2. WESTERN AREA EVOLUTION
• The kingdom of León continued its
expansion towards south (Sistema
Central), and controlled Galicia and
Northern Portugal.
• The County of Portugal became an
independetn kingdom in the 12th
century.
• Castilla got Independence from León in
the 11th century, becoming a kingdom
with Sancho II.
3. ALFONSO VI
• King of León and Castilla
(after Sancho II’s death).
• He conquered Toledo in
1085.
5. HOW DID THE CROWN OF CASTILE EVOLVE?
- Castile became the most powerful Christian kingdom.
- In 1212 the Christian kingdoms won the battle of Las Navas
de Tolosa, and the Almohads almost disappeared.
- In 1230 Fernando III unified León and Castile founding the
Crown of Castile.
7. THE CROWN OF CASTILE
GOVERNMENT
The Crown of Castile was a state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in
1230 as a result of the definitive union of the kingdoms of Castile and León
upon the accession of the King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant
Leonese throne.
The Kingdom of León and the Kingdom of Castile kept different
Parliaments, different flags, different coin and different laws until the Modern
Era.
The Castilian king had great power, and Castilian Cortes could not
legislate, their function was to regulate new taxes.
8. CROWN OF CASTILLA
• They continued the
expansion towards
Andalucía.
• New lands to be
repopulated.
• New repopulation system:
kings gave lands as a
reward to help him in the
Reconquest.
9. ● The expansion and repopulation of the Christian Kingdoms
● The Duero Valley - during the 9 and 10th centuries the Reconquest arrived to the
Duero. Colonizations of the land was the system of Repopulation (pressura or aprisio).
● The Tajo and Ebro valleys - during the 11-12th centuries the Reconquest continued in
an easier way because the Taifas were weaker than the Christian kingdoms. This was a
period of big expansion. The Repopulation was made creating cities or towns and small
villages depending on them. Kings gave fueros/cartas puebla to towns.
● NEW WAY: After the 12th century much of the land was underpopulated so kings
gave big feudal estates to nobles, the Church or military orders who had participated
during the Reconquest process.
10. ● The Guadalquivir Valley, Levante and the Balearic islands - the defeat of
the almohads in Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 was the beginning of the end
for muslims. Christian kingdoms expanded and almost finished with the
muslims territories.
11.
12. BATTLE OF EL SALADO,
1340
• Alfonso XI defeated
muslims and took
control of Gibraltar.
13. CASTILIAN CIVIL WAR,
1356-1359.
• PEDRO I EL CRUEL VS ENRIQUE DE
TRASTÁMARA.
• ENRIQUE WON THE WAR WITH THE HELP
OF THE NOBLES.
• NEW DYNASTY IN CASTILLA:
TRASTÁMARA.
14. SECOND CASTILIAN CIVIL
WAR, 1475-1479
• Succession war between Juana and her aunt
Isabel.
• Isabel won the war and became the Queen of
Castilla as Isabel I.
• She married Fernando II of Aragón in 1479.
They were known as the Catholic Monarchs.
• They made a dynastic union.
• They ended the Reconquista in 1492, after
reconquering the kingdom of Granada.
15.
16. CROWN OF CASTILLA:
POLITICAL ORGANISATION
• The problem to govern so
vast territory was that each
region had its own customs
and laws.
• Alfonso X el Sabio created
a legal code to unify the
crown laws: Las Partidas.
17. POLITICAL ORGANISATION: INTITUTIONS
● MONARCHY: King or Queen “by the grace of God” – total authority.
○ Hereditary
○ Special rights (coining or owning mines)
○ No capital, the court (close family and officials) travelled where needed.
○ The Royal Council: evolution from the court (14th c.): oficial body of advice.
● CORTES: representatives from nobles, clergy and cities.
○ Only consultative function.
● CITIES: The main ones had Fueros.
○ City council governed the city (nobles and bourgeois)
○ Corregidor: controlled the city in the name of the King.
18. THE CROWN OF CASTILE: ECONOMY
The economy was based on agriculture (Mediterranean trilogy).
In stockbreeding, merino sheep stood out. Wool of high quality was
exported, and it was used to textile industry as well.
Sheep breeders were important and had privileges, recognized through
the creation of the Honourable Council of the Mesta in 1273.
Craftsmanship and trade developed as well thanks to
the importance of the merino wool.
25. HOW DID THE KINGDOM OF ARAGÓN EVOLVE?
● The Crown of Aragón originated in 1137,
when the Kingdom of Aragón and the
County of Barcelona merged by dynastic
union by the marriage of Ramón Berenguer
IV of Barcelona and Petronila of Aragón; their
titles were combined in the person of their
son, Alfonso II of Aragón, who ascended to
the throne in 1162.
● This union respected the existing
institutions and parliaments of both territories.
26. CROWN OF ARAGON
La boda de doña Petronila con Ramón Berenguer IV se celebró trece años más tarde en Lérida, en el mes de
agosto de 1150, al alcanzar la reina la edad requerida por el Derecho Canónico para poder consumar el
27. THE CROWN OF ARAGÓN
Alfonso II conquered the region of the Ebro valley.
In the 13th century, James I the Conqueror expanded their territories to
the mediterranean coast and the Balearic Islands.
After him, at the beginning of the 14th century, Peter IV the Ceremonious
and his successors continued the expansion towards the Mediterranean area,
arriving to Sicily, Sardinia and Naples.
33. COMPROMISO DE CASPE, 1412
● It was a resolution of parliamentary
representatives of the constituent realms of the
Crown of Aragon (the Kingdom of Aragon, Kingdom
of Valencia, and Principality of Catalonia), meeting
in Caspe, to resolve the interregnum following the
death of King Martin of Aragon in 1410 without a
legitimate heir.
● They chose Fernando de Antequera. On 28 June,
Ferdinand was proclaimed king (in those moments
he was regent in the Crown of Castilla and member
of the Trastámara dynasty).
34. THE CATHOLIC MONARCHS
● In 1469 Fernando of Aragón (the heir of the
Crown) married Isabel of Castilla.
● In 1479 Isabel won a civil war in Castilla and
became queen,and Fernando's father died and
he also became king. They became known the
Catholic Monarchs.
● A dynastic union was held (both Trastámara).
35. THE CROWN OF ARAGÓN
POLITICAL ORGANISATION
● The Crown of Aragón was a federation of different states:
Kingdom of Aragón, K. of Valencia and Catalonian Counties.
●They kept the institutions and individual customs of every
territory of the Crown.
● The king of Aragón had to agree with the Cortes of each kingdom
to introduce any change (limited power).
● The Cities had considerable autonomy.
● In Aragón and Catalonia they had its own government institutions.