Spanish State Formation: Crisis and Governance (13th-17th Centuries)

Demographic, Economic, and Political Crisis

Crisis did not affect all the kingdoms equally.

• Large demographic decline in Navarra and Catalonia.
• Social and Political Sphere: Persecuting religious minorities, social conflicts, seigneurial oppression, peasant and urban movements, and crisis in institutions.

State Formation Process

Interaction between institutions and organizations characterized the process.

Government Institutions: The Early Modern State Formation Process

From Feudalism to Centralization

• Administration of Justice: Carried out in three areas:
  • Corregidores
  • Chancillería
  • Royal Council
• Taxation: Alcabala (Hacienda).
• Council of Military Orders.
• The Cortes: For approving resources.
• The Brotherhood: To maintain public order.
• The Inquisition.

The Church's Role

Important effects on Spanish state formation:

• The monarchy separated from Catholicism due to Protestantism.
• Church property could be heavily taxed during struggles against Muslims.
• The low level of religious conflicts was removed.

Participation and Decline

The Cortes of Castile increased taxation.

• Only towns were represented, as the Church and the nobility negotiated directly with the ruler (16th century).
• The decline and disappearance of representative institutions led to a drastic decline in the monarchy's military capacity.

Threats Perceived by Peninsular Spain

What level of threat did Peninsular Spain actually perceive?

• Muslim-Ottoman Threat: Especially in Mediterranean Spain.
• Maritime Threat: From the English and the Dutch, serious in Atlantic Spain, affecting the naval army.
• France's Role: Perceived as a threat, though perhaps more actual to the Dutch, the Austrias, and the English than to Spain and Italian entities.
• Sometimes Louis XIV was an efficient ruler, increasing social order.
• The cultural influence from France was Catholic.

Late Medieval Governance in Spain (13th–14th Centuries)

• Written agreements (Medieval Constitutions) between kings and nobles.
• The Carta Magna, with similar documents in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, and Spain.
• Legal rights for nobles and commoners.
• Limits on taxation and law enforcement by representative councils or parliaments of major taxpayers.

Early European Parliaments

Important role in the development of political institutions.

• The Cortes was founded in 1188, before the Carta Magna.
• Veto power over new taxes.
• Rulers were restricted from adopting new taxes without a majority.
• Revenues derived from royal lands.