Revolts in Spain 1519 - 1521

Question 1

What were the main grievances of those involved in the revolt of the comuneros of May 1520?

Answer 1

• resentful of Charles leaving Spain
• hated foreigners who filled important positions and offices
• foreigners were viewed as taking the wealth out of Spain
• fears that their country would lost its separate identity as part of the empire and Charles would not return
• resentment that he had asked for money twice in 3 years
• rumours even circulated that taxes would be imposed on baptism, air and water

Question 2

What were some demands that the Holy Junta of Tordesillas made in 1520? (set up by 14 cities)

Answer 2

• live in Castile
• bring no ‘Flemings, Frenchman nor natives of any other country’ to fill positions in his household
• follow the customs of the ‘Catholic Sovereigns Don Fernando and Dona Isabel, his grandparents’

Question 3

Why does Elliott not believe it in the years when Charles became king of Spain that the seeds of the movement were sown?

Answer 3

• believes it was in the time of Ferd and Isa and Cisneros’ regency
• felt many of the traditional powers/ prerogatives of the Castilian towns and cities had been eroded under the rule of the two monarchs eg. corregidores

Question 4

What evidence does Elliott have that supports his view that the seeds of the comuneros revolt were sown in the reign of Ferd and Isa?

Answer 4

• demand of Junta of Tordesillas that no corregidor should be appointed except at the request of the town concerned
• corregidores (especially in the 1490s) had become disliked as inefficient and even corrupt body that towns had to pay for

Question 5

What does Halicazer believe was another seed of the revolt of the comuneros movement sown in the reign of Ferd and Isa?

Answer 5

• a wealthy and growing urban middle class in Castile were becoming resentful of the political dominance of the Castilian nobility (being favoured by the Crown at the expense of the towns)

Question 6

Where did the rebellion start?

Answer 6

• Toledo

Question 7

When Juan de Padilla took command, what did he do?

Answer 7

• set up a government in the name of the king, queen (Jo) and the comunidad
• indicated that this was not a revolt designed to overthrow the king

Question 8

Which other areas followed Toledo’s lead?

Answer 8

• Segovia, Salamanca, Valladolid (latter being the residence of Charles’ unpopular regent, Adrian of Utrecht)

Question 9

Where did the most supporters of the rebellion come from? What role did the nobles take at this point of the rebellion?

Answer 9

• lower nobility (eg. Maldonados of Salamanca)
• town dwellers
• stood aside to see how matters progressed eg. Duke of Infantado

Question 10

An attempt was made to gain support of Queen Joanna when Tordesillas (her place of residence) was taken. How did that go?

Answer 10

• she was prepared to show support when meeting with some of the comuneros but wouldn’t commit herself on paper
• refusal left the leaders with no claim of legality ie. if they had claimed an attempt to restore the rightful monarch to the throne they would have had a purpose
• they were left with no clear aim

Question 11

What concessions did Charles make in order to turn the situation in his favour?

Answer 11

• collection of the servicio voted by the Cortes of Santiago was stopped
• no more foreigners were to be appointed to offices in Castile
• two Castilians (most important grandees - admiral Enríquez and constable Velasco of Castile) joined Adrian as coregents

Question 12

During the same time of Charles’ concessions, the rebellion became more violent. What happened?

Answer 12

• few attacks on property
• some demands for social/ economic reforms (ie. curbs on powers of nobles and criticism of their exemption from taxation)

Question 13

Why did the revolt becoming more violent work in Charles’ favour?

Answer 13

• some criticisms began to involve the nobles who had previously stood aside
• concern over developments at Valencia - a social rising was taking place (revolt of the Germania)

Question 14

How did the revolt of the comuneros conclude?

Answer 14

• royal army formed what defeated comuneros at Battle of Villalar in 1521
• leaders: Padilla (member of nobility) and Juan Bravo (Segovian comuneros leader) were executed
• major defeat
• comuneros lost control of most of northern Castile and only Toledo held on a little longer

Question 15

When Charles returned to Spain with an army of foreign mercenaries, he was in a good position to deal firmly with the rebels. What happened?

Answer 15

• some were executed
• others received various punishments
• beyond this, Charles issued a general pardon (showed leniency)

Question 16

What happened with the corregidores after the revolt?

Answer 16

• their power was increased

Question 17

How did Charles relationship with the Cortes change after the revolt?

Answer 17

• 18 towns represented in Cortes were still able to send representatives
• but, little opposition to Crown policies
• although he had swore to uphold the liberties and privileges of Castile, this became only a formality
• towns kept much of their autonomy eg. when the crown found it convenient to convert the alcabala into the encabezamiento, the towns achieved a great measure of control over the administration of parliamentary taxation

Question 18

As a welcomed change, who was the unpopular Chievres replaced with?

