Key Terms of Spanish History: 15th-18th Centuries

Posted on Jan 10, 2025 in Geography

Holy Brotherhood: Organization created by the Catholic Monarchs to pursue and stamp out vandalism endemic in rural areas.
Inquisition: Tribunal established by the Catholic Monarchs to pursue the Judaizers, then the Moors, and then everything that was against religion.
Mudéjares: Muslims living in Christian territory.
Moriscos: Muslims forcibly converted to Christianity.
Judaizers: Baptized Jews who secretly practiced their religion.
Sephardim: Jews expelled from Spain who retained the customs and language of Castile.
New Christians: Jewish or Moorish converts to Christianity.

Court: Court of Justice.
Viceroy: Representative of the monarchs who fully exercised royal authority.
Aldermen: Officials imposed by the Catholic Kings to control the councils.
Valid: A person trusted by the King to govern in his place.

Maya: Indigenous people of southern pre-Columbian Mexico, Guatemala, and Yucatan.
Aztec: Indigenous people of central pre-Columbian Mexico who emigrated from the U.S., defeated by Hernán Cortés.
Incas: Indigenous people of pre-Columbian Peru, Ecuador, Northern Chile, and Bolivia.
Guanches: Indigenous people of the Canary Islands.

Treaty of Alcaçovas: Treaty that ended the Castilian Civil War, in which the King of Portugal accepted Elizabeth I as Queen of Castile.
Treaty of Tordesillas: Treaty between Castile and Portugal that moved the line of demarcation for exploration and colonization.
Royal Patronage: The Catholic Monarchs could appoint bishops in Granada and later in Latin America.
Universal Board: The Catholic Monarchs could select the bishops of Granada and later America.
Peace of Augsburg: Established the principle of religious freedom within the Holy Roman Empire.
Peace of Westphalia: Ended the Thirty Years’ War.
Peace of Münster: Peace treaty subsumed by the Peace of Westphalia.
Peace of the Pyrenees: Signed with France, Spain ceded Cerdanya and Roussillon.

Comuneros: A group of Spaniards who rebelled against Charles V for not respecting the laws of Castile.
Germanías: Revolt of the bourgeoisie and artisans in Valencia and Mallorca against the nobility.
Berbers: Pirates of North Africa (e.g., Barbarossa).
Catholic League: Alliance between Spain, the Papacy, and Venice against the Ottoman Turks in the Mediterranean.
Invincible Armada: Fleet created by Philip II to invade England.
Junta Santa: The villagers formed a government in Castile in the name of Queen Juana.

New Laws: Charles V suppressed the encomiendas, giving freedom to the American Indians.
Encomiendas: System in which the Spanish were distributed Indigenous people, each having certain rights and obligations.
Truce of Twelve Years: Philip II signed a truce with the Dutch Republic.
Union of Arms: To defend the Empire, the Count-Duke of Olivares decided to create an army of 135,000 men to be paid for by all realms, as Castile was exhausted.

Mesta: Group of large sheep farmers established in the Middle Ages to protect their interests and obtain great privileges from the Kings.
House of Trade: Agency created by the Catholic Monarchs in Seville to control trade with America, prevent undesirable people (Jews, Gypsies, etc.) from entering, and collect the royal fifth. It also served as a school for cartography and examined pilots who wished to sail to America.