POLITICAL REFORMS, 1479-1517
[Sidenote: Tendency toward Spanish unity under Castile.]
It has already been pointed out that the union of Castile and Aragon
under the Catholic Kings lacked a real political or institutional basis.
Both monarchs signed papers applicable to the two kingdoms and exercised
personal influence, each with the other, but although Ferdinand assisted
his consort in Castilian affairs, Isabella was clearly regarded as ruler
in Castile, as Ferdinand was in Aragon. The latter’s will advised
Charles I to maintain the separation of the kingdoms and to conduct
their affairs through native officials. Nevertheless, the long
continuance of the same royal family at the head of both was bound to
produce a greater unity eventually. Castile was drawn into European
politics through the medium of the Aragonese wars in Italy. On the other
hand, she tended to become the centre of authority and influence on
account of the greater extent of her territory (especially with the
addition of Granada, Navarre, and the Americas), her greater wealth, the
royal practice of residing in Castile, and the more advanced social and
political condition of Castile as the result of Isabella’s reforms.
[Sidenote: Masterships of the military orders incorporated into the
crown.]
Both sovereigns followed the policy of centralization in their
respective kingdoms. In Castile the major problem was the reduction of
the oligarchical nobility, for the middle classes had already been won
over in great part when Isabella ascended the throne. Her success in
reducing the lawless nobles has already been discussed; it only remains
to point out the significance of the act by which she completed this
task,--her incorporation of the masterships of the military orders into
the crown. The principal element in the three great orders of Santiago,
Calatrava, and Alcántara were the _segundones_ of great noble families
and members of the lesser nobility. Not only by their military power but
also by their numbers and wealth these orders constituted a potential
danger to the crown unless their action could be controlled. An estimate
of the year 1493 showed that there were 700,000 members and vassals in
the order of Santiago, and 200,000 and 100,000 respectively in those of
Calatrava and Alcántara. The first-named had annual revenues of some
60,000 ducats ($900,000), and the two last combined, some 95,000
($1,425,000). With the masterships in royal hands the probability of
civil strife was greatly lessened.
[Sidenote: Increase of the royal authority and tendency toward unity in
municipal life.]
[Sidenote: Decline of the Castilian _Cortes_.]
As regards the towns the Catholic Kings followed precisely the same
practices which had been employed with such success in the previous era.
It was rare, indeed, that they suppressed charters, but circumstances
like those already recorded[52] enabled the _corregidores_ and other
royal officers to exercise virtual control. Meanwhile, the process of
unification was going on through the ordinances of the _Cortes_ and
royal decrees, fortified by the unrecorded development of similarity in
customs in Castilian municipal life. This was furthered by the
representatives of the towns themselves, for royal and municipal
interests were usually in accord. Noteworthy extensions of royal
authority appeared in the subjection of local officials to the
_residencia_ (or trial during a number of days after the completion of a
term of office, to determine the liability of an official for the
wrongful acts of his administration) and in the sending of royal
_pesquisidores_, or enquirers (in cases of crime), and _veedores_
(inspectors), later more often called _visitadores_ (visitors), to
investigate matters of government, such as the accounts of financial
agents and the conduct of public officers. These institutions were later
transferred to the Americas, becoming an important means of sustaining
the authority of the mother country. In some instances the Catholic
Kings resorted to force to reduce municipalities which were too
autonomous in character, notably in the case of the _hermandad_ of the
north coast towns, whose decadence dates from this reign.
The royalist ideal was manifested strikingly in the relations of the
Catholic Kings with the Castilian _Cortes_. From 1475 to 1503 the
_Cortes_ was summoned but nine times, and during the years 1482 to 1498,
at a time when Granada was being conquered, America discovered and
occupied, the new Inquisition instituted, and the Jews expelled, it did
not meet even once. Its decline was evidenced still further in the
increasingly respectful language employed whenever it addressed the
monarch and its growing dependence on the _Consejo Real_, which body
subjected the acts of the _Cortes_ to its own revision and whose
president acted in a similar capacity for the _Cortes_.
