Definition of Hispanic Monarchy

At the end of the 15th century, there were three different Christian kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula: on the one hand, the Crown of Castile and Aragon and, on the other, the kingdom of Navarre. Back then there was only one territory Muslim, the Kingdom of Granada.

The Catholic Monarchs constitute the germ of the Hispanic Monarchy

The kingdom of Castile was ruled by Isabel and the kingdom of Aragon by Fernando, both from the Trastamara dynasty.

By joining in marriage in 1469 the first step towards unification took place politics of the Spanish territory. Kings Isabel and Fernando have gone down in history as the Catholic Monarchs.

Officially, the dynastic union between Castile and Aragon took place in 1479, when Isabel proclaimed herself the winner of the war. civil Castilian and, at the same time, when Fernando's father died and he acceded to the throne of Aragon. It is at this historical moment when both crowns founded the so-called Hispanic Monarchy.

Despite this, the two kingdoms maintained their own

institutions, traditions and laws. In other words, during the marriage of Isabel and Fernando the Iberian Peninsula was divided into two kingdoms.

The Catholic Monarchs had five children: Juan, Isabel, María, Juana and Catalina.

At the end of the 15th century, Juana became the first heir in the line of succession when her two older brothers died.

In 1504 Isabel la Católica died and her daughter Juana inherited the throne of Castile, although she ended up being confined by her father in a monastery as a result of her mental problems and the trauma caused by the death of her husband, Felipe el Handsome. This circumstance made Fernando de Aragón become the King regent of Castile until his death in 1516.

In that same year Carlos I (son of Juana and Felipe) became the heir to the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon and in this way the Hispanic Monarchy was consolidated.

The Catholic Monarchs founded a new model of monarchy

Before the Catholic Monarchs, medieval monarchs depended on feudal lords to stay in the power, but from them began a new monarchical model in which the kings maintained power absolute. To strengthen their power, Fernando and Isabel imposed themselves on the institutions that represented the nobles.

Likewise, the religious unification of the territory took place and, in this sense, the Catholicism as unique religion. To achieve this objective some measures had to be taken: the creation of the Inquisition, the expulsion of the Jews in 1492 and the persecution of the Muslims.

The most relevant date for the Hispanic monarchy was October 12, 1492, the day that Christopher Columbus's ships reached American lands.

Fotolia photos: Oddoai / Morphart / KarSol

Topics in Hispanic Monarchy