Political/Government Flashcards
How did I+F maintain peace and order in Castile and Aragon?
-they ruled according to customs already established in kingdoms
-castile considered more important
-personal presence (Isabella visited every part of castile in 30 years)
-hermandades used in several towns to keep peace (until 1498) they tried ppl for crimes, not welcome in Aragon
-corregidores tried to ensure that councils followed royal policies and were not interfered by the church, collected tax
How did I+F play an active role in the government?
-Isabella controlled the appointment of treasury officials, the masterships of military orders, the major ecclesiastical promotions in castile
-1475 Ferdinand also empowered to appoint royal officials
-both choose chose royal secretaries
-castilian government consisted of household officials who performed political and administrative functions
-they introduced viceroys to act as royal respresentatives
Describe the conciliar system under I+F
-various councils made up central administration of government
-the royal council acted as the main council and consisted of 5 chambers dealing with foreign affairs, justice, finances, hermandades and groups of nobles and letrados from Aragon
-I+F increased no. of councils to meet new responsibilities- 1483 supreme inquisition, 1489 council of orders(dealt w military orders) and 1524 council of Indies (matters ab new world)
-council met on daily basis
-1493 all members of the royal council had to be letrados
Describe the Cortes under I+F
-right to summon cortes with monarchy, no rule for how often they could meet
-1 cortes in castile, 3 in Aragon
-lacked legislative power and retained right to petition
-castillian cortes summoned in Toledo in 1480- didnt meet again until 1498
-crown made laws in presence of the cortes
-1505, cortes issued 83 laws by its own authority and Ferdinand ratified them
-main function to vote subsidies
-1480 Isabella declared all major Castilian towns should elect a Corregidor for 2 years, by 1494 there were 54 towns with corregidores, not introduced to Aragon
-kings of Aragon were reliant on the cortes to legislate and to introduce new taxed, Aragonese cortes retained greater privileges and power than castillian- In Aragon grievances were discussed before giving money, in castile money first
How was justice ensured under I+F
1489, Audencia sat in Valladolid to deal with civil and criminal cases and was composed of a president and 8 judges
-second court of appeal was established in Ciudad real in 1494 which was moved to Granada in 1505
-In Aragon, the justiciar was considered to be guardian of the fueros
-hermandades introduced in 1476- provided security and justice for local communities and facilitated the increase of royal control over urban and rural affairs
-hermandades were very powerful and was used both to raise finances and to establish militias
Describe Unity under I+F
-their marriage brought a semblance of unity to castile and Aragon
-Isabella was queen in castile and Ferdinand was permitted to give orders there
-major political decisions required both their signatures
-they respected their political and legal variances of their respective territories
-ferd respected the fueros of Aragonese subjects- they were a constant barrier for centralising policies and they were upheld by the justiciar who would actively question and resist royal legislation
-castillian troops and money supported aragonese aims
-castillian became dominant language
Describe why Castile and Aragon were not united under I+F
-separate council to advise solely on the affairs of Aragon
-cortes of the kingdom’s remained separate and laws
-corregidores only in castile
-no economic union, merchants and traders had to pay custom duties across kingdoms
-no central body to deal with foreign policy
-if there was additional territory, only granted to one kingdom eg. new world to castile
-non-castillian kingdoms feared unification as they would lose distinct identities
-resentment to Castilians as they got majority rewards and offices
Why did the spanish mistrust Charles as king?
-concern over spain not being a priority due to the 1519 HRE election
-his chief advisors were not spanish and he picked Burgundians over spanish( de Croy appointed as archbishop of Toledo) (Adrian of Utrecht named regent in 1520)
-limited knowledge on spain and language
-spanish didnt trust foreigners
-Nobles favoured his brother Ferdinand as he was raised in spain
Describe Charles’ initial relationship with the Castillian cortes
-1518 Charles met at the castillian cortes at Valladolid
-Juan de Zumel, representative of city of burgos, publicly refused to recognise Charles as sovereign, claiming Juana was the real ruler of castile
-they protested against the inclusion of a foreigner at a meeting of their cortes
-they demanded that Charles respected the laws and privileges of Castile, administer justice, remove foreigners from his service, reside in spain and learn to speak castillian
- Cortes granted Charles 600,000 ducats without conditions for 3 years
Describe Charles’ initial relationship with the Aragonese cortes
-Aragon more reluctant to recognise Charles as king especially while Juana was still alive, cortes had more power than Charles
-Aragon demanded the same as the castillian cortes
-Charles received a grant of 200,000 ducats
Describe how Charles ruled his independent lands
-castillians favoured “monarchy” as it allowed the possibility of independent lands being symbolically unified by their allegiance to the same ruler
-central administration was impractical given the diverse lands and customs under his control
-1526 Council of state was created for governing spain and German lands- represented a central institution for Charles empire composed of leading Burgundian, Italian and German officials
-Charles barely used it as he preferred to work through Granvelle and Cobos to draw up policies
-revolts were a stark reminder that monarchs would endanger their own positions if they ignored the privileged and threatened the autonomy of different states
-Each individual part of his empire had a separate political, judicial and fiscal system and no part was considered constitutionally subordinate to another
-a regent or viceroy represented him in each state and he tended to appoint family members: Germaine de Foix became viceroy of Valencia in 1521 and brother Ferdinand was put in charge of the Hapsburg lands
Describe the Castillian government under Charles
-spanish official replaced most of his Flemish advisors
-by 1550’s, royal court was costing 200,000 ducats annually
-language of the court became castillian
-Isabella (king of Portugal sister/Charles’ wife) was to act as regent in his absense
-Spaniards increasingly dominated not only the castillian offices but also the more important roles elsewhere in the empire
-his spanish subjects became more sympathetic to the extent and nature of Charles’ responsibilities
Describe the Concilliar system under Charles
-Charles extended the system he inherited from Isabella and Ferdinand- spain lacked political unity
-he built on traditions of councils and created new ones to deal with specific issues
-royal council of castile acted as a Supreme Court, to which audencias could appeal
ADVISORY COUNCILS
-1522 Council of War- to devise monarchs military policies
-1526 council of State- made up of nobility and letrados, not used consistently as he rather work through Granvelle and Cobos
ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCILS
-1523 Council of Finance- directed by Cobos and by 1525 all members were spaniards- main function was supposed to be preparation of budgets and the balancing of income and expenditure in spain
-1524 Council of Indies- deal with matters in new world
-1555 Council of Italy
All councils were responsible for preparing and discussing their respective agendas and secretaries were to liaise with the king himself
Describe Charles’ relationship with the Cortes’ after 1522
-established good working relationship with castillian cortes
-he convened the cortes regularly (met 15 times during his reign) giving impression that he was prepared to listen to their grievances
-cortes often coincided with Charles’ return to spain from foreign ventures
-cortes was often summoned to vote subsidies and their response was invariably generous
-Cortes of Aragon met 6x during Charles’ reign
-Charles realised his authority was restricted in part by the fiscal and judicial powers of each cortes- aware it wasn’t worth challenging their influence
Describe Charles’ Secretaries
-they represented the primary medium of communication between the king and the council
-they dominated the agenda for most council meetings and drafted the majority of royal documents
-vital in controlling incoming correspondence
-they made the decision as to whether it should be passed on directly to the king or whether it should be handed to the relevant council
-Charles rarely communication with his councils but was reliant on his secretaries to keep him informed
