Key terms Flashcards
alacabala
-a sales tax, usually 10%.
alhambra
-the fortress and palace of the Moorish rulers of Granada, built between the 12th and 13th c.
arable
-land that can be ploughed and is suitable for growing crops.
Aragon
-in the mid 15th, the Crown of Aragon consisted of three kingdoms, Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia.
armada
- a fleet of warships.
arquebuse
-an early musket.
artillery
-large military weapons built to fire projectiles far beyond the range of an infantry’s small arms.
audiencia
-a court of appeal.
auto de fé
-a public ceremony at which the Inquisition announced its sentences for those found guilty. The burning of any heretics took place after such ceremonies and was carried out by the secular authorities.
Basque countries
-consisted of Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa, Alava and Navarre and were in the western end of the Pyrenees. In the mid 15h c Navarre, the main Basque country, was partly in Spain and partly in France.
benefice
-a Church appointment with a guaranteed amount of income and property.
blasphemy
-action or offence of speaking in an insulting or disrespectful way towards God.
bullion
-amount of gold and silver valued by weight, before it is minted into coins.
Calvinism
-a more extreme branch of Protestantism. John Calvin was a Protestant reformer based in Geneva who prioritised issues of organisation as well as belief.
Castile
-in the mid 15th c the Crown of Castile occupied the area from Burgos in the north to Toledo in the south.
cathedral chapter
-a group of clerics formed to advise bishops.
Comuneros
-the city dwellers who organised themselves to defend the rights of their communities against the government. The term is often associated with a rebellion or a revolt. (Spanish for members of a community).
comunidad
-many of the towns in Castile joined together in a league to rebel against the imposition of Habsburg authority.
conquistador
-a conquerer, especially one of the Spanish conquerers of Mexico and Peru in the 16th c.
conversos
-Jews who converted to Christianity, many forcibly, to avoid persecution or expulsion from Spain to Portugal.
convivencia
-the coexistence of Christians, Jews and Muslims in medieval Spain.
corregidores
-Crown governors appointed to Castilian towns.
corsairs
-pirates, especially the privateers who operated along the Barbary Coast (north Africa).
Cortes
-the parliament in each of the kingdoms in Castile and Aragon (called Corts in Catalonia).
cruzada
-a tax, or money offering, which was earmarked for the Christian crusades against Muslims.
debasement
-lowering the value of the currency, particularly in connection with the reminting of coins. A coin is debased if its gold, silver, copper or nickel content is reduced.
ducat
-a variety of gold and silver coins that became widely used in western Europe. One ducat was worth 375 maravedís.
encomienda
-a land grant given to an individual in return for his services to the Crown. Settlers receiving these grants also received a specific number of natives from a particular community.
Erasmist
-follower of Erasmus and his doctrine.
excusado
-a tax on clerical property introduced in 1567 and usually paid as a lump sum by the Church.
frontiersmen
-Christian men who lived on the frontier of Christian and Muslim Spain; they had to fight to defend and extend Christian lands.
fueros
-Aragonese laws and privileges.
fuggers
-a politically influential banking family from Germany with trading links throughout Europe. The loans they made to Charles I enabled him to become HRE.
Germanía
-‘brotherhood’. It was a Christian brotherhood of armed volunteers formed to defend the Valerian coast against Muslim pirates.
grandee
-a Spanish nobleman of the highest rank. During the reign of Charles I the number of grandees was limited to 25.
Habsburgs
-rulers of Austria and the Netherlands, they also held the elected position of Holy Roman Emperor, with control over a large number of states of various sizes which made up the Holy Roman Empire.
Hermandad
-a local peace-keeping force (plural Hermandades).
Huguenots
-French Protestants.
Iberian Peninsula
-the land mass occupied by today’s Spain and Portugal. It is separated from France by the Pyrenees Mountains and from Africa by the Strait of Gibraltar.
iconoclast
-a destroyer of images, such as statues of saints.
illuminist
-someone who believed in direct communion with God.
Indies
-the term in use during the 16ht c for the New World (the Americas).
indulgences
-the remission granted by the Church of the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven, for example, penitents who had been given a great number of prayers to recite as their punishment could have this reduced by receiving an indulgence.
inflation
-a sustained increase in the price of goods and services, resulting in money losing value.
Inquisition
-an organisation that was responsible for finding and punishing people who did not follow Catholic beliefs and practices.
Jesuits
-members of the Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1534.
