Catholic kings (1496–1516). History of Spain Castile and Aragon

One of highlights in the history of the strengthening of royal power was the unification of Aragon and Castile. In 1479, these kingdoms were united under the rule of a married couple - Ferdinand, King of Aragon, and Isabella, Queen of Castile. As a result, a united Spain turned out to be one of the most powerful powers in Europe. It included most of the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Sicily and southern Italy. Relying on an alliance with the church, cities and the petty nobility, having significant income from maritime trade, the royal government launched a decisive attack on the large feudal lords and deprived them of a significant part of their former political independence.

The feudal lords were deprived of the right to mint coins, wage private wars, and many lands were confiscated from them. Their strong castles, the support of their political independence, were destroyed. The king also took possession of the lands of the spiritual and knightly orders.

In the matter of crushing the power of the feudal lords, the royal power was supported by the city. In 1480, the cities of Castile entered into a general alliance among themselves, the so-called holy germandada, which fought against the feudal lords. Saint Germandade set herself the goal of ending feudal wars, establishing safe passage on all roads, and fighting violators of public peace. To protect internal order in Spain, Saint Germanada organized a militia, always ready to carry out her decisions. But having used the military forces of the cities to curb the feudal lords, the royal power gradually curtailed the independence of the cities themselves.

The church, and especially the Inquisition, introduced in Spain in 1480, also provided great support to the royal power. Fighting all sorts of “heresies” that could undermine the dominance of the church, the Inquisition thereby persecuted any social and political opposition to the existing system. Any manifestation of social and political dissent was considered resistance not only to the king, but also to the church, and the Inquisition, with its tortures and bonfires, was a constant ally of royal absolutism, which supported the church in every possible way. According to Marx, “Since the time of Ferdinand the Catholic, the clergy have come under the banner of the Inquisition and have long ceased to identify their interests with those of feudal Spain. On the contrary, thanks to the Inquisition, the church became the most terrible instrument of absolutism. The first head of the Inquisition was the ferocious Torquemada, whose name became a household name due to his fanatical cruelty in the persecution of heretics.

Strengthened from within, the royal power began a policy of territorial expansion.

The first blow was directed against the Emirate of Granada, the last possession of the Arabs in Spain. In 1481 a campaign against Granada was undertaken. He was given character crusade against the infidels. The war with the Arabs dragged on for 11 years, and only in 1492 Granada was taken by the Spaniards. With the conquest of Granada, almost the entire Iberian Peninsula, with the exception of Portugal, was united in the hands of the Spanish kings.

The capture of Granada required considerable effort, and it was surrendered by the Moors on the condition that they allow the free practice of Muslim worship and the preservation of their property by the Muslims. This condition was extended to the Jews. But all these promises were later broken. Moors and Jews were forced to convert to Christianity. As a result, the Muslims raised a number of uprisings, suppressed only with great effort. They were asked to either leave Spain or be baptized (1502). A significant part of the Muslims and Jews moved to Africa, and thus a lot of economically valuable elements left Spain. With their emigration, a number of important trade ties that the Emirate of Granada maintained with North Africa and with the East fell apart. This eviction was accompanied by large-scale confiscations of land.

The Moors, the so-called Moriscos, who remained in Spain and converted to Christianity, were the subject of constant persecution by the church. The life of the Moriscos was subject to the strictest church control. At the slightest denunciation, they were accused of heresy, which entailed death at the stake or life imprisonment. Jews were subjected to the same constant persecution. In 1492 - the year of the capture of Granada and the discovery of America by Columbus - all Jews, with the exception of those who converted to Christianity, were expelled from Spain with the confiscation of all their property. The Jews who converted to Christianity, the so-called Marans, like the Moriscos, were subjected to constant spiritual and political surveillance and became victims of the inquisitorial terror.

Under Ferdinand and Isabella, an absolute monarchy begins to be established in Spain. Large feudal lords lost their political independence, instead receiving an honorary position at court. Cortes are losing their former importance and are convened less and less. Management assumes a bureaucratic character, concentrating in the center in the hands of the royal councils, and in the localities - in the hands of royal officials, corregidores. But the bureaucratic apparatus was extremely cumbersome, as it consisted of ancient feudal institutions, adapted to the goals of royal absolutism, and new bodies created next to them. The provincial and estate disunity that had developed over the centuries in Spain was reflected in an extremely complex and uncoordinated administrative apparatus.

