1. FEUDALIZATION PROCESS AND
THE LATE MIDDLE AGES IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA

2. The feudalization process developed in the
Christian territories in the same way as in
the rest of Europe. The Muslim conquest
had interrupted this process, but couldn’t
stop it and feudal relations spread in the
Christian States and extended as the
conquest of the territories occupied by the
Muslims went by.
Feudal relations meant the exchange of
some services for rights over the land and
the people who lived in it and the
submission of the underprivileged people
(most of them peasants) to the will and
necessities of the privileged groups
(monarchs, nobles and clergy). Kings gave
fiefs (land) or rights to those who promised
to help them and received loyalty and
support in exchange.
Investiture ceremony from the Liber
Feudorum Maior, where Alphonse II
the Chaste of Aragón appears with
some noblemen
DEVELOPMENT OF FEUDALISM

3. LORDSHIPS
- According to
their owners
- According to the
rights over the
people who lived
in them
- ROYAL LORDSHIPS
- ECCLESIASTICAL LORDSHIPS
- NOBILITY LORDSHIPS
- LANDED LORDSHIPS: the peasants had to pay fees
to the owners for the usufruct of the land
- BANAL LORDSHIPS: the titulars of the fiefs were
not the owners, but had seigneurial rights and
could charge the population for different services,
judge and collect taxes in the name of the king

4. Different types of lordships in Andalousia in the 18th
century
Royal lordships
Ecclesiastical lordships
Nobility lordships
Military orders
New populations

5. The province of Huelva according to the Cadastre
of Ensenada in the 18th
century. The coloured areas
are nobility lordships, except the dark purple
colour (Archbishopry of Seville)
Murcia in the 16th
-17th
centuries. In purple,
territories that belonged to the military
orders , in green the territories belonging to
the nobles and in light brown the royal
lorships
Two examples of the persistence of feudalism

6. FEUDAL SOCIETY
Everybody had a role in feudal society:
-Nobles: their role was fighting and they used the
power the weapons gave them to coerce the
peasants and exploit them.
-Church: their role was praying . Their authority
increased and their social and spiritual control over
the population extended following the rhythm of
the “reconquest”.
-Peasants: their role was working and their lives
were very hard. They were submitted to the lords of
the fiefs where they worked and had to pay taxes,
fees for the use of different services (mills, ovens,
pastures, forests, tolls…) or tributes when they
inherited, got married or sold part of their surplus.
But they were not always submissive. When their
situation became unbearable, they protested and
revolted.
-Manual workers worked in cities and were also
under the rule of local oligarchies that controlled
the city councils.

7. Several military orders, formed by soldier monks, were created in the
Peninsula: Alcántara, Calatrava, Santiago and San Juan in Castile and Montesa
in Aragón. They participated in the fight against the Muslims since the
beginning of the 12th
century, when the Popes called for the crusade against
them and received land mainly between the Guadiana and Guadalquivir
Valleys .

8. ECONOMY
- Subsistence economy: production was
destined mainly for self-consumption
- Agriculture was the main economic activity.
the traditional methods (two- field system and
three- field system) were replaced by the
more modern techniques and crops
introduced by the Muslims (three-year
system of crop rotation). This allowed the
increase of production since the 12th
century
- In Castile, stockbreeding became very
important: monasteries and towns owed big
merino sheep herds and stockbreeders
created mestas, associations to solve the
conflicts and regulate transhumance. In
1273 Alphonse X created the Honourable
Council of the Mesta and gave the
stockbreeders privilege of passing through
the roads exclusively created for the sheep
(cañadas, cordeles and veredas, depending
on their width).
Main cañadas
Merino sheep

9. The Way of Saint James
was an important
dynamizing factor in the
economy of Castile.
Castilian kings promoted
and protected it and it
also became a way of
introduction of cultural
changes, like the
reformed religious
orders of Cluny and
Cister and art styles like
the Romanesque and
Gothic.

10. Barcelona dockyards
In the Crown of Aragón the fact that
Catalonia had been a meeting point
between Al-Andalus and the
Carolingian Empire accelerated the
transition to a monetary economy
and the development of
craftsmanship and trade in the cities.
The expansion of the Crown of
Aragón to the Mediterranean Sea
contributed to its economic
development, especially during the
first half of the 14th
century:
craftsmanship and trade expanded,
consulates were created in different
parts of the Mediterranean to solve
conflicts with trade and the Aragonese
ships and merchants competed with
the Venetians and the Genoese in the
Western Mediterranean. This
prosperity broke up with the Black
Death epidemic, which strongly hit
the Crown of Aragón. Consulates in the Mediterranean

