THE HABSBURG DYNASTY

         BY: JOSE ANTONIO MORGADO    AND             MARI CARMEN HORMIGO

  

     1- THE EMPIRE OF CHARLES I
               1.1 HEIR TO AN EMPIRE

•           From his mother´s side, the kingdom of Castile, Navarre, the   Crown of Aragon and territories in America and Italy.

•              From his father´s side, the Netherlands, Luxemburg and France-Comté. When his grandfather, the emperor Maximilian, died, he also inherited his German territories and was given the title of emperor.

                      1.2  PROBLEMS WITHIN THE EMPIRE 

•                The Revolts of the Comuneros (1520-1521) was an uprising of nobles, the bourgeoisie and the peasants of Castile against the king´s economic policy.

•               The Revolts of the Brotherhoods (1521-1523) was an uprising of artisans and peasants in Valencia and Mallorca. The artisans wanted access to government office and the peasants wanted better rental conditions.

                         1.3   PROBLEMS ABROAD

•             He went to war which France (1525-1544), defeated the Fench army in the Battle of Pavia.

•                 He fought the Turk  (1529-1541).

•                 He confronted the Germans princes, who supported Lutheran reform.

 

           2.    THE SPANISH EMPIRE                                  OF   PHILIP II

                 2.1 PHILIP II´S GOVERNMENT

•                    Philip II, as head of the government of Spain, believed in the divine right of monarchs and used this to justify a number of immoral and illegal acts, such as ordering murders. Philip developed a system of regional self-government with viceroys answering to him and he ruled as an absolute monarch.

•                     Philip II was Chief Minister and he appointed Secretaries of State to aid him. The first was Gonzalo Perez who died in 1566. He was replaced by his son Antonio Perez who was hard working and ambitious. Perez allied himself with the Prince of Eboli, Philip’s favourite. Eboli believed that the government should consist of autonomous states with their own customs, laws and privileges i.e. he wanted a federal system of government. This solution was opposed by the Dukes of Alva who wanted Phillip to adopt a hard line approach to bring states under the close control of the Crown.

                      2.2 FOREING POLICY    

                 Against Flanders, which revolted against high taxes and suffered because of the religious conflict. Philip II sent tercios to the area, but they were unable to resolve the problem.

•              Against the French, who he defended in the battle of Saint-Quentin in 1557. 
•                   Against the Turks , who he defeated in the battle of Lepanto in 1571.
•              Against England, which supported the Protestants and attacked Spainish Armada to invade England, but the fleet was destroyed in a storm.

 



          3.SPANISH ECONOMY  AND             SOCIETY IN THE 16th CENTURY

                      3.1 THE ECONOMY

         From the Spanish Empire in the New World came an influx of precious metals, which had profound economic effects. The flow became especially important in the second half of the sixteenth century, and consisted of both gold and silver, with the latter metal predominating. The Spanish went to great lengths to secure the entire supply for themselves and prevent any of their precious cargoes from falling into the hands of their rivals. Each year the plate fleet, bearing the bullion from the mines of Peru and Mexico, was accompanied to Spain by a convoy of warships, and during the sixteenth century no other nation ever succeeded in intercepting this fleet. Francis Drake was able, however, to rob Spanish treasure in Central America and in the Pacific.

                         


                                 3.2 SOCIETY

                  In the 16th century, the population of Spain increased, especially in Castile. The majority of the population continued to live in the countryside, and the cities had few inhabitants.

                  The privileged class was made up of nobles and clergy, who owned most of the land. Eighty percent of the population were peasants, who paid taxes and hat limited  rights.

                   Other groups in Spain society included Moriscos  and converted Jews. These group were the constant targets of religious and ethnic persecution.

                                         

                                                                                                                                            4. THE DECLINE OF THE                   EMPIRE   IN  THE 17th CENTURY 

         4.1 PHILIP III: THE GOVERMENT OF FAVOURITES 

           Monarchs in the 17th century left governing to favourites, who because very powerful ministers. During is short reign, Philip III delegated power to the Duke of Lerma, who maintained peace abroad.

                   In 1609, Philip III ordered the expulsion of the Moricos from the Peninsula. This made the shortage of agricultural products worsed because the majority of Moriscos were peasants and many rural were left almost unpopulated.

