The Iberian Peninsula: Reconquest and Cultural Fusion
First Christian Core Resistance
The first group was the Asturian, emerging after the Visigoth nobleman Pelayo’s triumph in Covadonga (722). During the eighth and ninth centuries, his successors extended their dominion to Galicia and the Basque Country. Earlier still, this kingdom would be called the Asturian-Leonese Kingdom of Asturias.
To the east emerged the Basque Kingdom of Pamplona (778) after the Basques defeated the Carolingians in the Battle of Roncesvalles. In the tenth century, the monarch Sancho I extended his rule to the lands of the upper Ebro and incorporated the County of Aragon into his kingdom.
The Catalan counties, most importantly Barcelona, were also under the aegis of the Frankish kings. Barcelona won independence in the tenth century under Count Borrell II and began to expand.
Main Stages of Renewal
From the crisis of the Caliphate until the middle of the eleventh century, a boundary was established at the Douro River. Sancho III the Great of Navarre added the counties of Castile and Aragon to his kingdom. Upon his death, he divided the land among his children.
In the second stage, Al-Andalus was divided (Taifa period). Alfonso VI of Castile and Leon took Toledo in 1085, moving the frontier to the Tagus River. In the east, Alfonso I of Aragon took the contested border to the Ebro River, winning Zaragoza in 1118. The Catalan counties, under Ramon Berenguer IV, also expanded towards the Ebro.
In the third phase, expansion slowed due to the Almohad invasion. The Pope allowed alliances between Christian kings, who defeated the Muslims at Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), opening up the Guadalquivir valley.
In the last stage, St. Ferdinand of Castile took Córdoba (1236) and Seville (1246). Cadiz fell in 1263. In the east, the kingdoms of Valencia and Murcia were conquered by James I of Aragon, who had already conquered Mallorca.
From the second half of the thirteenth century, Granada remained the only Muslim kingdom.
Land Occupation and Reforms: Models of Resettlement and Social Organization
The Christian monarchs encouraged the repopulation of the reconquered territory through different systems:
- Concejil resettlement was used between the Douro and Tagus rivers and in the Ebro valley. The territory was divided into townships consisting of a walled town and a municipal land (administrative district). Settlers received a house and land. The councils were given a charter by the king, which contained the duties and rights of villagers.
- Between the Tagus and Sierra Morena, dangerous lands with small populations, recruitment was entrusted to military orders. They received extensive estates called maestrazgos in exchange for defending the territory and encouraging settlers.
- In the Guadalquivir valley, the territory was divided among the participants in the recapture based on their merits (allotment). Nobles were given large tracts of land, and common people received small plots.
Cultural Diversity: Christians, Muslims, and Jews
Relations between Muslims, Christians, and Jews were generally characterized by mutual tolerance. The three cultures influenced language, art, and customs of everyday life, coexisting peacefully except for isolated clashes.
From the eleventh century, knowledge transfer officially took place. Bishops protected translator schools in Tarazona, Tudela, and Toledo (12th century), and Cartagena and Seville (13th century). Greek works on astronomy, geography, philosophy, etc., were translated from Arabic into Latin.
Alfonso X “The Wise” tried to gather scholars and sages from all three cultures at his court. His most important work was the Siete Partidas legal code.
Spain served as a cultural link between Islam and Christianity.
Political Organization and Institutions
The monarchy was the main institution of the peninsular kingdoms.
- In Castile, the monarchy was unified; there was only one state, and the king held ultimate authority.
- In Aragon, a federal system was in place, composed of several kingdoms, each with its own institutions, customs, and laws. The king’s power was more limited, and pactismo prevailed, as the king’s authority came from God but was granted by his subjects, whom he was obliged to respect.
The Curia Regia was an assembly of leading nobles, bishops, and abbots who advised the king on matters of government.
Cortes were assemblies that arose when the Curia Regia included representatives from some cities. They consisted of three estates (nobility, clergy, and commoners). Their function was to approve financial assistance requested by the king and new taxes. Castile had a single Cortes, while Aragon had separate ones for each kingdom, although joint meetings were sometimes held.
Late Medieval Period: Demographic Crisis, Economics, and Politics
The conquest of territories, which had allowed for population and economic growth in the Hispanic kingdoms, was completed in the 14th century. Extensive farming with low yields stagnated, leading to famine and malnutrition, especially during crop failures. Epidemics such as the plague further reduced the population. Farmlands were abandoned, lowering the income of landowners. Prices rose, and town councils increasingly pressured the peasantry, causing conflicts between different social groups.
Tensions between nobles and the king in Castile, and between nobles, peasants, and the bourgeoisie in Aragon, provoked civil wars until the last third of the fifteenth century.
Late Medieval Period: The Expansion of the Crown of Aragon in the Mediterranean
The Crown of Aragon underwent significant economic and territorial expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean. The first conquest was made by Peter II in 1282, wresting Sicily from the French House of Anjou, which resulted in papal hostility. In 1324, Sardinia was taken against the interests of the Italian city of Pisa. Almogavar expeditions to the East took control of the Duchies of Athens and Neopatria. Alfonso V took possession of Naples in 1442.
These conquests were led by nobles and the monarch, but they were financed by bourgeois merchants. They needed money to raise armies and equip ships for commerce, and possession of these lands guaranteed trade routes, markets, and capital.
The Catholic Monarchs: Dynastic Union
Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon married in 1469, creating a dynastic, or personal, union of their kingdoms. The Concord of Segovia established the division of power between the two sovereigns, who had equal decision-making capacity. Official orders were signed by both. In Castile, Ferdinand was king consort and had no inheritance rights. In Aragon, by decree made in 1481, Isabella effectively held co-regency.
The laws and historical trajectories of Castile and Aragon were so different that it was very difficult for the monarchs to consider a political union. They were two monarchs who ruled two kingdoms together, each using their own courts, administration, and laws.
Each kingdom had a different taxation system, language, monetary system, weights and measures, and customs.
Despite the separation of their internal administrations, they combined their efforts in foreign policy.