The Spanish Monarchy and Conquest of the Americas
The Spanish Monarchy
– The marriage of Isabel and Fernando supposed the union of Castilla and Aragon
- It was a dynastic union because each territory maintained its own institutions, laws, currency…
- Strengthening of the state because the Catholic Monarchs reinforced their power by establishing the authoritarian monarchy
- The main political decisions were:
- Territorial unification with the annexation of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada and the annexation of the kingdom of Navarra
- Religious unity
- Creation of the Tribunal of the Inquisition to persecute heretics
- Expulsion of the Jews
- They forced the Muslims of Granada (Mudéjares) to submit to baptism or leave the country
- Establishment of the modern state
- Imposing its authority on the nobility and the clergy
- Reforming the administration with the creation of the Chancillerías (courts) and Santa Hermandad (a kind of police)
– The expansion of their territories was very important during their reign, especially the discovery of America
Carlos and Felipe
– Carlos and Felipe consolidated the authoritarian monarchy that had been introduced by the Catholic Monarchs
- They governed an extensive empire which enabled them to impose the Hispanic hegemony
- Their reigns coincided with a period of demographic and economic prosperity as well as a flourishing of culture known as Golden Age
The reign of Carlos I
– He inherited a lot of territories from his paternal and maternal grandparents and he was elected Holy Roman Emperor, so also ruled over Germany
- He started the Spanish branch of the House of Austria (Habsburg)
- He had to face domestic and foreign problems:
- Domestic:
- He was not well received in Spain because he was considered a foreigner
- He asked for enormous sums of money for his international policy
- He left the government to his Flemish advisors
- He had to face two important revolts: Comuneros in Castilla and Brotherhoods in Valencia, confrontation between people and nobility. The king ended the revolts with the use of force
- Foreign conflicts:
- Confrontation with France for control of northern Italy and victory in the battle of Pavia
- The Turks were a threat to the Empire with Suleiman the Magnificent and arrived at the gates of Vienna
- Religious war with Protestant German states because they wanted autonomy. The Peace of Augsburg resolved the problem
- Domestic:
The reign of Felipe II
– He created an enormous empire upon which ‘the sun never set’
- Like his father, he also faced domestic and foreign problems:
- Domestic:
- Rebellion of the Moriscos in Las Alpujarras because they wanted to conserve their customs. Finally they were defeated and expelled from Granada
- Rebellion in Aragon because the people considered that the king had not respected their fueros. Also is known as the problem of Antonio Perez
- Foreign conflicts:
- Victory against France in the battle of Saint Quentin
- Victory against Turks in the battle of Lepanto
- Confrontation against the northern provinces of the Netherlands because they adopted Protestantism and became independent from Spain (Birth of Holland and Belgium)
- He also confronted England because it was a Protestant country, supported the uprising in the Netherlands and the attacks by corsairs on Spanish trade with America
- Felipe II planned to invade England by sending the Invincible Armada, but its failed invasion attempt became the first major defeat suffered by the Hispanic Monarchy
- Domestic:
Conquest of the Americas
Characteristics of the process
- It was a rapid process because the conquistadors were equipped with superior weapons and were identified as demigods
- The conquistadors were a mercenary army who wanted to become rich
- It was based on capitulations with concessions to the conquistadors in exchange for abiding by crown rules
The phases of the conquest
- In the first phase annexed the majority of the territory thanks to the conquistadors Cortés y Pizarro
- Hernán Cortés arrived in Mexico in 1519 and faced his Aztec king Moctezuma but he could not conquer the capital Tenochtitlan until two years later
- After defeating Aztecs, Cortés controlled the entire territory and was named Nueva España
- Francisco Pizarro reached Peru in 1531 and took advantage of the rivalries within the Inca royal family. Atahualpa was elected king against the wishes of his brother Huascar
- Pizarro murdered Atahualpa and finally defeated his other brother of the King, Manco, and controlled the capital Cuzco and the Inca Empire
- In the second phase the rest of the territory was conquered including the Mayan culture and others secondary cultures
Government and administration
- The new territories were governed by the Council of the Indies, created in 1524, which controlled American affairs from Castilla and drew up the Laws of the Indies
- The administration of the territories was divided into two viceroyalties, one for New Spain and the other for Peru and both were governed by viceroys
- These territories were divided into provinces with a governor in charge
Economic activity
- The main economic activity was mining with the exploitation of gold and silver from the mines of Zacatecas and Durango (Mexico) or Potosí (Peru)
- A new way of exploiting the land appeared called Encomienda (large farming and livestock farming properties)
- La Casa de Contratación was the institution in charge of organizing all the trade between Indies and Spain
- Thanks to this trade, species such as maize, tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, peppers, cocoa, etc..
Renaissance Architecture
Three styles
- The plateresque style
- Characteristics
- Abundant decoration (medallions, shields, grotesques)
- Thoroughness in decorating (akin to the work of a silversmith)
- Characteristics
- The classicism style
- Characteristics
- Smoother walls
- Scarcer decoration
- Exclusive use of the semicircular arch
- Characteristics
- The Herrerian style
- Characteristics
- Absolute lack of decoration
- Geometric rigor with straight lines and cubic volumes
- Sobriety in architecture
- Characteristics
Sculpture
Characteristics
- Importance of polychrome wood carving
- The moments of most pain are chosen to shock the viewer
- Mainly religious scenes
Characteristics of painting
- Influence of Italian painting
- Importance of medieval Christian tradition
- Religious themes and portraits
- El Greco
- Figures with elongated proportion
- Great expressiveness of their models
- Elaborate compositions
- Use of cool colours (blue, grey..)