         4.2 PHILIP IV: THE END OF EUROPEAN DOMINANCE

 

              Crisis came in 1640. An attempt by Olivares to intervene in Catalonia to deal with the French invasion threat resulted in revolt. An alliance of Catalan rebels and French royal forces proved challenging to suppress, and in trying to mobilise Portuguese noble support for the war, Olivares triggered a second uprising. Lisbon's nobles expelled Philip, and gave the throne to the Braganzas, marking the end of sixty years of the Iberian Union and the beginning of the Portuguese Restoration War.

                  The next year, the Duke of Medina Sidonia attempted another rebellion against Philip from Andalusia, possibly attempting to reproduce the Braganzas success in Portugal. Although Philip and Olivares were able to repress the ducal revolt, Philip had found himself increasingly isolated. On his return from Zaragoza, where he had been commanding the army, he found only one of the Castilian nobility arrived at court on Easter Day 1641. The threat of Philip's being deposed by the grandees of Castile seemed increasingly real.

               

                                                                                       

         4.3 CHARLES II: CRISIS IN THE HABSBURG MONARCHY

                 Spain experienced a period of crisis during the reign of Charles II, Spain´s last Habsburg monarch. The crisis was caused by the king´s incompetence, corruption among his favourites and a number of economics problems.

                    

                    When Charles II died without an heir in 1700, the War of the Spanish Succession broke out between Philip of Frances´s Bourbon dynasty and Charles of Austria. The victory of French brought an end to the Habsburg monarchy in Spain.

                                


              5. ECONOMIC AND             SOCIAL  CRISIS IN THE 17th           CENTURY

                5.1 CRISIS IN THE CROWN OF CASTILE

               Political commentators in Spain, known as arbitristas, proposed a number of measures to reverse the decline of the Spanish economy. But in fact they did little to change the attitude of the nobility toward work. Contempt for retail trading was reinforced by its association with conversos and moriscos, who were distrusted by the Spanish general population because of their Jewish or Muslim background. 

  

                 The expulsion of Jews and Moors by Isabella and Ferdinand, though popularly received, was economically disastrous. In rural areas of Spain, heavy taxation of peasants reduced agricultural output as peasants in the countryside migrated to the cities. Many believed that the influx of gold and silver from the Americas was the cause of inflation, when only one fifth of the precious metals actually went into Spain. A more prominent internal factor was the Spanish economy's dependence of luxurious Merino wool, the demand of which was replaced by cheaper textiles from England and the Netherlands. The prosperous region of Spain was Catalonia, where peasants had more rights than the rest of Spain. That changed in 1650, when a plague broke out in Catalonia, undermining the local economy.

              5.2 THE CRISIS AND THE CROWN OF ARAGON

                           The crisis did not have the same effect on places like Aragon, which had not been central to American trade. In the 17th century. Aragon´s more stable economy allowed new trading companies to appear, and a silk textile industry also began.


                                   

OTHER EXPLORERS

VASCO NUÑEZ DE BALBOA
Spanish discoverer. Galician origin and uncertain lineage, it was probably son Nuno Arias Balboa gentleman and a lady of Badajoz.

In 1501 he undertook his first trip to the issuance of Rodrigo de Bastidas through the Caribbean islands that belong to the current Colombia (Santa Marta, Cartagena and Gulf of Uraba or Darien). He remained in the Spanish, but had no luck in it and was forced to leave.

In 1508, Alonso de Ojeda and Diego de Nicuesa created two new governorates in the lands between the ends of the candle (Venezuela) and Gracias a Dios. At the easternmost called Nueva Andalucía and the west of the Gulf of Uraba, Castilla del Oro. A year later he fled from his creditors Santo Domingo and embarked as a stowaway on the expedition commanded by Enciso coming out to meet Fernando Alonso de Ojeda, who had founded the settlement of San Sebastián de Urabá in Nueva Andalucía, leaving a group of men he commanded by Francisco Pizarro.

Shortly after his arrival, Balboa became popular among his peers thanks to his charisma and his knowledge of the land. Later, the regiment moved to Darien, where Balboa founded in 1510 the first permanent settlement on American mainland, Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien. Elected mayor, sent emissaries to Nicuesa inviting him to establish himself as governor in the former, but the latter saw the gesture as an intrusion and led a mission of punishment against Balboa, but this beat, and Nicuesa was left to die in a boat that was lost at sea.



