The Evolution and Political Influence of the Castilian Cortes

The Origins of the Castilian Cortes and Tax Disputes

The reiteration of currency sales resulted in a tribute known as the forera currency. However, the situation escalated when the monarch, awaiting the completion deadline, demanded new collections under the threat of currency devaluation. Popular resistance and the struggle between the king and the council led to serious discussions regarding taxation within the full curiae. Councils, particularly affected by financial arbitrariness, insisted on being present. Consequently, citizens and prosecutors joined the curia for economic reasons, transforming the Cortes with the primary purpose of addressing tax rates.

II. Nature and Skills

The Cortes: Advisory Body or Royal Power Limiter?

The Cortes de Castilla have long been debated: were they an assembly that controlled and limited royal power, or merely an advisory body to the monarch? This approach has been resolved through three main positions:

• Marina Martínez: Argues that the Castilian-Leonese Cortes, by legislating jointly with the monarch, controlled power and embodied a form of medieval sovereignty.
• Colmeiro: Maintained in the late nineteenth century that these meetings were nothing more than a modest advisory body, an interpretation that has been renovated and reconstructed today.
• The Minimalist View: Discards the idea that the courts of Castile held any role beyond providing advice or acting as a tool in the hands of the monarchs.

The Castilian Cortes were able to limit royal power through both legal authority and the political tensions of the era. From a legal viewpoint, Valdeavellano stressed that the Parliament, through petitions and complaints from the estates, audited the performance of the monarchs. They legislated in a way that prevented the king from unilaterally repealing laws, charters, or ordinances, and ensured he could not demand special tributes without assembly approval.

Finally, the thesis of Pérez-Prendergast explains that the courts were merely a consultative assembly, whose members provided advice in response to a regional requirement that bound all subjects.