Spanish Parliamentary Institutions: Cortes of Castile, Aragon, and Navarre

Posted on Dec 12, 2024 in History

Section 1: The Cortes: Origin, Rationale, and General Characteristics of its Operation

The Spanish parliamentary institution, whose age makes the Castilian Cortes rival in their origin with the courts of England (House of Lords). The origin of parliamentarism in Castile and England is not definitively known. The legal nature of the Cortes is discussed or considered controversial because they are those containing the character of a parliament that somehow controls the king’s power. Those who only advise, some argue, are not considered Cortes. There are various theories regarding the Cortes, especially the Castilian ones.

Martínez Marina, a scholar and cleric who acted in the Cortes of Cádiz, wrote a relevant book: Theory of the Cortes. He notes that the Cortes of Castile and León controlled the power of the king in the Middle Ages and came to possess a sovereignty.
The Portuguese Calogero argues that these meetings had not surpassed an advisory role.
Pérez-Prendes, another author, argues that the Cortes maintained a duty to counsel the king. Their mission was to give advice, monitor, and enforce the royal mandate.
Other authors speak of a political body overseeing royal power.
There are also those who argue that the medieval Castilian Cortes performed genuine legislative and financial activity.

Powers of the Cortes

Each realm of the Crown of Aragon had its own Cortes: Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia. Each of these Cortes was semi-independent from each other. The Crown of Castile had common Cortes for Castile and León. Competencies of the Middle Ages:

Granting extraordinary financial assistance to the monarchy.
Legislative Task: Territorial legislation was drafted and approved independently by each of the three estates.
Redress of Grievances: The Cortes noted actions contrary to the laws, charters, and customs of the place. This was carried out after the relief of those who had been wronged by royal officials.

Financial aid was a relevant aspect of the Cortes, the key to financing the war effort of the monarchy.

Composition of the Cortes

In Castile and León, the Cortes were composed of three estates:

Noble Estate: Representatives from the Castilian and Leonese nobility.
Ecclesiastical Estate: Formed by bishops, archbishops, and abbots of monasteries.
Common Estate or Third Estate: Representatives of the villages or cities, specifically the royal towns or cities that depended on the king. Dominion villages were represented by the respective noble or ecclesiastic.

The representatives of the cities in Castile and León were attorneys, and each city could appoint one or more representatives to vote in court, but they only had one vote in court. These representatives were chosen by the cities themselves from among the heads of families from different villages or towns. Later, the councils appointed these attorneys through a lottery. In the Crown of Aragon, they used a system of balloting, where potential candidates were placed in a bag, and an anonymous hand chose the representative. After receiving their appointment, each city set its representatives’ powers, performances, competitions, and vote. If new questions arose, new powers would be sought from the city to limit their powers.

Section 2: The Cortes of the Various Kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon

The Cortes of the various kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon were different. There were Cortes in Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia, but no Cortes in Mallorca. In Mallorca, there was the so-called Great and General Council, which in no way replaced the Cortes. It is possible to enter into a discussion about whether the Catalan Cortes are the first of the Iberian Peninsula and even if they are the first in Europe, in discussion with the Cortes of León and the British Parliament.

In Catalonia, the Cortes had three estates:

A first estate was the Nobility Estate.
A second estate was made up of bishops and ecclesiastical abbots.
Then there was the Common Estate, which included the representatives of the cities.

A singularity in Catalonia is that for a short period of time, between 1305 and 1314, there were two estates: one of noble barons and another of lower nobles (cavallers).

Catalan Cortes were characterized by being included in what is called the pacts, which is an agreement between the crown and other branches of government under which the king governed according to the pact. In Catalonia, the city representatives were called síndics, and their number could be several. However, each city only had one vote in the Cortes. These síndics received instructions from their population on what they could vote for, where they could get their skills, and so on. If new issues arose, the síndics had to apply to renew their skills.

The Cortes were held in quite different Catalan cities, including Barcelona, Tarragona, Girona, Lleida, Montblanc, Cervera, Perpignan, Figueres, and, in the early modern period, Monzón.

Parliaments were summoned by the king for urgent matters, such as the approval of aid for the war. Each of the estates met separately and approved arrangements independently.

Core competencies of the Cortes were to approve grants and subsidies, new taxes, and repairs to the farm (Ombudsman), which addressed abuses and irregularities committed by royal officials. They also had knowledge of general affairs of state interest and developed an important legislative function. They approved provisions of three types: Constitucions, Capítols, and Actes de Corts.

These Cortes were involved in a multitude of issues and met frequently during the Middle Ages. They survived during the Modern Age, and the last time they met was in 1705-1706.