Junta
-a council.
jurisdiction
-the extent of the right to administer justice and apply laws.
juros
-bonds (paid as annuities) issued by the Crown to cover the costs of its military campaigns.
justicia
-Aragonese law officer in charge of courts and justice, appointed by the Crown for life.
Knights Hospitallers
-Catholic religious and military order based on Rhodes during this period.
laity
-people who are not clergy.
letrados
-lawyers, usually with 2 academic degrees and 10 years legal experience.
lie fallow
-the practice of leaving the soil unsown for a period of time to restore its fertility.
liturgy
-the authorised form of public worship.
maravedís
-a copper coin which was the lowest measure of Castilian money and the most used.
mayorazgo
-the inheritance of an estate by a single person.
Mendoza family
-one of the most powerful families in Spain, a number of whose members held important positions in government during the 15th and 16th c.
meseta
-the vast highland plateau that occupies the interior of Spain at an average elevation of 600 metres.
mesta
-an influential guild of livestock owners, named after the communal grazing lands in Castilian villages.
millones
-a tax on basic foods - wine, meat, olive oil and vinegar - introduced in 1590.
missal
-a book containing the prayers and customs of the Catholic Church.
Moors
-Muslims who invaded in the 8th c and established a rule that lasted until the 15h c in Andalusia.
moriscos
-name given to the Muslims who converted to Christianity. They were suspected of secretly practising their ancestral religion as they usually retained their traditional diet and dress, and used the Arabic language.
mudéjars
-Muslims living under Christian rule.
Netherlands
-the name means ‘Low Countries’. Up to 1581 the territories included most of present day Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of France and Germany.
New World
-a name for the Americas, especially during the time of its first exploration and colonisation of the region by Europeans; also called the Indies in contemporary sources.
‘Old’ Christians
-people of Catholic faith with no Jewish ancestry.
Order of the Golden Fleece
-an order of chivalry founded in the 15th c by a Duke of Burgundy and headed by the king. Members of the order had a number of privileges.
ordinances
-decrees issued by the monarchs.
Ottoman Empire
-the former Turkish (and largely Muslim) Empire in Europe, Asia and Africa, which lasted from the late 13th c until the end of the First World War.
Papal Bull
-a document issued by a pope. It is named after the metal seal (bulla) which it bears as a mark of authenticity.
Parish
-an area overseen by a church and its priest.
patrimony
-an inheritance or legacy handed down to someone.
peso
-New World bullion was normally reckoned in pesos. The New World silver peso was valued at 272 maravedís and the gold peso at 450 maravedís.
pikemen
-foot soldiers who carried pikes - long weapons (about 4.9m) topped with a metal point.
pogrom
-the officially ordered persecution and massacre of a minority group, especially Jews.
Polygot Bible
-a version of the Bible that contains side by side versions of the same text in a number of different languages.
pragmaticas
-laws which the 2 monarchs had issued without going through the Cortes of Castile but which still had to be obeyed by the inhabitants of Castile.
privateering ships
-privately owned armed ships authorised by a government to take part in war.
real
-a unit of currency fixed at a value of 34 maravedís in 1497.
Reconquest
-(Reconquista in Spanish). A succession of military campaigns to reclaim Iberian lands from Muslim occupiers. The Reconquest started in the 8th c and ended in 1492 with the capture of Granada.
regent
-ruler of a kingdom during the absence, childhood or illness of the king or queen.
Religious orders of knights
-Christian military monastic organisations formed to defend and expand the Christian lands of Spain against the Muslims.
ribagorza
-a county consisting of 17 towns and 216 villages extending from Monzón to the Pyrenees.
see
-the area of bishop’s ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
servicio
-a sum of money to be raised by taxation.
sisa
-a tax on food.
speculator
-a person who makes risky investments in anticipation of prices going up in order to resell at a profit.
subsidio
-a clerical tax introduced in 1519 and regularly levied on rents, lands and other forms of income.
synod
-an assembly of the clergy (and sometimes laity) in a diocese.
tercio
-a new type of infantry formation used by the Spanish armies from 1534.
tithe
-one tenth of annual production or earnings given to the Church.
trebuchet
-a type of catapult used as a siege engine.
usury
-the lending of money at unreasonably high rates of interest.
vassal
-someone given land in return for supporting his master or lord.
viceroy
-an official who runs a country or state in the name of, and as a representative of, a king or queen.
vulgate
-a late 4th c Latin translation of the Bible.
witchcraft
-practice and belief in magical skills. Usually such powers were considered to be evil and associated with the Devil.