In 1511, Balboa won the governorship; Moved by the desire to discover the sea speaking Indians, went into the continent and the September 25, 1513 ended one of the greatest feats of the Spanish conquest of America, the discovery of the South Sea, name given then the Pacific Ocean.

After the arrival of Pedrarias Davila, the new governor, Balboa retained charges ahead of South Sea and governor of Panama and Coiba, and began exploring the Pacific coast. On hearing that his father was to be replaced, he returned to Acla to support it, but Pedrarias accused him of conspiring against the Crown, and the finder was tried, sentenced to death and executed in Acla.

AMERIGO VESPUCCI
Amerigo Vespucci; Florence 1454 - Seville, 1512) Italian navigator whose name would cause the name of the American continent. As is known, Christopher Columbus died believing he had reached the Indies, without suspecting that those islands which had taken possession in the name of the Crown of Castile belonged to a new continent. A friend of his, Amerigo Vespucci, was asked to tell the old Europe that lands found by Columbus were not Asian, but part of a "fourth pars" the world that would give his name involuntarily. This man, insignificant compared to the great figure of Columbus, also died without knowing the effects of its revolutionary news: posthumous glory, derived from the casual baptism for himself and his lineage.

Amerigo Vespucci was a Florentine who had come to Spain as employee trading shortly before the first departure of Columbus. The Medici banking house of Castile sent to a commercial mission for a certain Beraldi, and Italian settled in the vicinity of the court establishing business contacts and projecting some prominent gentlemen. When the March 15, 1493 Christopher Columbus returned from his first voyage and spoke of the immense riches found, the commercial houses of Genoa and Venice began to speculate on the possibility of opening new routes for transporting spices, highly-coveted product in that time. Medici also tried to learn in order to guide their future business, and possibly the first news of the feat of Columbus came to them through letters, more or less accurate, Vespucci.

Beraldi's sudden death, however, left no pattern Américo without livelihoods. Thus he was born his intention to take the same trip to India, which he did in 1497 and then in May 1499. In this second expedition, led by Alonso de Ojeda, followed the route of the third voyage of Columbus: 4th May 1499, ships sailed from Puerto de Santa María and, after twenty days at sea, arrived at the mouth of the Orinoco, as discovered by Columbus, and began the journey north coast. The geographical features of the low and flooded coast and pre-entrance Lake Maracaibo, accidents Venice reminded Amerigo Vespucci and therefore called on those lands Venezuela or Little Venice. Ojeda's expedition continued its exploration reaching Cape Vela, in today's Colombia, and cartographers first fixed part of the boundary of the lands discovered.

On his return, Vespucci continued with their reporting to the Medici and, apparently, prepared to undertake new journeys. Although the authenticity of his later expeditions has been doubted by many historians, the same Vespucci realizes in his two letters. On the third trip, the service of the king of Portugal, Brazil claims to have paid for and returned to Lisbon in July 1502; and fourth, also on behalf Portuguese, he must go back the Brazilian coast in late 1503, confirming their suspicions that the continent was not Asia. The truth is that in 1504 was published in Augsburg booklet Mundus Novus (New World), where a letter of Vespucci to Lorenzo de Medici in chronicling his travels was reproduced, and the following year his second book was printed, Lettera di Amerigo Vespucci Isole delle quattro nuovamente ritrovate in Suoi viaggi, expressing his belief that Europe and Asia were new land.

Such extraordinary revelations fascinated the German cosmographer Martin Waldseemüller, who decided to publish in 1507 Vespucci's letters with his Cosmographiae Introductio. This work included portraits of Ptolemy and Vespucci, and in his preface he wrote: "Now that those parts of the world have been extensively examined and another quarter have been discovered by Amerigo Vespucci, I see no reason not to call it America, is ie land of Amerigo, its discoverer, as well as Europe, Africa and Asia received names of women. "



The name of America began to spread and flood everything. Earlier, in 1505, Amerigo Vespucci had become Amerigo Vespucci upon being granted naturalization in the kingdoms of Castile and Leon. His fame as a merchant seaman and had grown considerably, to the point of taking you to participate in the Board of Burgos next to sailors, explorers and cartographers as illustrious as Finch, Solis and Juan de la Cosa in 1507, and being named greater pilot House of Hiring the following year.

