Spanish Territorial Occupation and Monarchy in the Middle Ages

The Forms of Territorial Occupation and Its Influence on the Structure of Property

Models of Repopulation and Social Organization

The monarchs favored the repopulation of reconquered Christian territory with different systems:

• Concejil Repopulation: Used between the Duero and Tagus rivers and the Ebro valley. The territory was divided into municipalities consisting of a walled town and a municipal land (administrative district). Settlers received a house and land. The council collected the forum, which outlined the duties and rights of villagers.
• Military Orders: In the lands between the Tagus and the Sierra Morena, which were dangerous and sparsely populated, recruitment was entrusted to military orders. They received extensive lordships, called maestrazgos, in exchange for defending the territory and encouraging settlement.
• Guadalquivir Valley: The territory was divided among the participants in the recapture based on their merits. Nobles received large tracts of land, while commoners received small plots.

The Medieval Expansion of the Crown of Aragon in the Mediterranean

The Crown of Aragon experienced strong economic and territorial expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean:

• Sicily (1282): Conquered by Peter III from the French House of Anjou, resulting in papal hostility.
• Sardinia (1324): Acquired after looking after the interests of the Italian city of Pisa.
• Athens and Neopatria (1442): Expeditions to the East almogaraves resulted in control over these duchies.
• Naples: Alfonso V seized Naples.

These conquests were staged by nobles and the monarch, but funded by bourgeois merchants. The money was needed for armies and trade ships, as these lands secured trade routes, markets, and capital.

The Catholic Monarchs: Dynastic Union

The 1469 marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon created a dynastic union. The Concord of Segovia established power-sharing, with both having equal capacity for policy decisions. In Castile, Ferdinand was king consort without succession rights. In Aragon, Isabella held co-regency from 1481. The distinct laws and histories of Castile and Aragon made political union difficult. They ruled two kingdoms together, each with its own courts, administration, and laws. Each kingdom had different taxation, language, currency, weights, and measures, and customs existed between them. Despite separate internal administrations, they combined efforts to defend common international interests.

The Hispanic Monarchy of Philip II: Iberian Unity

Philip II consolidated Spanish hegemony in Europe. His policies focused on rivalry with France, fighting the Turks, religious rebellion in Flanders and England, and governing American territories. In 1580, following the death of King Sebastian, Portugal was incorporated into the empire. Philip, son of Isabella of Portugal, became heir, fulfilling the Catholic Monarchs' desire for Iberian unity. Portugal retained its institutions, laws, currency, language, taxation, and customs. There was no political integration; only a union under one monarch.