Society in Castile

Question 1

Why would the emerging middle class wish to be a noble?

Answer 1

• they’re exempt from tax

- they have legal rights (couldn’t be sent to the galleys, couldn’t be sent to prison for debt, couldn’t be tortured)

Question 2

How could you become a noble?

Answer 2

Buy noble status and enter at the Hidalguia

Question 3

How many nobles family dominated the upper nobility?

Answer 3

15

Question 4

What did the grandees do?

Answer 4

• held all advisory roles

- held all ecclesiastical offices

Question 5

How had many noble families gained their power in the early reconquest?

Answer 5

By gaining back Moors land

Question 6

What family was Henry IV from?

Answer 6

Trastamara

Question 7

What had Henry IV sold more of than any other previous monarch in his family and why was this a bad idea?

Answer 7

More royal land than any other previous monarch in his family. This was bad because the land couldn’t be gained back once sold and it weakened the Crown

Question 8

How could the economy and growth of towns be negatively impacted by nobility?

Answer 8

Towns were dominated by nobility if surrounded by noble land

Question 9

Out of the whole Castilian population, what percentage were peasantry?

Answer 9

80%