[Sidenote: Decline of the Aragonese _Cortes_ and of the power of
Barcelona.]
Ferdinand followed the same policy in Aragon. The various _Cortes_ of
Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia and the general _Cortes_ of all three
were infrequently called; the king acted in an arbitrary manner in his
methods of raising funds, without observing the spirit of the laws. It
was in his dealings with Barcelona that he most clearly manifested the
royalist tendency, for that city was the most powerful element in the
kingdom. Through his intervention the practice of electing the five
_concelleres_, or councillors, was suspended in favor of royal
appointment, and the _Consell_, or council of a hundred, was altered so
that it was no longer democratic but represented the will of the
monarch. The fact that these changes were made without provoking
resistance and almost without protest shows how utterly dead were the
political ideals of the past.
[Sidenote: The new bureaucracy.]
The concentration in royal hands of so many powers which were formerly
exercised by the lords and towns made necessary the development of a
numerous and varied officialdom to assist the monarch. As the basis of
the new bureaucracy in Castile the Catholic Kings had at hand the
_Consejo Real_, which with some changes was admirably adapted to the
purpose. The first step was to rid it of the great nobles. In 1480 the
untitled _letrados_ became a majority in this body. The counts, dukes,
and marquises were still allowed to attend, but were deprived of the
right to vote. Shortly afterward they were excluded altogether, and the
_Consejo Real_ now responded without question to the will of the king.
It served as the head of the various branches of the bureaucratic
organization, with the final decision, subject to the wishes of the
king, in all matters of government. Pressure of work led to the
formation of three additional councils, those of the Inquisition
(_Inquisición_), the military orders, (_Órdenes Militares_), and the
Americas, or Indies (_Indias_), while there were still others in the
kingdom of Aragon. Particularly important among the other officials was
the monarch’s private secretary, who came to have a very nearly decisive
influence, owing to the favor he enjoyed with the head of the state. A
horde of other officers, old and new, made up the ranks of the
bureaucracy. Among the older group it is to be noted that the
_adelantados_ were supplanted by _alcaldes mayores_, until only one of
the former was left. Among newer officials the important inquisitors and
_veedores_, or _visitadores_, should be noted.
[Sidenote: Administration of justice.]
A similar development to that of the executive branch was experienced in
the administration of justice. The fountain-head was the _chancillería_
at the capital, Valladolid, to which were subordinate in a measure the
several regional _audiencias_, which were now established for the first
time, besides the hierarchy of the judiciary of lower grades. In
addition to unifying and regulating the judicial system the Catholic
Kings gave attention to the internal purification of the courts, with a
view to eliminating the unfit or undesirable and to checking abuses. The
corrupt practices of those outside the courts were also attacked,
especially powerful persons who attempted to overawe judges or procure a
miscarriage of justice. One of the principal difficulties encountered
was that of conflicts of jurisdiction, notably in the case of the church
courts. Good Catholic though she was, Isabella was determined in her
opposition to ecclesiastical invasions of royal jurisdiction, but
despite her energetic measures the issue was far from being decided in
her day. In line with the royal policy of settling disputes by law
rather than by force the use of firearms was prohibited, gambling was
persecuted, and the _riepto_ (or judicial duel, the last survival of
medieval procedure) was abolished. Good order in the present-day sense
was far from existing, and this led to a revival of the medieval idea
of the _hermandades_ for the punishment of crimes committed in
uninhabited places or small villages as well as for the pursuit and
execution generally of those guilty of felony. The _Santa Hermandad_,
with its capital at Toledo, was created as a kind of judicial body,
sustained by the groups of citizens who formed part of it, employing a
militia of mounted men, and making use of summary methods and extreme
penalties in its procedure. Its life as an effective body was brief,
although it continued to exist for many years. On the other hand the
medieval _hermandad_ of Toledo enjoyed a revival of life and
usefulness.[53]
[Sidenote: Reforms in Aragon.]