At his death in 1512, the New World had definitely become America. After a few years, Waldseemüller had news discoverer of the fourth continent and wanted to amend his error in a new edition of his book which was released in 1516. It was too late and nobody listened. Only a piece of American soil took the name of the pioneer Admiral: Colombia. In the early nineteenth century, Simon Bolivar dreamed of a vast country called Gran Colombia and tried unsuccessfully to give life to his dream. It would have been a median compensation for the man who starred in the most dazzling epic of the modern era, but destiny's not allowed.

FERDINAND MAGELLAN
Portuguese explorer and navigator. Member of the Portuguese nobility, studied and nautical cartography in Lisbon. At twenty-five, he joined the expedition to India commanded by Francisco de Almeida. On his next trip, this time to Morocco under the command of the Duke of Braganza, was wounded.

The Portuguese king, Manuel I the Fortunate, which had an unfavorable report on the conduct of Magellan in this last mission, rejected twice a project of sea to explore new routes to the East, so that he decided to try his luck in Spain . He arrived in Seville in October 1517 and from there went to court, which at the time was at Valladolid. In the same year he married Beatriz Barbosa, daughter of a Sevillian important official, who gave him a son, Rodrigo.

Magellan was convinced that there should be a step south of the South American coast to reach India by the West, a step that had sought unsuccessfully Juan Diaz de Solis. The possibility of finding an alternative route to East across the Atlantic Ocean was of vital interest to the Spanish monarchy, as the African coast was under the control of its main rival in the spice trade, Portugal.

After resigning Portuguese nationality, and with the support of the Portuguese astronomer Ruy de Faleiro and Bishop Fonseca, he managed to interest in the project to King Charles I, who put at their disposal five ships: Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepcion, Victoria and Santiago with a crew of 270 men of different races and nationalities. He was appointed governor of the lands he might discover and given one-twentieth of the potential benefits of the expedition.

The fleet set sail from Seville in September 1519, after a failed attempt to sabotage Portuguese trip. Faleiro, victim of an attack of madness, went ashore. The contingent passed by the Canaries archipelago, continued journey to the coast of Brazil and then turned south, where he explored the estuary of the Plata. In the Bay of San Julian, Patagonia, the expedition was set for winter, a period in which two ships, one by accident and the other for desertion were lost; In addition, the Navy had to quell a riot.



Finally, on October 21, 1520, they approached the strait that now bears his name (Magellan called it "Strait of All Saints'), which allowed them to surround the American continent. Just over a month later found across an ocean of calm waters (which later became known as the Pacific Ocean), in whose sight the seasoned sailor cried with emotion.

They continued northwards, first along the coast of Chile and then turn northwest toward those currently known as Mariana Islands (which christened Islands of Thieves), without running water or fresh provisions, and the crew sick scurvy. The arrival in the islands let them refuel and continue exploring other islands making up the archipelago that bears the name of the Philippines.

It was in one of them, Mactan, where Magellan fell mortally wounded in a clash with indigenous, which miscarried her dream of completing the first voyage around the world. This corresponded to the marine feat of Basque origin Juan Sebastian Elcano (captain of the ship Conception, abandoned near the island of Cebu). Under his command the expedition completed its journey, the Moluccas first to make landfall in Spain on September 6, 1522; He arrived one ship, the Victoria, with eighteen survivors aboard and a cargo of spices.

JUAN SEBASTIAN ELCANO
Spanish navigator who completed the first round the world. The first news we have of him show him as a Basque sailor with ample nautical knowledge, who participated in the expedition of Cisneros to Algiers (1509) and the Italian campaigns of the Great Captain.

In 1518 he met in Seville to the Portuguese navigator Magellan, who was preparing an expedition to the service of Spain to find the route to the Indies by sailing west. Elcano enlisted in the expedition, which departed from Sanlucar de Barrameda in 1519 and explored the Rio de la Plata and Patagonia; there Elcano helped quell a first riot, but participated in a second attempt against Magallanes, who spared his life, is not to consider him or find him guilty essential to continue the journey (1520).