The Cortes of Aragon had four estates: the upper nobility, the lesser nobility, the ecclesiastical estate, and the estate of the representatives of the cities. These Cortes had much to do with a political figure in the Aragonese administration known as the Justice of Aragon. This could include responsibility, and the determination of this fixed a number of judges appointed by the Cortes.

Valencia had its own Cortes from the thirteenth century.

Section 3: Cortes of Castile

These are the Cortes of the kingdom without any distinction of one or another, as they are the same Cortes. These Cortes were composed of three estates: the nobility, the clergy, and the representatives of cities. These representatives of the cities were called procuradores in Castile.

The role of the commons was important and had much to do with the approval of grants and aid. These representatives of the cities were spokesmen for the views of the city but within the powers they were given and not on new issues that would need new powers.

In Castile, Cortes were convened every two or three years. The king summoned the court and delivered what was called a proposition speech, in which he explained the reasons for the call and the issues to be voted on. If the king was a minor, the speech was made by the Regent, a royal relative, or the chancellor. Then, the estates responded to the speech of the king or the regent. The noble estate responded first, followed by the church, and then the representative of the cities. There was a discussion about whether Burgos or Toledo should speak first. Alfonso XI kept the attorneys of Burgos and offered himself to speak for Toledo.

The Castilian Cortes approved legislation and financial support. The idea of adopting economic aid became a significant component of these Cortes, to which the nobles and the church stopped attending because they had nothing to do with subsidies. This absence was notable in the second half of the fifteenth century and became absolute from 1538, after which only representatives of the cities attended.

The Cortes also addressed the maintenance of public peace, internal administration, the organization of justice, foreign policy, succession to the throne, and economic aid. The number of cities represented varied markedly. In the Cortes of Burgos in 1315, over 100 cities were represented. However, in the fifteenth century, the number of cities represented was reduced to 17: Burgos, León, Toledo, Murcia, Jaén, Córdoba, Seville, Zamora, Toro, Salamanca, Segovia, Ávila, Valladolid, Soria, Madrid, Cuenca, and Guadalajara. Granada was added after its conquest. Later, in the seventeenth century, there was a possibility that a city would be reinstated. Málaga tried, as did Extremadura, but Palencia did not.

Moreover, the Court had what was called the Deputation of the Cortes, which existed in the Crown of Aragon in the Middle Ages and was created in Castile and Navarre from the sixteenth century. This Deputation of the Court was a provisional institution with a special purpose that assumed representative functions and was used to ensure that the agreements of the Cortes were applied and to collect subsidies. In Catalonia and Valencia, it was named Diputació del General or Generalitat, leading to the Generalitat of Catalonia and Valencia. However, the Catalan Generalitat of the Second Republic and the present one are very unlikely to be connected with the government of the Cortes.

The Deputation of the Kingdom took an oath to the royal officials, guarded public safety, and so on. In Aragon, it was called the Deputation of the Kingdom and was consolidated from some Cortes held in the town of Alcañiz. In Valencia, it was established in 1419, and in Catalonia, it is possible that the Deputation of the Kingdom existed from the late thirteenth century.

Section 4: Cortes of Navarre

These are some significant Cortes that remained in operation beyond what the king considered. They were the last of the peninsular kingdoms but were kept into the nineteenth century, meaning they had an importance in the Modern Age (eighteenth and nineteenth centuries). Unlike what happened in other Spanish Cortes, which declined in the Modern Age to the point of not meeting or failing to attend by the nobility and clergy, as in Castile and León, these Cortes did not disappear completely with the Decrees of Nueva Planta but remained in Navarre.

It is not known when the Cortes of Navarre were born, probably in the first half of the fourteenth century. The King of Navarre was also the Count of Foix. The Cortes were convened when deemed appropriate.

The structure of the Cortes was three estates:

First Estate: The Church, composed of the bishops of Pamplona and Tudela and abbots. When Navarre joined the Spanish Crown, these French representatives ceased to attend the Parliament of Navarre.
Second Estate: The Nobility, chaired by the Count of Navarre.
Third Estate: The representatives of the cities of Pamplona, Tudela, Estella, Ubrique (likely a misspelling, possibly Olite), Sangüesa, small towns, some of which came and others did not.

The Parliament of Navarre chose these representatives of the cities with a system of direct election or selection by lot (in a paper bag and innocent hand). The Parliament of Navarre had a structure very similar to that of Aragon. It was chaired by the king, but on many occasions, it was chaired by the governor or viceroy of the kingdom. The Cortes took an oath to the monarch that he could not change the privileges without the consent of the three estates. They also had other skills, such as making laws, redressing grievances, voting on outstanding taxes, and having a Deputation of the Cortes. Between each court, it was responsible for solving problems that arose, resolving grievances, and monitoring the collection of taxes.

It is not known when the Deputation of the Cortes of Navarre was born. Some say it was in 1501, others point out that it was in 1569, and others say April 26, 1576.