11. San Isidoro Collegiate church in León, meeting place of the first Cortes
in the Peninsula in 1188, and decree of the Curia Regia including the
participation of the representatives of the cities in this first meeting
POLITICS
CASTILE ARAGÓN
-Monarchs were more powerful. They
could legislate and declare war
-the Cortes were only consultative
assemblies and could only approve
subsidies
-Women could rule
-Corregidors to control municipalities
- Kings were less powerful because the feudalization
process had advanced more. They were considered
primus inter pares and were obliged to respect the
rights or fueros of every territory
- Every kingdom had its own Cortes and they had
certain legislative power and voted the taxes
-Women couldn’t rule (Salic Law in force)
-City councils control by the commercial bourgeoisie
(citizen oligarchy)
First meetings of the
Cortes in every territory:
-LEÓN: 1188
-CATALONIA: 1214
-ARAGÓN: 1247
-VALENCIA: 1283

12. CROWN OF CASTILE
- The kingdom of Castile was created by Ferdinand I of Castile in 1035. After defeating his brother –in-
law Bermudo III he added the kingdom of León. In 1065 Ferdinand I divided the kingdom among his
sons Sancho and Alphonse in. In 1076 Alphonse VI reunified them when his brother Sancho was killed
- Alphonse VI was succeeded by his
daughter Urraca I. She ruled from
1109 to 1126, when she was
succeeded by her son Alphonse VII,
the first king of the house of
Burgundy. He gave himself the title
of emperor (Imperator totius
Hispaniae)
- Alphonse VII divided the kingdom
among his sons Ferdinand II (father
of Alphonse IX of León) and Sancho
III (father of Alphonse VIII of
Castile) in 1157 and they were
separated until 1230, when
Ferdinand III definitely united
them.
Jimena dynasty family tree
Family tree of the House of
Burgundy in Castile

13. -Progressive development of the administration
with the creation of some institutions
- Cortes in 1188
- Chancillería and royal courts of justice
- Alphonse X the Wise tried to reinforce the
royal authority with the Seven Part Code and
impose the same laws to all the territory, but the
nobles protested and Alphonse XI had to make
some concessions in the Ordenamiento de
Alcalá (1348), which confirmed the preservation
of the particular jurisdictions of every lordship
and transformed the Partidas into the last
resource jurisdiction if the other laws were not
clear.
Miniature of the Seven Part Code
Ordenamiento de Alcalá

14. Green: counts of Barcelona
Yellow: monarchs of Aragón
Pink: kings of Mallorca
CROWN OF ARAGÓN
- It appeared in the 12th
century with the
marriage of Petronila of Aragón and
Ramón Berenguer IV of Barcelona.
- Every part of the crown kept its laws and
institutions and the monarchs had to
accept and respect them. When Valencia
was added to the crown, this principle
persisted and the Crown was consolidated
as some kind of confederation made up of
three different territories in the Peninsula:
Aragón, Catalonia and Valencia. These
territories shared the same monarch, the
foreign policy and met in the Cortes of
Aragón, commonly celebrated in Monzón.

15. Battle of Muret (1213), where
Peter II died defending his
subjects of the South of France
against the French invasion. This
disaster oriented the Crown of
Aragón to the South and the
Mediterranean
After Peter II’s death in the Battle of
Muret (1213), James I oriented the
expansion to the South and the
Mediterranean Sea. Different
territories were added:
-Mallorca (which became a separated
kingdom from 1276 to 1344, including
the territories of Roussillon, Cerdaña
and the city of Montpellier in the
South of France)
- Sicily, conquered by Peter III the
Great in 1282
-the Duchies of Athens and
Neopatria, conquered by the
Almogavars in 1311 and 1319
-Sardinia, conquered by James II in
1323
-Naples, conquered by Alphonse V the
Magnanimous in 1442.
James I the Conqueror

16. The orientation to the Mediterranean Sea was not
equally accepted by the different parts of the
Crown:
During Peter III’s reign the Aragonese nobles
created a brotherhood called Aragonese Union
(Union Aragonesa) and obliged the king to give
them a General Privilege (Privilegio General) in
1283, limiting his power. Peter III had to accept
respecting the particular laws of Aragón, call the
Cortes periodically and promise not to start any
foreign intervention without consulting the Cortes.
Apparently this was a victory for the nobles, but in
1347 Peter IV defeated the Aragonese nobles, who
had defied him, in the Battle of Épila and ordered
the destruction of the Privileges of the Union.
Peter IV the Cerimonious, known
as Pere el del Punyalet, because he
destroyed the Privileges of the
Aragonese Union with a dagger
Peter III the Great

