15th Century Europe: Society, Culture, and Iberian Changes

15th Century: Economic & Social Transformation

Politically, the 15th century witnessed a significant trend towards the concentration of monarchical power across most of Western Europe. Political authority, once dispersed among various estates, gradually consolidated in the hands of the king. Concurrently, the expansion of roads, improved transport, and commercial success fostered the emergence of new commercial activities that began to break down the traditional barriers of guilds and cities.

This period also saw a deep crisis in the social relations of estates. The development of agriculture, livestock, and industry fueled the growth of the bourgeoisie and the widespread dissemination of their mentality and values, including: individuality, profit, and the increasing importance of scientific progress. This was also the era of significant discoveries and the application of great inventions.

15th Century Ideas & Culture: The Rise of Humanism

Culturally, the 15th century was profoundly shaped by the invention of the printing press, attributed to the German Johannes Gutenberg. The advent of printing also significantly facilitated the widespread dissemination of paper. Together, printing and paper led to the production of cheaper books, which spread extensively and became accessible to a much wider audience.

Reading, in turn, transformed into a more individual activity, aligning with the new spirit of the times. It was from Italy that the influential cultural movement known as Humanism developed, placing man at the center of its concerns. Humanism revalued the cultivation of letters and turned its gaze towards Greco-Latin classical antiquity. A highly relevant Italian humanist of this era was Leonardo da Vinci.

The Iberian Peninsula in the 15th Century

In the final decades of the 15th century, the Catholic Monarchs began laying the foundations of the modern state in the Iberian Peninsula. The Monarchy actively sought to subject the aristocracy and consolidate its power. Key events of 1492 include:

• The conquest of the Moorish Kingdom of Granada, bringing the entire peninsula under Christian rule.
• Christopher Columbus's arrival in America.
• Antonio de Nebrija's publication of the first Castilian grammar.

Culturally, the 15th century in the peninsula saw the coexistence of late medieval literary and artistic forms with new approaches, increasingly influenced by Italian Humanism. Nobles and wealthy bourgeois began to appreciate knowledge of technical progress, viewing it as a sign of elegance and social differentiation in an environment that was generally uneducated and illiterate.