With reduced to a secondary role Elcano, the expedition discovered the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the South American continent and the Mariana Islands and the Philippines. When Magellan died in a battle with the natives of the Philippine island of Mactam (1521) the expedition was under the command successively several of his captains who vied for power, still exploring the islands, building relationships with local chiefs and earnestly seeking the route to the Moluccas.

Finally, a triumvirate led by Elcano took command of what remained of the fleet, arguing that the Portuguese bosses (including Magellan) had eluded order to avoid prejudicing the Moluccas to Portugal, which held the lucrative monopoly of trade in the spices sailing to the islands around Africa and across the Indian Ocean (1521).



After reaching the Moluccas and establish treaties with the native princes, they acquired a cargo of spices and prepared to return. However, a fault in one of the two remaining ships made the expedition separated: the damaged ship would stay in the Moluccas to repair and return to Spanish American lands across the Pacific; while the ship Elcano Victoria back to the Peninsula by the Portuguese route.

This last trip was a difficult and dangerous feat, because the actual maritime problems (such as rounding the Cape of Good Hope) the need to cross the Indian and skirting the African continent without scales, for fear it was added to be captured by the Portuguese, who had already sent a fleet to defeat the efforts of Magellan.

Elcano managed to dominate impatience crew, anxious to go ashore from to pass off the coast of Mozambique; but the lack of food will eventually forced to refuel in the Cape Verde Islands, where several crew members were captured by the Portuguese governor and the rest had to flee in haste. There he discovered Elcano in your own time had one day less, a result of having given the world a complete turn. Finally, the expedition arrived at Sanlucar de Barrameda in 1522, with only 18 of the 265 men who had left it there three years earlier.

Emperor Charles V Elcano received in audience, though not very generous rewards for their achievement. His trip was a success, both from a geographical point of view (as confirmed experimentally the sphericity of the Earth) and economic (as the sale of goods in Antwerp amply covered the costs of the issue).

Business expectations and did open a new House of Hiring intended to specialize in the spice trade was founded in Corunna. From there came a second expedition, financed by the Fugger and commanded by Loaisa (an aristocrat, to prevent further problems insubordination); Elcano traveled, despite their protests, as chief pilot. But this expedition, which left La Coruña in 1525, failed for the death of Loaisa and Elcano on (1526).

THE PRINTING PRESS

During the centuries of the Middle Ages, with the invention of paper, the Chinese took the first steps in the development of printing. They sought a method that, instead of copying the handwritten allow them to obtain many identical copies of the same original. The solution was styling the characters of a page on a wooden board, so that these outstanding. After inking the plate and flattened sheets of paper on it. You see, it is similar to stamps today system.
Centuries later, each sign is tilled in a separate piece of wood, which combined with others to form expressions. The system was faster, but the huge number of characters in the Chinese language difficult things. The first books, calendars and news were printed with these procedures.

JOHANNES GUTENBERG: THE INVENTOR OF THE PRINTING PRESS.
You do not have clear date of birth of the German inventor Johannes Gutenberg. But it has been determined who was born in Mainz, a small town in Germany, circa 1400. Coming from a noble family, his real name was Friele Gensfleisch. Nor have specific background of his death established that the event probably occurred in late 1467 or early 1468.

In his hometown, he worked as a goldsmith. He moved with his family to Strasbourg, where he set up a company of woodcuts, which would be the starting point for the future development of his legacy.


Numerous studies have been determined if it was indeed the inventor of the printing press and movable letters. Some have concluded that no. Background corroborate the Babylonians, in antiquity known printing clay seals and Chinese, circa 1041, also printed with such letters. Moreover, in the Middle Ages were recorded using full-page woodcuts.

However, we can attribute to Gutenberg using movable metal type not previously used, but does not really know who was the first to implement. Researchers say the first was the Dutchman Laurens Janszoon. What is known for sure is that Gutenberg built between 1436 and 1450, a device that successfully managed to fuse the metal letters used in his earlier books, with which printed his famous Bible in 1455. As an anecdote can tell that because their debts, Gutenberg was repossessed and printing that made him famous was in the hands of its creditors, who with the sale of the Bible increased by five times their initial investment.

Gutenberg invented nothing really. Long before him, the Chinese had developed the techniques of printing and papermaking. Goldsmiths already knew making chisels and Rhineland vintners and screw presses used in their harvests. But no one had yet met these different inventions. German printer ingenuity led him to develop a truly effective for the reproduction of texts written mechanical device. So it can be considered as the true father of the modern book.

