The union of Castile and Aragon. History of Spain Children and marriage alliances

In the Pyrenean states, earlier than in other countries of Western Europe, class-representative institutions appeared. This is due to the high political activity of the privileged estates and cities, caused by the reconquista. In the course of the liberation struggle, local laws and customs arose, the political role of the nobility and townspeople increased, and it acquired the privileges of nobility. The royal power needed the support of all these influential forces and had to reckon with their rights and privileges. Often it turned out to be completely dependent on class-representative institutions.

First of all, the Cortes arose in Leon, united in one kingdom with Castile. This happened in 1188, during the reign of King Alphonse IX, when, along with the secular and spiritual feudal lords, city representatives began to sit in the royal curia. From 1250 Cortes began to meet regularly in Castile. In Catalonia, the Cortes with the participation of representatives of the cities functioned from 1218, in Aragon - from the second half of the 13th century. At the same time, the Cortes took shape in Portugal and Navarre. The composition of the Cortes usually included representatives of three estates - the clergy, the nobility and the townspeople. In Aragon, four estates were represented in the Cortes - the feudal nobility, the nobility, the clergy and representatives of some urban municipalities. The composition of the city curia of the Castilian Cortes at first included representatives of free peasant communities - begetries.

The Cortes had broader rights than the class-representative bodies in other Western European countries. They had not only financial functions, but participated in legislation and intervened in matters of succession to the throne. The Cortes of Aragon took an oath from the king that he would respect the customs (fueros) of the country. The Castilian Cortes set the budget for the royal court. Members of the Cortes enjoyed "parliamentary immunity" here.

The two largest states of the Iberian Peninsula - Castile and Aragon united in 1479 into a single Spanish kingdom as a result of the dynastic marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon with Isabella of Castile. This association met the interests of the Castilian and Aragonese feudal lords, since a common struggle was ahead against the Arabs, who still held the region of Granada. At the same time, the Castilian nobility and cities were interested in the foreign markets held by Aragon in the Mediterranean basin. The dynastic union turned out to be strong and led to the creation of a single state, because the population of both kingdoms, despite local differences, was basically already a single ethnic community - the Spanish people.

By the end of the XV century. The royal power in Spain was greatly strengthened. Although each of the kingdoms continued to maintain its autonomy for the first time (a separate king and separate Cortes), the privileges of the feudal nobility in both Castile and Aragon were violated. She was forbidden to wage private wars, to mint coins. The lands of the rebellious feudal lords were confiscated in favor of the king. In the fight against the nobility, royal power relied on the cities and their military power.

The Catholic kings (as Ferdinand and Isabella were called) subjugated the church and used it as an instrument of absolutism. Ferdinand received from the pope the mastership of all the spiritual and knightly orders and confiscated their rich land holdings. In 1480, the Inquisition was introduced in Spain, which entirely served the interests of state power. Under her vigilant supervision was the entire population of the country, but most of all the Moors and Jews converted to Christianity. Any Spaniard suspected of heterodoxy or dissent could be subjected to the court of the Inquisition by secret denunciation. With the help of the Inquisition, any political opposition was suppressed.

Having strengthened their power within the country, the Spanish kings began a war against the Emirate of Granada. In 1492, after a long siege, Granada fell and the south of the country was annexed to the Spanish kingdom. The Moors were promised to keep their religion, but these promises were immediately broken. Religious persecution of Muslims and Jews began, which caused uprisings on their part. Many left Spain and moved to Africa. This led to the economic decline of the once flourishing south of the country.

At the end of the XV century. In Spain, in basic terms, an absolute monarchy has already taken shape. The powerful feudal nobility was pacified and turned into a court aristocracy. The Cortes lost their former influence and convened rarely. The administration of the state was carried out with the help of the bureaucracy. However, unlike other absolutist Western European states, Spain did not become a strictly centralized nation-state. The provincial and estate disunity that had developed over the centuries persisted.

Union of Castile and Aragon

Isabella I, Queen of Castile, and Ferdinand II, Ruler of Aragon, ascended the throne in 1474 and 1479 respectively. The conclusion of their marriage in 1469 was accompanied by difficulties: here and the presence of other applicants for the throne of Castile, and internal opposition to their union, and the fact that these representatives of the older and younger branches of the family were second cousins ​​to each other; as a result, in order to marry, they had to obtain special permission from Rome.