With all the outward similarity of the political system of Spain with the system of other monarchical states of the then Europe, it was distinguished by a significant originality, which is explained by all the previous historical development Spain. Marx gives him the following characterization: "The absolute monarchy in Spain, which has only a purely external resemblance to the absolute monarchies of Europe, should generally be equated with Asiatic forms of government" 2 .

1 Marx and Engels, Work. Vol. X, p. 720.

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 divisions 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 total strength. 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 conditions for the vanquished were as noble as in XII and XIII centuries. Perhaps as a sign of reconciliation " catholic kings dressed up in Muslim dress when they entered the city. However, despite the victors' generosity, 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 military victory over the Moors sufficient reason to continue the popular policy which had brought them the recognition of cities. 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. 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 did not support local population and they had to give up. 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.

To strengthen order in the country, Isabella created something like a special police force, supported by each city or village. She wanted to cleanse the country of the crime that had overwhelmed her, which always grows in crisis conditions. And she quickly achieved this, but at what cost! For the slightest theft, a hand was cut off or executed. And the corpses remained hanging on the trees as a warning to others. The Queen never missed a chance to preside over trials here and there.

At this time, Queen Isabella said that four things pleased her the most: a warrior on a battlefield, a bishop in a cathedral, a beautiful lady in bed, and a thief on the gallows.

But she did all this alone, since Ferdinand was in Barcelona at that time, where his father, Juan II of Aragon, died on January 19, 1479, and it was necessary to take care of obtaining the throne due to him.

In the same year, 1479, Ferdinand became king and Isabella became queen of Aragon. From that moment both crowns united in a dual monarchy.

The historian Christian Duverger gives us the following explanation: “Ferdinand ... took the throne of Aragon. Two crowns joined. In addition to Aragon itself, with its center in Zaragoza, his Crown belonged to Catalonia - the former kingdom of Valencia, the Balearic Islands and Sicily. These territories, with a population of one million, joined Castile, which had four million inhabitants in 1479, not counting the inhabitants of Navarre and Granada. The new formation on the map of Europe, which became the Spain of Ferdinand and Isabella, was as yet little compared to France with its thirteen or fourteen million inhabitants. But Spain could compete with Northern Italy (5.5-6 million people), England (3 million) or the Netherlands (2.5-3 million). Germany of that time was demographically insignificant than Portugal (about one million inhabitants).

But although on paper Spain in 1479, which became the fruit of a successful marriage, inheritance and victory in civil war came into existence, it was still more of an abstraction than a reality. Both Aragon and Castile retained their own internal structure, and within these "borders" each province sought to emphasize its own identity. Galicia, Asturias, the Basque Country, Leon, Estremadura, Andalusia, Cordoba, Jaen, Murcia and Toledo coexisted in Castile, which constituted a very unstable formation around Burgos, the capital of Old Castile. In Aragon, things were no better: the Catalans zealously cultivated their particularism, while in Valencia, which was distinguished by a strong concentration of Moriscos, a spirit of rebellion soared. To this we must also add the independent position and military strength of the nobles who settled on their estates, the economic power of spiritual and knightly orders, the liberties granted to cities, university freedoms and the impunity of highway robbers ... What else is left of royal power?

In M.V. Barro, in an essay on Torquemada, we read: “The two largest kingdoms of Spain were thus united into one political entity, although at first nominally.”

Nevertheless, both kingdoms continued to maintain autonomy for a certain time.

Historian Jean Sevilla writes about this: “Castile and Aragon retained their institutions of power, their money and their languages ​​(Castilian would then take over), and their crowns remained separate until the 18th century. The personal union of Isabella and Ferdinand, however, became the trigger for the formation of Spain. It is the Catholic kings - this name was bestowed on them by Pope Alexander VI - who will give the country a strengthening of the state, inner world, pacification of the nobility and a new social balance. These are decisive things without which the continuation of Spanish history could not have been written."

Thus, in itself, the marriage between Isabella and Ferdinand was not yet the birth of the Spanish nation-state. And yet, since then, most of the Iberian Peninsula has been united in a dual monarchy with two equal rulers (in 1474, Isabella and Ferdinand became Queen and King of Castile, and from 1479 - Queen and King of Aragon and Valencia, as well as, respectively, Countess and Count of Barcelona).

In this dual monarchy, Castile was the leader: it had many more inhabitants, Castile accounted for 65 percent of the joint territory, and the royal couple lived almost exclusively in Castile (a viceroy or regent was appointed to manage Aragonese affairs, and from 1494 also a special council at court).

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 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 in 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, hampered the development 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.