For the professor of physiology at the School of Medicine at UCLA, a Gutenberg he should be distinguished by their advances in the use of printing "a technique for mass production with metal letters, a new metal aliación for types and ink printing with paint. It would also be advisable to locate Gutenberg as a symbol because it opened the publishing industry in the West with the Bible of 1455. "

In 1450 he teamed up with Johannes Fust, who lent him eight hundred guilders for which installed printing, melt the metal letters and buy the parchment to print the Bible. The loan considered the salaries of assistants and livelihoods of Gutenberg himself.

Two years later Fust gave the same amount again to the end of the project that included two volumes of the holy book. But lacking ornamentation hand and the filling of the forms. Fust annoying finally decide to go to court demanding that he return the money immediately.

The improvement of movable metal type was what caused him major problems, as can be deduced from the many tests carried out without success. The most immediate was the choice of the basis of print: parchment, expensive and unusual element was not smooth enough and light enough to facilitate quick and clean working.

Despite the simplicity of the Gutenberg printing press meant for investing almost his entire life perfecting it. It revolutionized the cultural, political, social and even religious life of much of mankind.

Second edition:
The so-called "Gutenberg Bible", printed in 1455, is one of the treasures of the National Library of Austria and will be digitized under Austrian publisher Hollinek reported. The project objective is to commemorate the twenty-first century Gutenberg and facilitate access to the European cultural heritage using technology for both scanning as for reprint.

MEDIEVAL INSTITUTIONS IN SPAIN

POLITICAL ORGANIZATION AND INSTITUTIONS:
THE KINGDOM OF CASTILE

In the western part of the peninsula appeared three major political centers: the kingdoms of Portugal, León and Castile. Portugal followed a distinct history and León and Castile lived a complex process in which both crowns were united and disunited along the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Finally Ferdinand III of Castile took place the definitive union in 1230.

The territorial organization of the kingdom was very complex. Within the kingdom of Castile was the kingdom of Galicia, the lordship of Biscay and Álava and Guipúzcoa. So the king had the titles of King of Castile, Leon, lord of Biscay ...

The political history of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was really complex and was full of crisis. The strengthening of royal power by Alfonso XI got the approval of the Ordinance of Alcala in 1348, was followed by a brutal civil war crisis between Pedro I the Cruel and Henry II of Castile. The victory of the latter brought a new dynasty, the Trastámara, power and strengthening ("enriqueñas grants") nobiliar power.

Castilla failed to annexation of Portugal in the battle of Aljubarrota (1385).

In the fifteenth century, the reigns of John II and Henry IV saw major internal conflicts in which the nobility reinforced their positions. A Henry IV was succeeded by his sister Isabella of Castile, the future Isabella.

INSTITUTIONS

The king looked assisted in his action by various central government institutions: the Royal Council, the Court, in charge of the administration of justice, and the Royal Treasury, responsible for taxes.

In these centuries were built two key institutions for the real power: a permanent Royal Army and increasingly complex bureaucracy, consisting of lawyers, experts trained in universities.

In the twelfth century (1188) were born Courts, estates assembly composed of representatives of the nobility, clergy and towns. The agency had no legislative power but decided on extraordinary taxes and had the ability to petition the king.

The local administration was based on the institution of councils. Councils Councils or terminated under the control of urban oligarchies (nobility, clergy, bourgeoisie).

THE CROWN OF ARAGON

The kingdom of Aragon rather than a unified kingdom was a confederation of kingdoms, Aragon, Valencia and Mallorca, and the Principality of Catalonia had different institutions and laws.

Often the Aragonese monarchy as a "pactista monarchy", in which the monarch's power was weak and the king had to agree with the privileged classes and respect the laws of each kingdom when a decision is characterized.

In front of each kingdom was a lieutenant of the King who acted as his deputy.

Other institutions were the Royal Council and the Court.

In the thirteenth century were born Courts in the kingdoms of Catalonia, Aragon and Valencia. They were bodies in each kingdom and were gaining increasing power.

Courts were estates assemblies where representatives of the two privileged classes and the urban patriciate (Gentry cities) are met. Dominated by the nobility and clergy, controlled the power of the monarch and mourned by feudal interests of the clergy and nobility limiting the power of the monarch.