Both of them ascended the throne after long civil wars, which they managed to survive thanks to mutual support. The reunification of the Trastamara family was predetermined from the moment Ferdinand I of Antequer was elected in 1412 as the official head of the Aragonese Federation. In the third quarter of the century, Juan II of Aragon was forced to turn to Castile, when the claims of the Catalan oligarchy aggravated French encroachments on the lands beyond the Pyrenees and in Italy. Moreover, there were very strong ties of an economic nature. As for Isabella, she had to defend her legal succession to the throne after her half-brother Enrique IV in a fight with Enrique's daughter Juana and her Portuguese allies at the Battle of Toro in 1476. As before, Isabella encouraged her supporters with titles of nobility, lands and positions at court. The power of the monarch still depended on the support of noble families.

THE CONQUEST OF GRANADA (1492)

To tie the knot in a joint venture and heal the wounds of the internecine wars of the 1470s, the rulers of Castile and Aragon again launched a campaign in 1482 to convert the Muslim kingdom of Granada to Christianity. It took ten years to break the resistance of Granada, because it was not only "one of the greatest and most beautiful cities", according to an Egyptian traveler, but also a formidable natural fortress, which, despite internal discord and economic decline, still managed to repel the onslaught Castilians. This war was not too different from the previous ones - more long and costly sieges and the destruction of neighboring villages than swift raids. The composition of the army has not changed either: infantry from the townspeople, noble cavalry, as well as cavalry of military orders and churches and royal detachments - a very small proportion of the total. The personal squads of the nobles still remained a significant force. A novelty in the last stage of the struggle between Christianity and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula was the greater use of infantry and artillery, including primitive examples of the arquebus. As before, the main source of funds for the war was the income of the church.

The capitulation took place at the beginning of 1492, its terms for the vanquished being as noble as those of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Perhaps as a sign of reconciliation, the "Catholic Kings" dressed up in Muslim dress when they entered the city. However, despite the generosity of the winners, by 1494 most of the Muslim nobility had returned to North Africa. As for the population of the kingdom of Granada, which was estimated to be 300,000 people, after a brief period of peaceful coexistence, the process of conversion began. Taxes and a decrease in religious tolerance provoked a series of uprisings, and in 1502 the Granadians were asked to choose between conversion or exile. At the same time, it was supposed to pay for leaving the country and leave children, so many preferred to stay and accept Christianity. They settled on "reservations" in Alpujarras (a mountainous region in the southeast of Granada) and received the rather derogatory nickname "moriscos". As before, the Christians settled mainly in fortified cities and castles of the crown, while the countryside came under the control of the nobility, military orders and city councils.

The conquest of Granada proved to be the best possible start to the reign of the "Catholic Kings". For ten consecutive years, the best troops of South Castile, under the royal banner, participated in royal campaigns. The last victory gave the monarchs the opportunity to shower honors on the most loyal and courageous vassals. The emotional impact of the victory on contemporaries cannot be expressed in words: “Where is more significant than the discovery of America,” one eyewitness admired; "An end to the troubles of Spain!" exclaimed another. In this atmosphere of jubilation, after the successful conclusion of a century of conflict, Isabella and Ferdinand, who were camped six miles from Granada, in the new Christian city of Santa Fe, decided that the time had come to further strengthen the position of the monarchy.

THE EXILE OF THE JEWS

Perhaps the "Catholic Kings" considered the military victory over the Moors sufficient reason to continue the popular policy that had won them city recognition. The monarchy needed an increase in the number of allies in order to weaken the influence of the nobility. The establishment of the Inquisition in 1478 was the first step in this direction; at first very popular with the people and the church, the Inquisition was a centralized institution of royal power - the only one operating throughout the territory of the united monarchy. The expulsion of the Jews apparently seemed like a way to consolidate power in the country. This happened only three months after the surrender of Granada. The Jews were offered to convert to Christianity or leave the lands of Castile and Aragon within four months. The number of those who chose to leave is the subject of heated debate; the latest estimate is that there were between 60,000 and 70,000 of them, and many of them returned after a royal decree allowed them to return and reclaim their property if they could prove that they had converted to Christianity. According to a number of researchers, the impact of the expulsion of Jews on the economic and demographic situation in the country is greatly exaggerated.

