Crown of Castile

• 1. Medieval Origins And Union

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  In 1230, Ferdinand III stepped onto the vacant throne of León to claim a crown that had been his father's. He inherited Castile from his mother Queen Berengaria in 1217 and León from Alfonso IX in 1230. This moment fused two distinct kingdoms into what historians call the Crown of Castile. Before this union, the Kingdom of Castile existed as a county within León before becoming independent in the eleventh century. The two realms had merged twice before under Ferdinand I and Alfonso VI but always split again upon death. Ferdinand III conquered the Guadalquivir Valley while his son Alfonso X took Murcia from Al-Andalus. Kings of the new entity styled themselves King of Castile, León, Toledo, Galicia, Murcia, Jaén, Córdoba, Seville, and Lord of Biscay and Molina. The heir to the throne adopted the title Prince of Asturias starting in the fourteenth century.

• 2. Cortes And Legal Evolution

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  Almost immediately after the 1230 union, the parliaments of Castile and León met together as one body. John I permanently set the number of cities allowed to send representatives to include Burgos, Toledo, León, Sevilla, Córdoba, Murcia, Jaén, Zamora, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca, Cuenca, Toro, Valladolid, Soria, Madrid and Guadalajara. Granada joined that list after its conquest in 1492. Sessions held jointly included those of 1258 in Valladolid which brought together representatives of Castile, Extremadura and León. A unified legal code emerged through the Siete Partidas, the Ordenamiento de Alcalá in 1348, and the Leyes de Toro in 1505. These laws remained in force until 1889 when a new Spanish civil code was enacted. Individual kingdoms retained historical rights like the Old Fuero of Castile while municipal councils kept their own fueros across Castile, León, Extremadura and Andalucía.

• 3. Language And Cultural Hegemony

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  Castilian gained increasing prominence as the language of culture during the thirteenth century alongside Leonese, Basque and Galician-Portuguese. The Cantar de Mio Cid stands as an early example of this linguistic shift. During Alfonso X's reign all public documents were written in Castilian instead of Latin. Translations of Arabic legal and government documents also moved into Castilian rather than remaining in Latin. Antonio de Nebrija published the first edition of the Grammar of the Castilian Language in 1492 under the Catholic Monarchs. Universities founded in the thirteenth century taught instruction in Castilian including the Leonese University of Salamanca, the Castilian Estudio General of Palencia and the University of Valladolid. Emerging groups of local grazers coalesced into the powerful Mesta which became the headpin for wool trade over the following three centuries. Castile would become a leading export market for wool in the late middle ages.

• 4. Trastámara Dynasty And Civil Wars

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  A dynastic conflict started between Infante Peter and Henry Count of Trastámara after the death of Alfonso XI. Peter had married Maria of Portugal while Henry was one of many illegitimate children born to Eleanor of Guzman. Pedro allied himself with Edward Prince of Wales known as the Black Prince who defeated Henry II's allies at the Battle of Nájera in 1367. The Black Prince left Castile when the king refused to reimburse his expenses. Henry fled to France then returned to win the Battle of Montiel in 1369 where he killed Peter. John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster claimed the Crown of Castile in 1386 through his wife Constance daughter of Peter. He arrived in A Coruña with an army and occupied Santiago de Compostela Pontevedra and Vigo. John I declined to give up the throne but proposed that his son marry Catherine daughter of John of Gaunt. This ended the dynastic conflict and created peace between England and Castile. Castilian forces suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Portuguese under John of Avis during the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385.

• 5. Imperial Expansion And Colonial Administration

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  Christopher Columbus claimed newly found lands in the Americas for the Crown of Castile in 1492. The West Indies Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea became part of the Crown after being transformed from lordships to kingdoms of the heirs of Castile in 1506 via the Treaty of Villafáfila. Charles I received the Crown of Castile along with the Crown of Aragon and empire through dynastic marriages and premature deaths. When Philip II made Castile the core of the Spanish Empire he centralized all administration in Madrid. Other regions maintained autonomy governed by a Viceroy. Financial burden fell mainly on Castile since the reign of Charles I and quadrupled under Philip II. New taxes included the excusado created in 1567 and millones approved by Cortes in 1590 which exhausted Castilian cities. Viceroyalties emerged including New Spain established in 1521 ruled from Mexico City and Peru established in 1542 ruled from Lima. Santo Domingo became a kingdom overseas in 1526 while México followed as a kingdom overseas in 1527.

• 6. Habsburg Centralization And Decline

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  Charles I was not well received in Castile because he was born in Ghent and granted important positions to Flemish citizens. In 1518 the Castilian parliament named Wallonian Jean de Sauvage as its president causing angry protests. Parliament led by Juan de Zumel representing Burgos resisted and forced the king to remove foreigners from governmental posts. The Revolt of the Comuneros broke out when Charles left Castile in 1520 and released Joanna claiming to support her as sole monarch. Los comuneros were defeated one year later in 1521 after which Parliament became merely consultative. Philip II continued politics of Charles I but made Castile the core of the Spanish Empire centralizing all administration in Madrid. During his reign financial burden quadrupled and new taxes like excusado appeared in 1567. Castile entered recession in 1575 and Spain followed provoking suspension of wages. Philip IV's favourite Count-Duke of Olivares tried reforms including Unión de Armas creating an army of 140,000 reservists. Every territory contributed citizens proportionally to maintain the force but aims did not work and Crown remained confederation.

• 7. Final Unification And Legacy

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  Charles II died without descendants in 1700 provoking War of the Spanish Succession. Philip of Bourbon won that war and imposed unification policies over Crown of Aragon supporters of their enemies. Nueva Planta decrees promulgated by Philip V in 1716 unified Crown of Aragon and Crown of Castile into Kingdom of Spain. Even though Nueva Planta decrees did not formally abolish Crown of Castile country called Spain by contemporaries and historians. All territories unified as single country under Crown of Spain after war ended. Joanna of Castile remained confined in Santa Clara Convent at Tordesillas for over forty years until death starting with father's orders in 1510. She was Queen of Aragon and Castile in title only while Charles maintained her confinement until her death in 1555. After Charles became only monarch of Spain following his mother's death he ruled alone. The title King of Castile remained in use by Habsburg rulers during sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.