The Spanish Reconquista and the Rise of a Unified Spain
The Forms of Occupation in the Reconquered Territories: Models of Repopulation
The repopulation aimed to re-inhabit the lands recovered during the Reconquista. Four main systems were employed in this process.
- Rapid Repopulation (8th-11th centuries): Used in the area north of the Duero River and the Pyrenees Mountains. Uninhabited land became the property of those who cultivated it, leading to a predominance of small and medium-sized properties.
- Concejil System (11th-12th centuries): Primarily used between the Duero Valley and the Toledo Mountains, and the Ebro Valley. The king granted a charter that regulated the life of the puebla (town) and its municipal councils. These councils governed territories under the authority of a city or village head. This system resulted in the predominance of medium-sized land holdings and abundant communal lands.
- Repopulation by Military and Religious Orders (first half of the 13th century): Employed in the Guadiana Valley and areas north of Castellón. Large, sparsely populated territories were divided into parcels by a knight of the order, under the command of the commander. This led to the dominance of large estates focused on agriculture.
- Repartimientos (second half of the 13th century): The method used in the Guadalquivir Valley and areas of the Levantine coast. Reconquered territories were divided into donadios (grants) and distributed according to social rank. This resulted in the acquisition of large estates by the nobility, military orders, and the Church.
The resulting social organization was based on a class division. The nobility and clergy were the privileged classes, with the institution of primogeniture allowing the full transfer of family property within the noble estate. The non-privileged class, the majority of whom were farmers (free landowners or those tied to the land), progressively saw the emergence of the bourgeoisie (artisans and merchants who lived in cities or towns).
Cultural Diversity: Christians, Muslims, and Jews
Christians, Muslims, and Jews coexisted in the Iberian Peninsula. Christians in Moorish territories were primarily engaged in farming and crafts. Jews lived in cities, often in their own neighborhoods (Jewish quarters), and were involved in commerce or science. Their prominent economic and social role led to anti-Semitic sentiment, fueled by the Black Death epidemic and culminating in their expulsion in 1492.
Toledo was a crucial center of scholarship for Arabs, Christians, and Jews. Its School of Translators (12th century) attracted scholars from other countries, where Greek and Arabic works were translated and the theories of Aristotle and Ptolemy were studied.
In the 12th century, the first universities were founded, evolving from Cathedral Schools. The first was Palencia (1208), later transferred to Valladolid. The most prestigious university was Salamanca.
Political Organization: Institutions in the Late Middle Ages
In both Castile and Aragon, the king reigned by the grace of God. In Castile, the king’s power was limited by the kingdom’s laws and charters. In Aragon, the monarchy had a pactista character, and due to the diversity of the land, the king had lieutenants in the various territories under the crown.
The Royal Council in Castile was the permanent advisory body to the kings and served in the administration of the kingdom.
The Cortes emerged in Castile in the late 12th century and in Aragon in the 13th century. They were comprised of the three estates of the realm: nobility, clergy, and the bourgeoisie. Their function was to grant special taxes requested by the king and to propose legislation. In Aragon, the Cortes gained control over institutions agreed upon in the General Court, the Provincial Council of Catalonia (Generalitat), and the General Deputation of Aragon.
The highest judicial institution in both Castile and Aragon was the Audiencia.
Local government in Castile was in the hands of councils and lordships.
From a territorial perspective, Aragon was divided into merindades and Catalonia into verguerías. The local governing body was the municipality.
The Late Middle Ages: Demographic, Economic, and Political Crisis
The population growth that began in the 11th century ended in the 14th century with mass mortality caused by the Black Death, which arrived in Spain in 1348 through Genoese merchants.
The economic consequences of the plague were devastating: uncultivated fields, rising prices, increasing debts, labor shortages, empty royal coffers, and the increasing power of the nobility, leading to peasant and artisan revolts. The kings attempted to control prices and wages but without success.
Succession crises arose with the arrival of illegitimate children to the throne, who made many concessions to the nobility. An example is Henry II of Castile (1369-1379), an illegitimate son who ascended the throne after a war with Peter I the Cruel (1349-1369) and ushered in a new dynasty in Castile.
Dynastic Union: Integration of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon
In 1479, ten years after the marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, the dynastic union of the two crowns took place. Ferdinand II of Aragon ascended the throne after the death of his father, John II, and Isabella I ascended the Castilian throne after defeating Juana la Beltraneja in a civil war that ensued to determine the successor to her brother, Henry IV.
The union became a political one, although not institutionally, with common goals for the two crowns: the domination of the peninsula, the religious unity of their subjects, the restoration of order, and the centralization of power. They sought to reduce the influence of the nobles and cities, who had been involved in revolts and uprisings in previous decades.
The reign of the Catholic Monarchs marked the introduction of a new political model in Spain: the authoritarian monarchy and the construction of a modern state.