COLUMBUS AND AMERICA

1492 is also the year Isabella and Ferdinand finally listened to the Genoese navigator Cristobal Colón (Christopher Columbus) who had been speculating for years about the possibility of finding a western route to India. In fact, the audience took place two weeks after the promulgation of the decree on the expulsion of the Jews, and it is not surprising that Andalusia provided support for the Genoese. The only competitor in sailing across the Atlantic was Portugal, which was the first to enter the ocean and by 1492 was believed to control the known routes for gold and spices. The great rulers of Western Andalusia owned such ports as San Lucar de Barrameda, Gibraltar and Cadiz, gained a lot of wealth after raids on North Africa and exploited the labor of the inhabitants of the colonies on their vast estates. The royal decision was dictated by the desire to keep the initiative and take advantage of the opportunity, if it presented itself; the same thing happened in 1482, when the campaign against Granada was launched for fear that the large landowners of the south would divide the Muslim kingdom among themselves.

From a number of references it follows that Columbus had a clear idea of ​​what he wanted. And he wanted gold. However, he also insisted that his goal was to convert pagans to the good news of the Catholic Church. It was after the first voyages of Columbus in 1494 that the Pope approved the title of "Catholic Kings" for the Spanish royal couple. The thirst for profit inextricably accompanied the fulfillment of the "civilizing" mission, which made Castile the defender of Christian Europe from the infidels; all who invested effort or money in this enterprise expected a good return. In those days, gold was “both the most profitable and the most symbolic of all commodities,” according to the famous French historian Pierre Vilard. Clerics and crusaders, who had just proved their valor and finally defeated Islam on the peninsula, wanted to establish their faith overseas. Moreover, the cross and the sword received a new ally - the Castilian language. In 1492, Elio Antonio de Nebrija (1444-1522) produced The Art of the Castilian Language, Europe's first mother tongue grammar, and dedicated it to Queen Isabella as "an instrument of empire". So the language became a yoke that united the old and new subjects of Castile.

Traveling in Spain or France, you can take a photo of the Kingdom of Aragon, or rather those structures that have survived from past centuries. For example, the castle of Loarre (Aragon) or the palace of the kings of Mallorca (Perpignan).

Aragon as a separate state actually existed from 1035 to 1516. Together with other historical lands, the kingdom formed the basis of Spain. How this happened will become known from the article.

From county to kingdom

The core of the future kingdom was the County of Aragon. It existed since 802, and was dependent on the kingdom of Navarre. In 943 the local dynasty ended and the county became part of Navarre. King Garcia I married the heiress of the county. So the kings of Navarre received the title of Count of Aragon.

In 1035, King Sancho III died, his possessions were divided among his sons. Before his death, the ruler gave the county to his illegitimate son. This is how the kingdom of Aragon was born.

Associated with the river that flowed through its territory. Initially, it was small in size, but gradually the counties of Sobrarbe and Ribagorsu were attached to it. The sources indicate that the area of ​​the kingdom of Aragon was 250 thousand square kilometers. Who was that illegitimate son of the king?

First king

The name of the first ruler of the kingdom of Aragon was Ramiro. Until his death, he sought to expand his possessions. There were attempts to annex the kingdom of Navarre to their lands, but they were unsuccessful.

The king decided to expand his possessions from the east side. To do this, he declared war on the Moors. However, the siege of Graus not only did not fulfill his desire, but also led to death. The first king died in 1063. Sancho Ramirez became his successor. He continued his father's work.

The king was able to capture the fortress of Barbastro, then Graus. At this time, the Navarrese kingdom voluntarily joined Sancho. In the west, he made an attempt to besiege Huesca, where he was killed.

The kingdom received Huesca in 1096. The son of the murdered king, Pedro the First, was able to master it.

The strange testament of Alphonse the First

In 1104, the kingdom of Aragon passed to the son of Pedro the First, Alphonse. He sent military forces to conquer the Muslim possessions on the right bank of the Ebro. He hoped to take possession of Zaragoza. This was achieved in 1118.

