By 1516 Ferdinand and Isabella brought only limited unity to Spain?
The marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1469 brought about a personal union between the two monarchs. In this sense, the monarchs were effectively rulers of the Spanish Peninsula, however as it was a personal union Aragon was under Ferdinand’s rule and Castile under Isabella’s; the two states did not share the same governing systems, laws and policies that begs the question as to whether Ferdinand and Isabella brought only ‘limited unity’ by 1516. As well as this, due to the lack of a central governing body it can be argued that politically Catholic Monarchs achieved only ‘limited unity by 1516’ across the Spanish Peninsula as Castile and Aragon had separate Cortes. Although, some political unity was achieved due to the fact that both Ferdinand and Isabella’s faces appeared on the royal seal which gave royal assent. As well as this, the monarchs shared similar aims in terms of religion; both wanted to create a strong Catholic presence across the Spanish Peninsula and this was presented through the expulsion of the Jews and the war in Granada. However, the expulsion of the Jews caused issues such as skill gaps (Jews had artisan jobs such as doctors and lawyers.) Economically, both states shared the same financial advisor, Gonzalo Chacon which also indicated similar economic aims as it highlighted how the same man dealt with financial issues yet, Castile and Aragon shared a currency with differing names.
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In a religious sense the monarchs arguably brought greater unity to the Spanish Peninsula as Ferdinand and Isabella shared “common attitudes on religious matters” according to Kilsby. For example both monarchs wanted to unify the south of the peninsula under Catholicism as it was occupied largely by moors race and Muslim by religion. Firstly, the conquest of Granada, a crusade ending in 1492 saw the death of 100,000 Muslims. Although some were given the opportunity to leave (200,000,) those who stayed were expected to convert Christianity. As well as self-inflicted conversions, mass baptisms were seen as forced conversion. However, “conversion to Christianity was compulsory and there was considerable opposition,” states Kamen who poses a strong argument as it is supported by the fact in 1499 the Muslim quarter of Granada broke out in revolt; opposition lasted until 1501. Kamen also highlights the disruption to convivencia stating it was “as much under threat as it had been before the conflict.” This can be supported by the actions of Archbishop Talavera’s successor Csineros who claimed that the moors should be converted and used as slaves. In the short term, the catholic monarchs success of unification of the Catholicism in the south was dubious as it was likely that convivencia (religious tolerance) would be short lasting.
Additionally, the success of religious unification was further brought about by the expulsion of the Jews in 1492. This was when the Spanish Inquisition (a semi-court set up to deal with conversos, Jews who had converted to Christianity, who were suspected of practising their own religion,) were given the opportunity to leave the country or convert to Christianity (four months to decide.) Fifty thousand Jews left the Spanish Peninsula and almost two hundred thousand offered significant sums to the Catholic monarchs asking them permission to stay. The expulsion of the Jews unified the Spanish Peninsula further as it eliminated another key religious group, which meant that the Catholic Monarchs would have more control over religion as they had again spread Christianity. However, as far as the expulsion of the Jews unified the Spanish Peninsula, it weakened it in an economical sense as the Jews paid high taxes and the loss of such a significant group meant Ferdinand and Isabella would need to replace the loss of income in this sense. As well as this the removal of the Jews created Skill gaps, as the Jews were known to have artisan jobs such as Doctors and Lawyers; these would be difficult to replace within communities. The conquest of Granada and the expulsion of the Jews were successful to and extent, thus together they caused the Catholic monarchs to achieve a significant religious unity.
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In terms of political unity, it can be argued that Ferdinand achieved ‘ only limited unity’ as Aragon and Castile remained separate entities because Ferdinand and Isabella’s marriage was a personal unity (they were monarchs of the same states which didn’t necessarily share the same policies.) Woodward comments on the two states suggesting there were “clear differences between the kingdoms. Aragon had a separate legal system from castile.” This difference can be seen in the judicial systems in both states; Aragon had three separate Cortes (an assembly of townspeople and some nobility) for Valencia, Catalonia and Aragon Proper, whereas Castile had only one. There was no central governing body across Aragon and Castile thus, a single decision could not be made on behalf of both states. The Spanish Inquisition was the only common ‘governing’ body across the two states as it was set up by Ferdinand and Isabella together however its power surrounded the expulsion the Jews mainly which confirmed further the extent of successful religious unification yet political was limited However, Elliott proposes attempts were made to indicate unification such as the fact “both images appeared on seals and coins” suggesting that the monarchs presented a unified front as their images were on the seal to give royal assent which suggests that both agreed with the things they were sealing with royal assent.