Answer 18

• Gattinara, respected councillor of Charles’ mother

Question 19

In 1519, another revolt broke out in Valencia. Who were the Germania?

Answer 19

• Christian brotherhood of armed volunteers from the poorer classes which had been formed to defend the Valencian coast against Muslim pirates

Question 20

Why did members of the Germania have grievances mainly against the local Muslims and the powers of the nobles who employed them?

Answer 20

• plague had broken out in the area
• seen by many as a punishment for tolerating Muslims in their community - preacher in a Valencia Cathedral pronounced to be a divine chastisement for the prevailing immorality
• resentment against the privileges of nobles and near starvation conditions in which many members of the Germania lived

Question 21

What further complaints did the Germania have against Charles?

Answer 21

• he had frequently postponed the meeting of the Cortes of Valencia
• did not seem interested in remaining in Spain

Question 22

Where was most support for the rebellion found?

Answer 22

• a wide section of the middle and lower classes (poorer craftsmen, small farmers, weavers, spinners)
• not among the nobles or wealthier clergy

Question 23

At first, where was the violence of the movement directed?

Answer 23

• against the Muslim peasants in the country areas around Valencia
• some were murdered and many were forcibly baptised into the Christian faith

Question 24

How was the movement able to progress so rapidly to include most other parts of the kingdom, including the island of Majorca?

Answer 24

• many of the rich had moved away from Valencia due to plague
• experienced success against small military forces sent against them led by nobles/ representatives of the Crown

Question 25

When was support for the movement lost?

Answer 25

• new leader Peris took over and incited followers to more violence and radicalism (eg. demanding a wider distribution of land)

Question 26

What was the result of loss of support for the movement?

Answer 26

• many members of the middle classes especially withdrew their support
• supporters of Crown made gains
• city of Valencia was recaptured
• by end of 1521: Crown had defeated undisciplined and ill-equipped army of the Germania
• Peris was executed

Question 27

What was the overall result of the revolt?

Answer 27

• many rebels sentenced to death
• others suffered fines and confiscation of possessions
• local nobles, through victories, strengthened their own position

Question 28

What comment does John Lynch make in regards to the defeat of the comuneros and the balance of power?

Answer 28

• the defeat signified the “absolutism” of Charle’s rule over Castile and that, in future, his powers wouldn’t be checked

Question 29

How does Kamen challenge Lynch? What examples does he use?

Answer 29

• he agrees that the rebels did not achieve the political power they had been hoping for but their major demands were implemented by the government
• Cortes did meet regularly
• 1525 and 1534: collection of taxes was granted to the towns

Question 30

What evidence does Lynch use to evidence his view that the defeat left ‘Castile… completely at the mercy of its sovereign’?

Answer 30

• municipal government was incapable of exercising independent authority
• even elected officers of the towns had little power when face to face with corregidores
• towns overwhelmed with corregidores could hardly be expected to send independent representatives to Cortes

Question 31

What did Charles make clear in the defeat at Villalar?

Answer 31

• cities were to play no part in government

Question 32

How could some of Lynch’s views be seen as too extreme?

Answer 32

• no attempt was made to reduce existing powers of Cortes in Castile or Aragon
• Castile already had few means through which she could impinge on Charles’ powers in the Cortes
• role of nobility in government arguably continued as before

Question 33

How could Kamen’s view that the nobility’s authority and prestige was enhanced by their contribution to the victory be challenged?

Answer 33

• there were complaints from some members of the nobility that they did not receive the rewards they felt entitled to
• one wrote bitterly that Charles had ‘not granted any mercedes (rewards) to those who took lance in hand’

Question 34

What is an accepted view among historians such as Elliott?

Answer 34

• failure of the comuneros meant a failure of purely Spanish interests
• signified the end of attempts to prevent Spain from playing a major role in the events of Europe

Question 35

How did Charles’ relationship with the nobility change after the revolts?

Answer 35

• they had proved their value so…
• 1538: Charles proposed a tax from which the nobles should not be exempt, there were immediate rumblings of revolt
• the king had to give way, but he never summoned the nobility again to the meetings of the Cortes so they lost some aspects of political influence
• monarchy had thus won its political victory in Castile only at the cost of letting the nobility contract out of the financial obligations to the state and the empire

Question 36

While Charles kept the grandees out of the central government of Spain - how did he appeal to them?

Answer 36

• had many prizes to offer in military commands, provincial governorships, and even viceroyalties in Italy and Spanish America
• hidalgos, trained as lawyers at Salamanca or as theologians at Alcalá de Henares, could look forward to dazzling careers in the king’s councils and in the Spanish church
• championing of Roman Catholic Christianity against the Muslim Turks and German heretics appealed to their own traditions of Christian warfare (when he draw up the Edict of Worms rejecting Luther’s doctrine)