Thanks to his many victories, the king was able to reach the Mediterranean coast. However, there were still fortresses owned by Muslims. Alphonse I died in 1134. He had no children, so he decided to leave the kingdom to the Johnites and the Templars (military orders). The will was not fulfilled, both the Aragonese and the Navarrese were against it.

The nobles of Aragon decided to make the brother of the deceased king. Ramiro was a monk in the Narbonne monastery, and became king. He did not deal with public affairs in the same way as his predecessors. In order to leave his heirs on the throne, the king asked the pope to release him from the vow of celibacy. He married Agnes of Aquitaine. A daughter was born in the family. Her father gave her in marriage to Berenguer the Fourth, who owned the county of Barcelona. The Kingdom of Aragon (it is impossible to give percentages) increased due to dynastic marriage.

After that, Ramiro renounced power, retiring to a monastery. From 1137, Berenger the Fourth became the new ruler. From that moment on, the fate of Aragon and Catalonia became one.

Unification with Catalonia

The first ruler of the united state was the son of Berenguer the Fourth, who bore the name of his father, but in tribute to the inhabitants of Aragon he began to be called Alphonse the Second.

During his reign, he managed to expand the boundaries of the kingdom at the expense of the lands of southern France. His vassals were:

• duchy of provence;
• county of Roussillon;
• county of Bearn;
• County of Bigorr.

The king also fought the Moors and had disagreements with Castile. He died in 1196. His son Pedro II succeeded him.

First ruler crowned in Rome

Pedro II began to rule the kingdom of Aragon in difficult times. The French kings sought to seize the border territories, and Provence defended its independence. Despite this, the king managed to further expand his possessions by marrying Countess Maria. So he got the county of Montpellier. A little later, he took possession of the county of Urgell.

An important political event of that time was the trip of Pedro II to Rome. In 1204, the coronation of Pedro II took place. The Pope also knighted him. Za called himself a vassal of the pope. This meant that the kingdom had to pay an annual tribute to the Catholic Church. Such behavior of the king outraged the nobility of Aragon and Catalonia.

The king died in 1213, trying to protect the lands of the Count of Toulouse from capture. This was due to the difficult situation that was taking place in the south of France.

Kingdom without a ruler

The death of Pedro II left the kingdom of Aragon (western Europe) without a ruler. The only son of the deceased was at Montfort. It took the intervention of the pope to bring the heir to the throne back to the kingdom. However, Jaime was still a minor, so he was assigned a guardian. They became the representative of the Knights Templar de Monredo.

Jaime, who was only nine years old, found himself in the hands of relatives, each of whom sought to seize the crown. Loyal people managed to save him from the fortress of Monzon. Then Jaime, supported by the troops, began a struggle for power. It lasted for about ten years, until the king signed an agreement with the nobility. It made it possible to establish world peace.

After the internal problems in the kingdom were temporarily resolved, Jaime directed his forces to expand the borders of the state. He managed to conquer the Balearic Islands and Valencia from the Muslims.

In addition to capturing new territories, curbing the nobility, the king managed to restore order in finances, several educational institutions were founded under him. Jaime refused to recognize himself as a vassal of the pope. With his reign, he laid a solid foundation for the kingdom to dominate the Mediterranean.

At his death, the king left Aragon, Valencia and Catalonia to his eldest son Pedro, who had long helped him conduct state affairs. He left the Balearic Islands and a number of other lands to his son Jaime.

Capture of Sicily

Having come to power, Pedro the Third began a struggle with the nobility. The reason was the question of the rights to the county of Urgell. The king proved his superiority, but soon the nobility of Catalonia opposed him.

The nobles were not supported by the local population and they had to surrender. The king first imprisoned the instigators, but later released them. The ruler ordered the rebels to make amends for the damage they caused.

In 1278, Pedro the Third signed an agreement with his brother, according to which Jaime's possessions became dependent on the kingdom of Aragon (western Europe). The king established friendly relations with Portugal and Castile.

In 1280, Pedro III was able to establish a protectorate of the kingdom over Tunisia. The Aragonese received an annual tribute from the ruler of Tunisia, and also received the opportunity to collect a tax on the wine trade. Aragon received advantageous positions on the African continent. The next in line was the kingdom of Sicily.

