Christian Kingdoms in the Late Middle Ages: Castile & Aragon
The Christian Kingdoms in the Late Middle Ages: Political Organization and Institutions in the Kingdom of Castilla and the Crown of Aragon
Kingdom of Castile
Initially, the capital of the Kingdom of Castile was not fixed, but moved wherever the king’s presence was necessary. However, from the fifteenth century onward, it tended to remain in the Northern Plateau, especially in Valladolid. The Treasury gained a specialized role and its importance increased over time. The progressive increase in tax revenue, including taxes on sales, services, and wool, played a critical role in strengthening the crown and allowed the kings greater autonomy in their decisions. To manage these finances, offices of Finance and Accounts were developed, along with a network of tax collectors spread throughout the territory.
The territorial organization was consolidated during the reign of Alfonso X through the adelantado, a royal official with judicial, political, and military powers over a district, usually a border region. Another notable administrative division was the merindades, geographical units that emerged at the end of the twelfth century. The merino was the king’s representative in each merindad, primarily responsible for collecting rents and services. There were 19 merindades in total.
The crown also attempted to control the councils, which were governed by neighborhood assemblies. Alfonso XI regulated the governance of cities through the system of regimientos (chaired by an alderman). The figure of the corregidor, an officer sent by the Crown to intervene in cases of conflict, became increasingly common. Despite these efforts, the Trastámara dynasty weakened the Concejil, granting autonomy to many cities and nobles.
The Cortes, meeting for the first time in León in 1188 as an extension of the Curia Regia, had a consultative role and were always heavily influenced by the king. Initially, they were attended by representatives of cities, nobility, and clergy, but the clergy eventually stopped attending and were replaced by attorneys from 17 cities who assumed the responsibility for tax expenditure. The Cortes discussed a wide range of issues, including not only the requests and complaints of the cities but also political matters.
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon was not a unified state, but rather a union of kingdoms. Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, and the Principality of Catalonia each had their own institutions and laws. Although some similarities existed, the kings were subject to the specific characteristics of each territory. The vastness and geographical spread of the territories, coupled with a relatively small royal court and communication difficulties, contributed to the political weakness of most Aragonese kings.
These difficulties were compounded by the active but costly foreign policy of the monarchy. The conquests in the Mediterranean forced the Crown to seek economic aid from the privileged classes of its kingdoms. These classes took advantage of the situation and, in 1283, the Aragonese courts imposed on Pedro III el Grande the oath of the General Privilege and the privileges of their respective kingdoms, essentially guaranteeing the privileges of nobles and ecclesiastics, including the misuse of power and absolute freedom and autonomy in their señoríos. Furthermore, the crown agreed to convene the courts frequently to consult on a wide range of issues, especially if it needed subsidies. In Aragon, the crown also accepted the jurisdiction of the Chief Justice, a position assigned to a nobleman who was responsible for defending the privileges of the estates against the king.
From then on, the estates established a model of political operation that has been called a “pact” due to the necessity imposed on the Aragonese monarchy to reach agreements with the magnates permanently. The aristocracy and higher clergy frequently resorted to force. In 1359, Pedro IV had to accept the formation of a committee of the Catalonian, the County’s General, to oversee the administration of the grants voted in favor of the monarch and the fulfillment of the agreements during the period when the Cortes were not gathered. This model was extended to the entire crown in 1362. In practice, this council, which was renamed simply Generalitat, became the authentic Catalan government. Similar Councils of the Kingdom were later created in Valencia and Aragon.
In each kingdom, the king had a Lieutenant or Governor (Viceroy in Mallorca) who managed the territorial administration. In 1344, Pedro IV issued the Ordinance of the Royal Family, which regulated the operation of the Royal Council and the High Court presided over by the Chancellor. The territorial administration was organized into merindades or vegueries. The organ of power in cities was the city council, which in the late Middle Ages fell under the control of local oligarchies (Concell de Cent of Barcelona).
In this context, the courts were estates that acted as watchdogs over the crown and were clearly dominated by the nobility and clergy, who made the decisions. They were composed of three arms, formed by the nobility, the church, and the urban patricians, except in Aragon, where the nobility was divided into two different arms: rich men and noblemen. The courts acted as an instrument for defending feudal interests against the crown’s attempts to extend its authority. In fact, they always opened with the presentation of memorials of grievances “against the king or his officials.”
Attempts by the Trastámara dynasty, established in 1412 after the Compromise of Caspe, to establish an authoritarian monarchy clashed with the opposition of the nobility. Even though the kings sought the favor of the Remensa (peasants who rose up against their feudal lords) and craftsmen and merchants (Busca) in their confrontation with the Barcelona oligarchy (Biga), they could do little against the power of the aristocracy and oligarchy, who even rebelled against the Crown in the civil war from 1462 to 1472. All these conflicts ended with the arbitral award of Guadalupe in 1486, which effectively recognized the situation of pacts and the power of the nobility.