Demographic and Economic Crisis in Spain, 14th-15th Centuries
Demographic and Economic Crisis in Spain (14th-15th Centuries)
Since 1270, the first symptoms of a crisis affecting all walks of life appeared. Speculative crops, driven by lords seeking to get rich due to good previous years, prevented the development of subsistence farming, and the most humble began to starve. Climatic deterioration brought crop failures and widespread hunger.
The Black Death (1348)
The crisis worsened in the 14th century, intensified throughout Europe by the Hundred Years’ War (1339-1453) between England and France, and the Western Schism (1378-1417), in which the Church hierarchy contested its dominance and had as many as three popes at one time. The economic crisis subsided, but the demographic crisis persisted. Fields were depopulated, and crops fell. The lords were forced to pay higher wages to farmers and prevent their migration to the cities. By the 1420s, there were already signs of population recovery. Castile was the first to recover.
Expansion of the Spanish Economy
From the early 15th century, there was an economic recovery, with increasing urban population and integration into the European economy. The lords were able to produce according to the market, and export crops achieved great expansion in Spain. The nobility, who controlled the Mesta, and the monarchy made the wool trade the Spanish economic engine. The main industry was textiles, but it only supplied the domestic market. Seville was a center of shipbuilding and a stopover between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
The Economy of Aragon
Between 1275 and 1356, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands reached a commercial expansion, driven by a powerful bourgeoisie that imported spices, wheat, and cotton, and exported textiles, iron, and weapons. Spurred by trade, ironwork made important technical advances, and shipbuilding reached the level that corresponded to a great maritime empire. The textile industry was one of the pillars of the Catalan economy. But since the mid-14th century, the crisis began to worsen, and in the 15th century, Valencia took over.
Social Conflicts During the Crisis
Numerous social conflicts developed with the backdrop of this crisis.
- Stately Pressure: The pressure on people who occupied the lands of the nobility increased. To ensure continuity, nobles adopted the institution of primogeniture, which reserved the almost complete transfer of wealth in favor of a single child. To be distinguished from other social groups, they invented rituals and ceremonies like being knighted.
- Noble Factions: The nobles held as clients the second members of the nobility. All of them were part of factions that fought each other for the loss of income.
Peasant Movements
Peasants reacted from the late 13th century to two stately practices. Since 1462, the uprising was mixed with the political war between John II of Aragon and the Generalitat of Catalonia. The Sentence of Guadalupe, issued by King Ferdinand in 1486, did not pacify the situation. The lords fled their land, leaving their towers and castles destroyed by the peasants. In 1470, the lords returned and crushed the revolt.
Urban Conflicts
Urban conflicts only occurred in Catalonia; the gentry did not exist in Castile. In big cities like Barcelona, the protectionist interests of the artisan class conflicted with those of the gentry, who favored free trade and monopolized the municipal government. This rivalry had its expression in the struggle between the Busca and the Biga over Barcelona’s municipal control.
Anti-Jewish Sentiment
At this time, anti-Jewish sentiment exploded in the Peninsula. This was due to the growing role of Jews as moneylenders and landlords. The nobility used their services. At the end of the 13th century, the expulsion of Jews from France and England was considered a role model, and preachers insisted on the image of Jews as murderers of God in the person of Christ. As a result, many Jews were killed, and many chose to convert to Christianity.