17. The constant need for money to finance the wars
led to the creation of some permanent
institutions in the Cortes to control the expenses
of the money given by the Cortes to the king: the
Generalitat in Catalonia (1358) and Valencia
(1418) and the Diputación General in Aragón
(1436). In this way, the tradition of balance
between the monarchs and their privileged
subjects was kept (pactismo).
Parchment of the
creation of the
Generalitat of
Catalonia in 1359
Account book of the Diputación
General de Aragón around 1450
Generalitat of Valencia created in 1418

18. COMPROMISE OF CASPE (1412)
Original act of the Compromise of Caspe
The Compromise of Caspe, painted by
Salvador Viniegra, 1891
The particular structure of the Crown of Aragón was
proved with the succession problem created in 1410, when
King Martin I the Human died without successors. The
representatives of the three kingdoms met and established
a procedure to study the different candidacies and elect a
new king:
-3 delegates of every kingdom would vote
-the elected candidate would have to receive at least 6
votes and a minimum of one vote of every kingdom
Finally, the decision was made in Caspe (Compromise of
Caspe) in 1412 and the elected was Ferdinand of
Antequera, Peter IV’s grandon, but son of John I of Castile.
He received 3 votes from Aragón, 2 from Valencia and 1
from Catalonia. He ruled with the name of Ferdinand I.
This election meant the enthroning of the Trastámara
dynasty in Aragón. From that moment the Trastámara
dynasty ruled in the biggest kingdoms in the Peninsula,
Castile and Aragón.

19. THE HOUSE OF TRASTÁMARA
In yellow colour, the House of Trastámara, created by Henry II of Castile, Alphonse XI’s
bastard son, who became king of Castile after killing his half brother Peter I the Cruel.

20. CRISIS OF THE LATE MIDDLE AGES
The Late Middle Ages was a tumultuous period, with demographic catastrophes, economic crisis and
political conflicts, which led to several wars. Problems started at the beginning of the 14th
century,
after a period of expansion in the 12th
- 13th
centuries
- Bad harvests, which weakened the population
- Black Death epidemic since 1348, with several
subsequent outbreaks. The 1348 outbreak
caused a demographic catastrophe, with
important population losses (40% in Catalonia,
25% in Castile)
- A lot of land was abandoned, production
decreased and rents as well, craftsmanship
and trade collapsed
- Feudal reaction: the privileged tried to keep
their incomes and asked the kings for more
land and hardened the conditions of their
worker

21. - Social conflicts increased: peasants’
revolts in several regions: forans (1450-
1453) in Mallorca (1450-1453), irmandiños
in Galicia (1467-1469), and pagesos de
remensa in Catalonia (1462-1472)
- Attacks to the Jews (pogroms), used as
scapegoat for social malaise. The most
serious attacks to the Jews took place in
1391 and 1431. More than 4,000 Jews
were killed in Seville in 1391. Many
aljamas were destroyed and the
persecution led to the conversion of many
Jews to Christianity to avoid attacks . The
aljamas almost disappeared in Castile and
Aragón
Expansion of the 1391 pogrom
Protests against the abuses of the feudal lords

22. Political instability: constant fights between the kings and their supporters and part of
the nobles, who wanted to increase their influence in their kingdoms. These were fights
for power, but even if kings looked for the support of cities or peasants, these were
interested alliances. They always remained on the privileged side and their intention
wasn’t modifying the structure of society.
MAIN
CONFLICTS
-CASTILE
-ARAGÓN AND NAVARRE:
JOHN II’s REIGN
- First Civil War (1351-1369)
- Nobles revolt against Álvaro de Luna
- Henry IV’s reign ( 1454-1474): succession conflict
and Civil War
- CIVIL WAR IN NAVARRE (1451-1464)
- CIVIL WAR IN CATALONIA (1462-
1472)

23. FIRST CIVIL WAR IN CASTILE (1351-1369)
During Peter I the Cruel’s reign (1350-1369),
several nobles supported Henry of Trastámara,
Peter I’s bastard brother, who also got the help of
Peter IV the Ceremonious of Aragón and France.
This civil war mixed with a war with Aragón (War
of the Two Peters, 1356-1369), supported by
England, fact that converted the Peninsula into
another war theater of the Hundred Years’ War.
After Peter I’s defeat at Montiel (1369), Henry of
Trastámara killed him and became the first king of
the Trastámara dynasty in Castile with the name
of Henry II.
Beheading of Peter I the Cruel in a French
miniature of the 15th
century. After killing him,
Henry II mutilated his corpse and exhibited it
hanging from the walls of Montiel’s castle. His
head was thrown on a path.