The Catalan Cortes created an institution, the General Council or Generalitat of Catalonia, which became in fact a kind of government of the Principality. In Valencia and Aragon were subsequently created Councils of the Kingdom, similar to the Catalan institutions.

Existed the institution of Justice of Aragon, cargo assigned to a member of the nobility who watched over maintaining class privileges against the power of the king in Aragon.

The territorial administration was organized in merindades or veguerías. The organ of power in cities was the town in the late Middle Ages came under the control of local oligarchies (Concell de Cent of Barcelona).

THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR

The name of Hundred Years' War is given to the long conflict that claimed the kings of France and England between 1337 and 1453. It was actually an extensive series of military clashes and diplomats, characterized by short and long truces military campaigns. It was, therefore, a state of permanent war, although prolonged and frequent truces were continually peppered with skirmishes style guerrilla warfare, and more traditional diplomatic maneuvers were on the agenda. It began in the middle of feudal conditions and because of a typically feudal litigation; and ended in war between two countries that were fast becoming nations under centralized management of their respective monarchies.

The origin of the Hundred Years' War

However, the roots of the Hundred Years' War back to conquer the English throne by William the Conqueror in 1066. As Duke of Normandy, William-and, subsequently, their herederos- participated so actively in the feudal politics of France and government of England. Both economically and culturally, England had become a colony of Normandy, and the interests of the new kings "English" were firmly established in France.

This situation worsened after 1154, to accede to the throne of England Henry of Anjou, founder of the Plantagenet or Angevin dynasty. As a Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and now, as Henry II of England, this monarch had firmly planted on either side of Canal foot. According to feudal principles, Enrique and, after him, his sons Richard and John, were vassals of the French monarchy, which was the central power; but the enormous power derived from the domain of wealth and human resources of England, became the first Plantagenet anything but submissive vassals of the king of France.

Growth of French power

The early years of this "Angevin empire" coincided with unprecedented growth of the power and prestige of the French monarchs. In 1202, King Philip Augustus of France called King John of England to his court of Paris in relation to the alleged failure by the latter of its obligations as feudal lord of Aquitaine.

Based on the principle that the lands of France were owned by their masters only in his capacity as vassals of the King of France, Philip Augustus John stripped of all his French possessions. Naturally, the move was followed by a series of wars. Until the signing of the Treaty of Paris of 1259, failed to reach an acceptable solution. The King of England could resume his duties in Aquitaine, but on the express condition that he did as a vassal of the French monarch.

In 1294 a new period of sporadic military activities, interrupted by long and complex diplomatic negotiations, culminating in the partial dispossession of Aquitaine began. The French refused to limit the sovereignty of the king over the region to satisfy the English. These, in turn, supported the rights of their king to full sovereignty. The next phase of this conflict began in 1337, when Philip VI of France decreed again dispossession of the Duchy of Edward III of England and organized a military campaign to seize the land by force. This is the date which is taken as the beginning of the Hundred Years War. The magnitude of the conflict soon increased when Eduardo rightful king of France was proclaimed in 1340, and invited the French nobles to recognize its right. Thus, the dispute over Aquitaine became a war of succession of France.

This conflict between two monarchs for possession of a kingdom was further complicated by resentment that came manifesting French nobles had long by the central government interference in their sphere of power. And Eduardo was savvy enough to capitalize on that resentment. They pointed out that their efforts were fighting a French gentleman who, at the same time proved to be king of England, facing the expansive policy of a series of increasingly powerful kings. And indeed, achieved the recognition of their rights in some circles. Therefore, from 1340, there were two kings of France.

The Battle of Crécy

The famous battles of Crecy (1346) and Poitiers (1356) occurred almost fortuitously. Crécy yielded meager results Eduardo, except indirectly, the port of Calais and the surrounding area. Poitiers culminated in the capture of King John II of France and interestingly, this event had little practical consequence. However, the effect of these two victories over Eduardo's prestige was such that in 1359 was in an extremely strong position

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Battle of Crecy, Hundred Years' War

In 1359, Eduardo had won the support of various factions in the duchies of Flanders, Normandy and Brittany, and was negotiating accession to the Duke of Burgundy. Besides, I still had the King of France as prisoner. At that time Eduardo proposed a truce, under whose terms will be assigned throughout the western half of France, and a large ransom by King John. When the French, in a riot of value, rejected such terms, Eduardo assembled a mighty army and mounted a campaign that, as expected, was to prove decisive.

