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How did Ferdinand and Isabella strengthen monarchy in Spain? (Cortes…
How did Ferdinand and Isabella strengthen monarchy in Spain?
Central government
Peripatetic
Had
no capital city
so the government
moved
with the monarchs on their royal progresses
What did they did while travelling
Enforced the
law
👮♂️👮♀️⚖
Supported the
authority of their local surrogates
Presided over
courts of justice
⚖👨⚖️
Visited key towns and noblemen, ensuring their
loyalty
Every significant
Castilian
town or city
visited- Seville visited more than ten times during their reign
Aragon visited less
than Castile and some parts of Castile
neglected
Consejo Royal
Central government organised around
Consejo Royal
(Royal Council of Castile)- met daily with the
monarch presiding
Established five sub-commitees
Justice
⚖- Sat twice a week to hear cases- monarchs personally present and made judicial decisions- as their responsibilities increased- trained judges took over and professional courts established- aim to develop impartial judicial processes, but sometimes harsh decisions were made
Finance
💰
Santa Hermandad
👮♂️👮♀️
Foreign Policy
🌍
Aragon
Other separate bodies also established such a
Council for the Inquisition
(Holy office), as well as a committee to help Ferdinand administer the
Military Orders
Use of letrados
Although
major nobles and clergy were represented
, monarchs
employed large number of Letrados
Letrados were
university trained lawyers
who did the bulk of the administrative and organisational work of the committees📚
Monarchs used letrados more than predecessors and after 1493 generally
expected all officials were letrados
Royal council had
four main officers
- Grand Chancellor, Chancellor of the Privy Seal, Constable and Admiral- aided by Letrados
Cortes
Called by monarchs when they
needed money and to confirm royal legislation
💰
Gave monarchs another way of
hearing potential grievances
Cortes represented
three estates
- Clergy, nobles and cities✝💲🏙
Clergy and nobles
didn't pay taxes
💲❌ and the main purpose of the Cortes was to grant taxation so the
cities were vital to control
Between 1479 and 1506 Cortes
granted regular taxation
and
returned to the crown estates
lost to nobility as Cortes of Toledo 1480
Aragon
Aragonese cortes demonstrated
greater independence
and readiness to challenge crown- stronger fueros (liberites) enjoyed by people of Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia- Ferdinand eventually found easier to rely on custom duties than ask for taxation
In three cortes of Aragon- expected they
would listen to grievances before grants of money
- led to
considerable power-
evident in 1488- strong opposition to Hermandad in Aragon led to suspension final suppression in 1495 cortes 👮♂️❌
Ferdinand
unable to legally remove the justicia
who headed the legal system- could not always pass laws, raise taxes or create an army
Castile
Castilian Cortes met
16 times
between 1479 and 1506 and Aragonese Cortes equally as busy- built up
support and relationship between monarchs and Cortes
Met 12 times after 1498- due to
political crisis
that arose after one or another died or became incapabale of ruling👑☠
Did not meet between 1482 and 1498- probably due to Isabella having
funds from Hermandad
👮♂️💰
Castile cortes had limited authority
- not essential that they should agree to new laws
Much of the money
needed to come from Castile Cortes
- achieved this by voting
special taxes
- from 1474
tax revenue increased
💰⬆
Isabella ensured
all laws were always legitimised
by cortes whilst maintaining that her
power was absolute
Conflict
of interest between
Isabella wanting money and cortes wanting grievances met
seen in 1483-1497- When a cortes was summoned, Isabella selected the individuals to be summoned- one meeting Isabella called only town representatives of a select group of towns
Relationships
between the monarch and the cortes were
often poor
- both sides found situation frustrating
Corregidores
1480- Isabella gained Cortes approval for appointment of corregidor to
every town
that did not possess royal governor
What they did
Collected
taxes
💰
Maintained
order
👩⚖️
Reported to the crown of
state affairs
in area
Tried to ensure councils followed
royal policies
Tried to make sure
royal jurisdiction was not tampered
with by members of church or nobility
Helped improve
efficiency of local government and tax collection
Other royal officials sent to check on work corregidors were doing- local officials whose salaries were met by the towns themselves-
resented
Government instruction (pragmatic) of 1500- attempted to regulate conduct and remove abuses- no corregidor should remain in given town for more than
two years
Santa Hermandad
Hermandades were brotherhoods which had been used in several Castilian towns in the past to
keep peace
🕊
1476- Isabella persuaded cortes of Madrigal to issue decree
combining existing Hermandades
into a crown sponsored 'Holy Brotherhood'
Hermandad set up in
every place with more than 50 inhabitants
Santa Hermandad
co-ordinated the work of individual Hermandades
- controlled by crown
What did it contribute
Provided
3000 troops
⚔🔫
Regularly
contributed money
to finance fighting in the Civil War and Granada war💰
Done much to bring localities in Castile
law and order
⚖👨⚖️👩⚖️
Aims
Police towns and villages
including neighbouring countryside👮♂️👮♀️
Tried people for certain crimes
such as robbery, murder and arson- punishments dolled out were severe, e.g. mutilation and death☠
Disbanded in 1495
after purpose had been achieved
Limitations to success
Could only deal with
small disorders
Other law officials disliked them
impinging on their own jurisdiction
Financial contributions to the crown seen as a
burden
Difficult
to introduce them in
all parts of country
Nobility in Aragon
resented imposition of Hermandad
in cities of Aragon and were short lived there
Justice seen as
harsh and widely feared
and deeply unpopular😱
Nobles
Control
Ferdinand assumed control over
military orders
controlling 1 million armed men
Corregidores asserted
some control over local aristocracy
Noble illegalities dealt with
firmly but inconsistently
Encouraged
growth of Letrados
, and nobles excluded from council of finance and the inquisition- after 1490 all government councils supposed to be composed entirely of Letrados
Castles
of untrustworthy nobles sometimes
destroyed
🏰💣
Cortes of Toledo- 1480-
Act of Resumption
allowed monarchs to
repossess land
lost to nobility during civil wars
Crown confirmed aristocracies exemption from taxation and arrest meant that nobles liked them
Didn't control
Right to
collect taxes
in certain areas granted to specific noblemen💰🖐
Crown confirmed aristocracies
exemption from taxation and arrest
👮♂️💰❌
Pacts signed between specific noblemen and crown whereby
huge estates were granted in return for surrender by noblemen of a particular office
, often a regional governship- Count of Trevino gave up governship of Vizcaya in return for extensive lands in the Rioja