed royal capital during residence in Spain so travelled through Spanish lands to meet and listen to his subjects
• 1526: popular marriage to cousin Isabella, sister of King of Portugal (previous connections to Portugal and he would leave wife regent during any absences knowing that her rule would probably be acceptable to his Spanish subjects)
• 1527: birth of son

Question 19

How did the position of Charles’ subjects improve after the revolt?

Answer 19

• nobility had proved value to the crown which created strong partnership for future
• Spaniards (esp. Castilians) began to play more important role in government
• more and more Spaniards took offices in the administration, in Spain and other parts of Empire
• 1521: conquest of Mexico by Cortes
• 1525: conquest of Peru by Pizarro led to development of New World empire which gave opportunities to many Castilians

Question 20

What is an example of how separate the three Cortes of Aragon were?

Answer 20

• Charles called a General Cortes 6 times during his reign and while they always met at Monzon - they sat separately and had to be dealt with separately

Question 21

Why was it hardly ever worth Charles’ effort to persuade the representatives to grant him money?

Answer 21

• even when a servicio was granted, a 1/3 had to be spent on internal affairs - relatively little could be spent on financing wars

Question 22

Who were the members of the Castilian Cortes?

Answer 22

• representatives of the 18 towns who had the right to meet
• not nobles
• not clergy

Question 23

During Charles’ reign, the Cortes of Castile met 15 times - mainly to vote on money that Charles so desperately needed. In the 1523 meeting, what happened?

Answer 23

• Cortes tried to discuss general political matters before granting taxes but Charles made it firmly clear that taxes must be granted first and then they were free to discuss other matters

Question 24

Why did the Castilian Cortes have limited power?

Answer 24

• only 18 towns could send representatives (two each)

- nobles and clergy were not usually called

Question 25

In 1527, what happened?

Answer 25

• Charles desperately needed money for campaign against Turks
• wanted nobles and clergy to agree to special grant
• General Cortes called
• nobles and clergy feared this would mean a loss of their right to freedom from taxation
• Charles obtained nothing but some private donations from clergy

Question 26

What happened in 1538?

Answer 26

• nobles and clergy called to Cortes in Toledo
• money needed for foreign affairs AND ordinary expenses of government
• new tax (the sisa) asked for
• have to be paid by all
• nobility refused
• Charles realised it was futile and dismissed Cortes

Question 27

Although Charles failed to gain contributions from the richer elements of Castile, he was able to gain agreement of representatives of towns to grant most of money requested. What evidence is there of this?

Answer 27

• 1544 Cortes requested they shouldn’t be summoned more frequently than once every three years
• on account of ‘the great costs and expense’