A History of Spain / founded on the Historia de España y de la civilización española of Rafael Altamira

by Charles E. Chapman; Rafael Altamira

Granada

Inconsequential character of Granadine political history.

The Moslem state of Granada was of very slight political importance in this period, despite its by no means insignificant territorial extent, wealth, and population. It was a mere political accident, annoying to the Christians at times, but as a rule not worthy of serious consideration as an enemy. It was precisely because it was not greatly to be feared or very troublesome that it was permitted to maintain its independence. It is to be noted, also, that there was very little of the crusading spirit in these centuries; if there had been, Granada would soon have been conquered. On several occasions, when the rulers of Granada called in the Benimerines and others from Africa, the Moslems were a serious peril to Christian Spain, but the battle of the Salado in 1340 proved decisive, being followed by a decline of the political strength of the Moslem states of northern Africa. After 1340 the rulers of Granada limited themselves, in their relations with the Christian states, to intervening in Castile during periods of civil war, or to asking Castilian aid at times of internal strife in Granada. Uprisings and dethronements were of frequent occurrence, but so too were Moslem raids into Castilian territory.

CHAPTER XII
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION IN SPAIN, 1252-1479

Castile

Social changes of the era in Castile.

AS regards social organization this period represents merely an evolution of the factors which had already appeared in the preceding era, and its chief results were the following: the end of serfdom; the advance of the middle class and its opposition to the lords, principally through its jurisconsults and the caballeros of the towns; an increase in the privileges of the clergy; and additional landed wealth for the nobles through the donations of the kings or private conquests. The principal social struggle was no longer that of the serfs against their lords, but rather of the middle class, as represented by the wealthier citizens of the towns, against the nobles and clergy for legal equality, especially as regards taxation and other duties to the state. The disappearance of serfdom did not bring economic well-being to the agricultural laborers; their fortunes in this regard were often as vexatious and hard to bear as their former personal dependence had been. At the same time, the poorer people of the towns became a fairly numerous class, but they were in a position of inferiority as compared with the wealthier citizens.

Social and political prestige of the nobility.

Primogeniture and latifundia.

Through civil wars and the weakness of the kings the power of the nobles, both socially and politically, appeared to increase. They did not confine their strife to opposition to the king, but fought one another incessantly, not for any political or other ideal, but mainly for personal reasons. Such was the nature of the wars, for example, between the Guzmán and Ponce families of Seville. As time went on, these intra-class struggles increased, being more numerous than ever in the fifteenth century. The nobility would have destroyed itself if the kings had known how to take advantage of the situation, but most of them failed to appreciate their opportunity. Sancho IV, Alfonso XI, Pedro I, and Henry III tried to reduce the nobles by direct attack, and Henry IV gave special attention to the development of a new nobility as a counterpoise to the old, but usually the kings dared to fight only indirectly, as by granting the petitions of the towns which involved a diminution of seigniorial authority. Two circumstances in addition to their political victories tended to secure the position of the nobles: the adoption of the law of primogeniture with regard to the succession to both their titles and their lands; and the increase in the territorial domains in the possession of the nobles. By the law of primogeniture the wealth of the family and the lustre of its name were given in charge of the eldest son, maintaining in this way the powerful position of the particular noble house. The second sons (segundones), in large measure disinherited, sought a career as members of the clergy or as soldiers. Henry II himself was partly responsible for the introduction of this new practice of the nobility, and he and later kings usually required that the lands granted by them to the nobles should be inalienable and subject to the law of primogeniture. The royal donations, which were especially great from the time of Henry II on, were usually of two kinds: honores (honors), or grants of the fiscal rights which the king had in a specifically named place; and tierras (lands), or grants of a fixed rent on a certain town or towns. Both forms were termed generally grants in encomienda. The nobles increased their holdings yet more by usurpations and private conquests. Early in the reign of Henry IV, for example, the Duke of Medina Sidonia and other nobles conquered territories of vast size from the Moslems, and these latifundia, (broad estates) have influenced even to the present day the economic life of Andalusia.