It is hardly necessary to trace the administrative and judicial reforms
of Ferdinand in Aragon. Suffice to say that they followed the Castilian
pattern much more closely, indeed, than in the matter of social
organization.
[Sidenote: Procedure of the Inquisition.]
The Castilian Inquisition, first created in 1478 for specific and
temporary objects, underwent considerable modification when retained as
a permanent body to combat heresy in general. The popes refused to allow
it to be in all respects a royal instrument, and retained the right of
appointing or dismissing inquisitors, permitting the kings to recommend
candidates. The expansion of the institution from Seville to other
cities in Spain and the creation of a supreme council of the Inquisition
have already been mentioned. Ximénez, who became head of the Inquisition
of Castile in 1507, extended its operations to Africa and the Americas.
The methods of trial were harsh, though less so if gauged by the
standards of that time. Torture was used as a means of obtaining
confessions. The accused was kept utterly apart from his family and
friends, who did not learn what had become of him until his liberation
or his appearance in an _auto de fe_. The same secrecy was employed in
dealing with the prisoner, who was informed of the general charge
against him, without the details and without knowing his accuser’s name.
He was allowed to indicate those in whom he lacked confidence, and if he
should chance to hit upon an accuser that person’s evidence was
eliminated. Two witnesses against him were sufficient to outweigh any
testimony he might give. He might have a lawyer, but could not confer
with him in private. He might also object to a judge whose impartiality
he had reason to suspect, and could appeal to the pope. Penalties varied
from the imposition of a light penance to imprisonment or burning to
death. Burning in effigy of those who escaped or burning of the remains
of those who had died was also practised. The _auto de fe_ represented,
as the words imply, merely the decision in the given case, and not the
imposition of the penalty as has often been stated. The general rule was
for the executions to take place on holidays, which in Spain are indeed
“holy days,” or days in celebration of events in church history. A
procession was held, in which the functionaries of the Inquisition took
part. A public announcement of the decisions was made, and those who
were condemned to death were turned over to the civil authorities, who
carried out the execution in the customary place. As has already been
said, the imposition of sentences was accompanied by confiscations or
the levy of fines. Since the Inquisition was supported by these
amercements there were numerous scandals in connection therewith.
Certain royal orders implied, and complaints by men of such standing as
Juan de Daza, bishop of Cordova, directly charged, that the Inquisition
displayed a too great eagerness to insure its financial standing by
confiscations. On one occasion it seems that the estate of a wealthy
victim of the Inquisition was divided between Cardinal Carvajal, the
inquisitor Lucero, the royal treasurer Morales, and Ferdinand’s private
secretary. The funds did not belong in law to the Inquisition. That body
collected them and turned them over to the king, who granted them back
again.
[Sidenote: Financial administration.]
The new Castilian and Aragonese states required greatly increased funds
and a royal army, and both of these matters received the careful
consideration of Ferdinand and Isabella. In financial affairs their
activities were twofold: to procure more revenues; and to bring about
greater economy in their collection and administration. The revocation
of earlier land grants was one measure productive of income, since the
taxes from them now went to the crown rather than to the lords. Two
sources of revenue of a religious character were procured by papal
grant. One of these was the _cruzada_, or sale of indulgences, based on
the crusade (_cruzada_) against the Moslems. Designed for a temporary
purpose it became an enduring element in the royal income. The other was
the _diezmo_, or tithe, presumably for the same objects as the
_cruzada_, although it too was diverted to other uses. Great attention
was paid to the administration of the remunerative _alcabala_, and to
stamp taxes and customs duties. The treasury department as a modern
institution may be said to date from this era. In addition the Catholic
Kings corrected abuses in the coinage of money. The final result is
shown in the increase in the revenues from about 900,000 _reales_[54] in
1474 to well over 26,000,000 in 1504. Expenses were so heavy, however,
that more than once a resort to loans was necessary.
[Sidenote: Modernization of the army.]
[Sidenote: The royal navy.]