Elliott however, only states that these actions were and ‘attempt’ implying that the Catholic Monarchs were unsuccessful in achieving political unity as they were attempts yet Elliott doesn’t state how successful. Attempts to suppress the nobility highlighted a weakness in the monarch’s policies and this was reflected in the nobilities actions; by 1504, although the monarchs had forbade the building of fortifications, 85 had been destroyed and 265 rebuilt. This could arguably be a result of the ‘personal union’ between the monarchs and the fact they weren’t politically united; there power over the nobility was ineffective which is seen in the nobility’s rebellion.
The Term Paper on Ferdinand And Isabella
Upon becoming the joint monarchs of Castile and Aragon, one of the main challenges that Ferdinand and Isabella faced was to extend the crown’s authority over the Iberian peninsula thus increasing the stability of the kingdom and power of the crown. This was a daunting task, especially given the power of grandees such as Mendoza and Carillo at the time. The Catholic kings had some ...
Economically, the Catholic Monarchs arguably only limited to the Spanish Peninsula as Castile and Aragon were kept largely separate in terms of the economy. However, there were some similarities such as Castile and Aragon shared the same financial advisor Gonzalo Chacon supervised the coinage system that was different in name but shared the same value. The fact that the coinage systems were of a different name highlights the differences between the states and could also suggest that the monarchs wanted to keep these differences, as it wouldn’t have been hard to change them to the same name. This arguably led to ‘limited’ economical unity. On the other hand the currency worked under the same value thus there was some unity to an extent. Economic unity was also ‘limited’ as Vicens Vives stated ‘Ferdinand and Isabella did not aspire to the attainment of an effective (economic) unity in Spain’ this is presented through trade which was controlled by the monarchs who put high tolls on bridges ports and frontiers. Yet, individually both Monarchs worked separately to improve trade; Isabella of Castile sought to improve methods of communication and transport by, for example, giving privileges to the carters’ guild. In Aragon, Ferdinand developed a successful postal system at Barcelona, which suffered from a large normal of internal issues such as custom barriers. However, this issue was overcome to a large extent by the improvement of communication and transport (noted above.) The cooperation between the two monarchs highlighted an improvement in economic unity between them as it showed signs of them working together. Although improvement to economic unity was arguably set back after the expulsion of the Jews (1492) as it saw the loss of key stilled workers and high tax payers (doctors, lawyers;) the monarchs would have to find other sources of tax.
In a social sense, the unification of the Peninsula was disrupted by the death of Isabella (1504.) The succession of the throne was left to Joanna (Ferdinand and Isabella’s second daughter,) her sanity however was questioned and she was name ‘Joanna the mad.’ This led to Ferdinand acting as regent, who was unpopular amongst the nobles who sought to make capital from the situation; for example, seizing land without royal permission and the Marquis of Maya appropriated large tracts of Segovia. This disruption amongst the nobility after Isabella’s death highlighted how people never saw Ferdinand as leader of Castile, which suggested a ‘limited’ social unity as the two were not seen as rulers of one another states. The expulsion of the Jews also caused a disruption to convivencia (religious toleration) as different religious groups such as the moors, and Jews had been living peacefully amongst one another before the expulsion of the Jews that caused opposition to the crown as a result of forced conversions.
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Ferdinand and Isabella only achieved a ‘limited’ unity of the Spanish Peninsula by 1516 due to the fact that achieve complete unity all aspects for example political, religious, economic and social needed to have been unified under one crown. Yet the Spanish peninsulas’ unity differed across political, religious and social aspects. The catholic monarchs achieved religious unity to an extent, the war in Granada and the expulsion of the Jews both strengthened Catholicism (a common aim between both monarchs.) However, this essay recognised the failures of the expulsion of the Jews in terms of an economic sense (loss of taxes and keys workers.) Hence religious unification had negative impacts on economic unification. Politically, the Catholic monarchs achieved only ‘limited’ unity as Castile and Aragon existed as two separate entities still; they both had separate Cortes which dealt with administrative issues differently. Having a different currency title also suggested a ‘limited’ economic unity as it highlighted how the Catholic monarchs may have intended to keep financially issues separate. Also trade was limited between Castile and Aragon due to high tolls, which meant trade was difficult between Castile and Aragon. The lack of constituency between the aspects of unity such as political, religious and economical causes historians like Kamen to agree that “there was little more unity between the two states than there had been at the beginning” of Ferdinand and Isabella’s reign. This is recognised in the failure to politically unite Castile and Aragon as one entity, which meant that it was impossible for the Catholic Monarchs to created a unified Spanish Peninsula.
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