At that time, the sons of the German emperor ruled in Sicily, but the pope wanted to get these lands. He invited Charles of Anjou to reconquer Sicily and rule it as a vassal of Rome. Charles managed to capture Sicily, he destroyed the regent, the nephew of the ruler, and later the ruler himself, Manfred Konradin.

Pedro the Third was married to the daughter of Manfred, so he was interested in the fate of Sicily. The king negotiated with the Sicilians, who wanted to get rid of the power of the pope. The Aragonese ruler waited and prepared the fleet. Finally, in 1282, he began a campaign to conquer Sicily.

Pedro the Third took the kingdom quite easily, and Charles of Anjou was forced to flee to Italy. The battles continued and proved successful for the Aragonese.

The capture of Sicily angered the pope and he announced that he was depriving the king of his possessions. Some cities and fortresses supported Pedro, others began to put obstacles in his way. French troops were on the side of Rome. Even Pedro's death and his declaration that he would give Sicily to the Pope did not stop the war. The sons of the late king did not want to part with the occupied lands. In addition to external enemies, the kingdom suffered from turmoil between the brothers, as well as opposition from the nobility.

Fight between king and nobility

The Kingdom of Aragon (Europe) passed to Alphonse the Third. He did not have such a strong character as Pedro. This further complicated the relationship with the nobility, which sought to subjugate the king.

The Union of noble Aragonese was created. They demanded submission from the king and threatened him with an uprising. Alphonse tried to resist Unia, even decided to execute several rebels. But problems with external enemies changed the decision of the king, in 1287 he granted Unia privileges.

The king's power was limited. He pledged not to encroach on the lives of representatives of the nobility. In 1291 the king died.

Father and son war

The king did not leave an heir, so the brother of the late Jaime took the throne. He was the ruler of Sicily, having received Aragon, he transferred his throne to his son Fadrika. This was opposed by the French and the pope. Jaime wanted peace, so he made concessions and renounced the rights to Sicily.

The inhabitants of the island and Fadriko did not agree with this. The Kingdom of Aragon (history grade 6) was obliged to fight against dissenters. So the father went to war against his son in order to win back the island for his father. For this, Rome canceled the previous bulls that excommunicated the Aragonese kings from the church, and also granted rights to Corsica and Sardinia.

Jaime had to conquer Sicily for the pope on his own. The inhabitants of the island proclaimed Fadriko an independent ruler. The war went on with varying success. In the end, the exhausted parties decided to make peace. The French also agreed to this, and spoiled their relationship with the pope.

Fadriko became the king of Sicily, but he married the daughter of Charles of Anjou and after his death was obliged to give the island to his father-in-law or his descendants.

Jaime died in 1327. His son Alphonse took his place. He ruled for eight years.

Then the throne passed to his son Pedro the Fourth. During the years of his reign, he waged war with the Moors, Mallorca. Then he took up the struggle with the nobility. As a result, he destroyed the Privilege of the Union, and brutally executed its supporters. It is known that he ordered the melting of the bell, which convened representatives of the nobility to the meetings of the Unia. Molten metal was poured into the mouths of those who opposed the king. Pedro died in 1387.

The following rulers were:

• Juan the First and Martin the First.
• Fernando.
• Alphonse the Fifth the Wise.

All the wars that Alphonse the Fifth conducted increased the territory of Aragon. However, they had a detrimental effect on the system of government in the state. All affairs were handled by the brothers of the royal family.

Unification of the kingdoms

In 1469, the marriage between Ferdinand and Isabella took place. Thus, the prerequisites for the creation of the kingdom of Aragon and Castile appeared. Ten years after the marriage, John II died. Aragon passed to his son Ferdinand II. Since his wife was the queen of Castile and León, both states were united under one crown.

The Kingdom of Aragon and Castile laid the foundation for the Kingdom of Spain. However, the process of formation of the state dragged on until the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century.

The reign of Ferdinand and Isabella was quite cruel. They zealously guarded the purity of the Catholic faith. For this, the following methods were used:

• in 1478 they established the Inquisition, that is, an ecclesiastical court;
• Muslims, Jews, Protestants were persecuted;
• people suspected of heresy were burned at the stake;
• since 1492, the persecution of those who were not converted to Christianity began;
• the creation of ghettos - closed quarters in which non-believers were supposed to live.