The army kept pace with other institutions in the advance out of
medievalism into modernity. The seigniorial levies, unequal in size and
subversive of discipline as well as a potential danger, were virtually
done away with after the Granadine war, although such bodies appeared
occasionally even in the next era. In their place were substituted a
larger royal army at state expense and the principle of universal
military service. One man in every twelve of those between twenty and
forty years of age was held liable, but did not take the field and was
not paid except when specifically called. The glory of the new
professional army attracted many who had formerly served the great
lords, including a number of the nobility and the adventurous element.
Under the leadership of Gonzalo de Ayora and especially of the “great
captain,” Gonzalo de Córdoba, noteworthy reforms in tactics were made.
The army was now an aggregation of equal groups, based on battalions and
companies, while the larger divisions were assigned a proportionate
number of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. From this period date many
current military titles: colonel, captain, and others. Arms and
equipment were much improved and military administration bettered. The
importance of firearms was just becoming recognized; cannon, firing
balls of stone, played a prominent part in the war with Granada. A
similar if less pronounced development appeared in the navy. The admiral
of Castile, who had enjoyed a semi-independent sinecure, now lost much
of his authority, for many of his powers were taken over by the crown.
[Sidenote: The Ordinance of Montalvo and other codifications of the
laws.]
The reforms which have been chronicled were the result of a great body
of legislation, most of which emanated directly from the crown, although
some important laws were enacted in conjunction with the _Cortes_. Taken
with the variety of legislation in preceding years it caused not a
little confusion as to the precise principle governing a specific case.
This led to the compilation by Alfonso Díaz de Montalvo of the
_Ordenanzas Reales de Castilla_ (1484?), or Royal Ordinances of Castile,
commonly called the Ordinance (_Ordenamiento_) of Doctor Montalvo, in
which were set forth various ordinances of the _Cortes_ since that of
Alcalá in 1348 and certain orders of the kings from the time of Alfonso
X, together with some provisions of earlier date. In all, 1163 laws were
included, of which 230 belonged to the era of the Catholic Kings.
Although it is not certain, the _Ordenanzas_ seems to have been
promulgated as law, and in any event was very influential, running
through thirteen editions down to the year 1513. The compilation was far
from meeting the full requirement of the times, however. Besides being
incomplete, as was only to be expected, it contained various
inaccuracies of form and substance. Furthermore, with such varying
elements still in effect as the _Partidas_ and the medieval _fueros_,
besides the unwritten transformation and unification which had been
going on for two centuries (as a result of royalist policies), there was
need for a clear and methodical revision of Castilian legislation.
Various other publications covering special phases of the laws, such as
the _Ordenanzas de Alcabalas_ (1491), or Ordinances of the _Alcabala_,
the already mentioned _Leyes de Toro_ (1505), and the privileges of the
_Mesta_ (1511), date from this era, while there was a similar tendency
toward legislative publication in the Catalonian and Valencian parts of
the kingdom of Aragon.
[Sidenote: Relations of church and state.]
Although the piety of Ferdinand and Isabella earned them the sobriquet
of the “Catholic Kings,” particularly merited in the case of Isabella,
they did not let their regard for the church interfere with their
conceptions of the royal authority. Something has already been said
about their resistance to the intrusions of ecclesiastical courts and
their objection to appointments of foreigners to Spanish benefices. The
same conflict with the pope was maintained with regard to papal
appointments of Spaniards. In the case of Granada and the Americas the
crown gained the _patronato real_, or royal patronage, in such degree
that the monarch became the virtual administrative head of the church,
but the concession for the rest of Spain was not so complete.
Nevertheless, the royal nominees were usually appointed. The Catholic
Kings displayed great consideration for the church when the interests of
the latter did not run counter to the monarchical ideal, and in Castile
the confessors of the queen obtained a certain ascendency which made
them among the most powerful individuals in the state. They proved to be
well deserving of their influence, however, notably cardinals Mendoza,
Talavera, and Ximénez, of whom the last-named was, after the Catholic
Kings, by far the most important figure of the times.