24. Álvaro de Luna,
Castile’s Constable
During John II’s reign (1419-1454), some nobles
reacted against the power of Álvaro de Luna,
Condestable (Constable) of Castile and the king’s
favourite, and conspired with John II’s uncles, the
so called infants of Aragón (Henry and John, sons
of Ferdinand I of Antequera, first king of the
Trastámara dynasty in Aragón). The infants of
Aragón were defeated at the Battle of Olmedo in
1445, but the nobles who were opposed to Álvaro
de Luna found new supporters against him: the
future Henry IV and Isabella of Portugal, John II’s
son and second wife respectively. Finally, Álvaro
de Luna was accused of murder and executed by
John II’s order.
John II of Castile
THE INFANTS OF ARAGÓN AGAINST ÁLVARO DE LUNA

25. Henry IV of Castile,
called the Impotent Beltrán de la Cueva
During Henry IV the Impotent’s reign
(1454-1474) some privileged, headed by
Juan Pacheco, marquis of Villena, and
Alonso de Carrillo, Toledo’s archbishop,
conspired against Beltrán de la Cueva,
Henry IV’s valido (favourite). They
spread all kind of rumours about their
relationship and also the idea that
Joanna, Henry IV’s daughter, was
illegitimate (she was called Joanna the
Beltraneja). They also decided to
support Henry IV’s half-brother and
sister, Alphonse first and Isabella later,
as heirs to the throne.
Coin minted in Seville by Alphonse
of Castile’s partisans
SUCCESSION CONFLICT DURING HENRY IV’s REIGN

26. In 1465 the rebellious nobles used a wooden
effigy of Henry IV, deposed him and
proclaimed infant Alphonse king of Castile
in a ceremony in Ávila (Ávila’s Farce). When
Alphonse died in 1468, they decided to
support Isabella. Henry IV was obliged to
designate her as successor, to the detriment
of his own daughter Juana (Toros de
Guisando Pact, 1468). But when Isabella
decided to marry her cousin Ferdinand of
Aragón in 1469, without Henry IV’s consent,
hostilities broke out again. When Henry IV
died in 1474, a civil war started in Castile,
between those who supported Joanna and
those who supported Isabella.
Isabella of Castile and Joanna the Beltraneja
Ávila’s Farce, litography of the 19th century

27. John II of Aragón, called the
Usurper in Navarre,
the Great in Aragón and el
Sense Fe in Catalonia
JOHN II OF ARAGÓN’S CONFLICTS: NAVARRE
Blanca II of Navarre
Charles, prince of Viana
John of Aragón was one of the infants of
Aragón (sons of Ferdinand of Antequera, first
king of the Trastámara dynasty). He
constantly intervened in Castile during John II
of Castile’s reign and in 1425 he became king
consort of Navarre for his marriage to Queen
Blanca II of Navarre.
When his wife Blanca died in 1441, problems
started with his son Charles, prince of Viana,
the legitimate heir. John II assumed power
and displaced his son. This provoked a civil
war in Navarre (1451- 1464). The Navarrese
divided into two sides. The Beaumontese
supported the prince of Viana and the
Agramontese supported John II. When in 1460
prince Charles was arrested, the revolt
extended to Catalonia.
This war ended with John II’s victory in 1464.

28. This war mixed different conflicts:
-the situation with Charles, prince of Viana
-confrontation between two factions in the
city of Barcelona: the Busca (small merchants
and craftsmen) and the Biga (oligarchy: rich
merchants and bankers)
-confrontation between the nobles and the
peasants who demanded the abolition of the
bad uses (malos usos), grouped in the
remensa, a peasants’ guild
-conflict between the king and the main
institutions of Catalonia (Generalitat and
Consell de Cent)
CATALAN CIVIL WAR (1462-1472)
Entrance of the prince of Viana in Barcelona (1460),

29. The Council of the Principality (Consell del Principat),
formed by the Generalitat and el Consell de Cent, and
controlled by the Biga, demanded the liberation of the
prince and obliged John II to get the consent of the
Generalitat to enter in Catalonia.
When Prince Charles died in strange circumstances in
1462, the war started:
-John II got the support of the pagesos de remensa and
the Busca.
-The Consell del Principat and the Biga were on the other
side and looked for an alternative candidate to the
throne of Aragón.
After 10 years of fight, the war ended with the
Capitulation of Pedralbes (1472), without winners or
losers. Ferdinand of Aragón, John II’s son, was accepted
as his heir. The problem with the remensas persisted and
wasn’t solved until 1486, but not as they expected
(Arbitral Sentence of Guadalupe).
When John II died in 1479, his son Ferdinand II, born
from his marriage to Juana Enríquez, succeeded him.
Ferdinand of
Aragón, who had
married Isabella
of Castile in 1469,
became the king
of Aragón in 1479
Monument in commemoration of the
Arbitral Sentence of Guadalupe (1486)