Many Jews and Muslims converted to Christianity, but their persecution did not stop. New Christians were suspected of secretly performing forbidden rites. Jews had to leave their homes and flee to neighboring states. Thus, the unification of Castile and Aragon into the Spanish kingdom led to severe persecution by the Catholic Church.

Emergence of the Kingdom of Spain

Under Ferdinand and Isabella, the Reconquista ended. At the same time, Columbus discovered the New World with Spanish funds. So (Aragon and Castile) receives colonies in their possession. The state temporarily becomes one of the strongest in Western Europe.

After the death of Isabella, the throne passed to her daughter Juana. She married a representative of the Habsburg dynasty, Philip the First. In 1506 he died, and Juana finally lost her mind. The throne passed to their young son Charles.

In 1517, Charles became the full-fledged ruler of Spain, and two years later became the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

Spain reached its highest peak in the 16th century. In history, this period is called the Golden Age of Spain.

Reconquista XI-XIII centuries.

The period from the middle of the XI to the middle of the XIII century. was the time of decisive military successes of the Reconquista. The fragmented Mauritanian possessions were relatively easy prey for Christian sovereigns. So, in 1085, the Castilians occupied Toledo, the largest city in Central Spain, the former capital of the Visigoths. At the beginning of the XII century. The Aragonese captured Zaragoza. In 1147 Lisbon was taken. In the hands of Christians by the end of the XII century. most of the peninsula was located. Nevertheless, their progress to the south was slow. This is due to a number of circumstances. There was no unity among the Christian states. The unification of León and Castile was fragile. The final unification of Castile and León took place only in 1230. Another factor holding back the advancement of Castile and Aragon to the south was the military intervention of the Berbers of North Africa. The most important circumstance that determined the pace of the Reconquista was the objective possibility of subjugation and colonization of the occupied lands. With a shortage of human resources, the acquisition of land that there was no one to inhabit did not create incentives for new seizures. Therefore, from the XI century. not conquest, but turning into tributaries, who annually paid huge sums to Castile and Aragon, became a frequent occurrence. Due to these circumstances, the Reconquista in the XI-XIII centuries. was carried out not gradually and smoothly, but as if by leaps. Its main victories came in the first half of the 13th century. At the beginning of the century, Castile managed to regulate its relations with its neighbors; in 1212, its king Alphonse VIII, at the head of an allied army, utterly defeated the Berbers at Las Navas de Tolosa.

Based on an alliance with the church, cities and petty nobility, having large incomes from maritime trade, the royal power of both Castile and Aragon in the XIV-XV centuries. led a decisive attack on the political rights of large feudal lords and deprived them of a significant amount of independence. By the end of the XV century. she took away from the big feudal lords the right to mint coins, wage private wars, and confiscated many lands from them. The king also took possession of the lands of the spiritual and knightly orders.

In 1479, Aragon and Castile united into a single state under the rule of a married couple - Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. This event was one of the important stages in the strengthening of royal power in Spain. In the matter of crushing the power of large feudal lords, the royal power was supported by the city. In 1480, the cities of Castile entered into an alliance with each other - the "holy hermandade", which organized its own militia to fight the feudal lords. But, using the military forces of the cities to curb the feudal lords, the royal power gradually curtailed the independence of the cities themselves. The church, especially the Inquisition, introduced in Spain in 1480, also provided great support to royal power.

Under Ferdinand and Isabella, an absolute monarchy is established in Spain.

Thus, in the second half of the XIII century. in the hands of the Moors on the Iberian Peninsula, only Granada remained with the territory adjacent to it. It no longer posed a serious danger to Christian states. The reconquista stopped until the end of the 15th century.

The Reconquista had a significant impact on the political organization of the Iberian countries. External danger, and later the need to consolidate the ruling class in order to achieve joint conquests, prevented the development of feudal fragmentation. From the 11th century in the Kingdom of Leono-Castile, the monarchy finally acquires a hereditary character. In the fight against the rebellious feudal lords, the kings could use the financial resources of the vassal Muslim territories, the military formations of cities, the help of numerous caballeurs and hidalgos. However, the powers of royal officials on the territory of the state were still significantly limited by the privileges of large secular lords, churches and orders, on the one hand, and the rights of rural and especially urban communities, on the other.