This British offensive failed miserably. As a result, the treaties of Brétigny and Calais (1360), who were the first agreements aimed at ending the war was signed. Under these treaties, France recognized the full sovereignty of Eduardo on a far more extensive than before Aquitaine. In return, Eduardo relinquish all claim to the crown of France. This was the first of two highlights of the conflict.

Soon after, the protagonists of the drama at it again. Eduardo withdrew his waiver of rights to the French crown, and the king of France, in retaliation, refused to decline sovereignty over Aquitaine. Consequently, the war resumed. By 1375, Charles V of France had managed to push back the forces of Eduardo almost to the Canal. All that this king had managed to retain was Calais, a coastal strip that included Bordeaux and Bayonne, a few fortresses under siege in Brittany and Normandy.

In the early fifteenth century, the British had a new opportunity to seize much of France, if not the entire country. The occasion was the outbreak of civil war or, more specifically, an armed conflict between the Dukes of Burgundy and Orleans. Charles VI, who had succeeded to the throne of France in 1380 at the age of eleven was a chronic patient unable to govern effectively. In the power vacuum thus created his uncles ducal vied for personal power and gain a dominant influence on the central administration.

True to the spirit of the French feudal politics, nor the Duke of Burgundy nor the Orleans had no qualms about seeking British help. After the benevolent neutrality of first having ascertained, Henry V landed near Harfleur in 1415. However, the supposedly glorious victory at Agincourt obtained soon after proved to be little more than a desperate rearguard action to cover their retreat.

Enrique returned with a new army in 1417, finding better luck this time. While engaged to conquer Normandy, strength for strength, reluctant ally, the Duke of Burgundy, besieged and captured Paris. When the duke was assassinated in 1419, his successor decided to conclude a formal alliance with Enrique. This agreement led directly to the treaty of Troyes, 1420. It was the second peak, at least apparently, from prolonged warfare.

Under the treaty of Troyes, Henry should be recognized legitimate king of France when the throne becomes vacant by the death of Carlos. It seemed that everything he had to do to Enrique was complete the conquest of those regions that were still resisting the advance of the English armies. Again, dreams of Edward III created an empire encompassing the whole of France and England seemed about to be realized.

Henry VI

But Henry V died a few months before the incapable Carlos, so that the treaty of Troyes never entered into force. Little Henry VI was crowned king of both England and France, and British armies continued their conquest of northern and southwestern France. It soon became clear that, if they could seize Orleans and across the Loire, be militarily impossible to cut its progress through the rest of France.

Site Orleans. Hundred Years War

But it was in Orleans in 1429, where the sign of the war finally changed in favor of France. Orleans being subjected to persistent harassment of the English, appeared on the scene the enigmatic figure of Joan of Arc. At the head of the French armies, Juana lifted the siege and persuaded the Dauphin, eldest son of the late Charles VI, to be crowned in Reims did as King Charles VII of France. The country regained his breath, because again a king and a victorious general had. Thereafter, the English positions were continuously deteriorate; Burgundy was again subjected to the French royal house in 1435, and Paris was finally recaptured the following year.

Carlos VII of FranciaSólo in 1449 Carlos felt strong enough to go on the offensive. When he did, quickly regained Maine and Normandy. Bordeaux, the last English stronghold in Aquitaine, finally fell into the hands of the armies of Charles in 1453. That meant the effective end of English presence in France, so the date is considered as the end of the century-old conflict.

Apart from confirming the Valois dynasty as reigning house of France, and to force the Plantagenet to be more "English" than before the war produced other important long-term effects. The war had developed exclusively in France, leaving impoverished and depopulated. The French revival, during the war and after it, only be achieved under a strong central government, and all France recognized this reality.

The kings of France, in the interests of the need for a strong central government, they soon came to acquire powers that would lead to the absolute monarchy of three centuries later. Before the war, France was a mosaic of nearly independent duchies and counties, often in conflict with each other or with the king about. His dukes and earls, and the people had little awareness of being "French". After the war, appeared an embryonic sense of national unity under the banner of the King of France and all the French. The old feudal style was gone forever.