Concord of Segovia

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
Concord of Segovia
Original document of the Concord of Segovia, preserved in the General Archive of Simancas
TypeUnion of crowns and delimitation of competences
Signed15 January 1475
LocationAlcázar of Segovia, Segovia
Effective15 January 1475
Signatories Crown of Castile
Crown of Aragon
Depositary Crown of Castile
LanguagesCastilian

The Concord of Segovia (Spanish: Concordia de Segovia) was an agreement signed on 15 January 1475 in the Alcázar of Segovia by Isabella I of Castile and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon, at the time King of Sicily and Prince of Girona.[1] The pact regulated the joint government of the Crown of Castile following the contested accession of Isabella, and is regarded as a foundational instrument of the dynastic union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon that gave rise to the future Spanish Empire under the Catholic Monarchs.[2]

The document, drawn up by Archbishop Alfonso Carrillo de Acuña of Toledo and Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza of Sigüenza, recognised Isabella as the sole proprietary heir of Castile while granting Ferdinand the title of king together with extensive executive faculties. It did not unite the two crowns into a single political body; rather, it set out a working accommodation between the Castilian magnates who supported Isabella and the Aragonese party of her husband.[2][1]

Background

King Henry IV of Castile died in the early hours of 12 December 1474 in Madrid. The news reached Segovia on the following day, where his half-sister Isabella resided. Her husband Ferdinand was then absent in Aragon. On 13 December Isabella had herself proclaimed queen and proprietress of the realm, with Ferdinand named her legitimate husband, presenting the act as a fait accompli to forestall negotiations and concessions to her rival claimant, her niece Joanna la Beltraneja; news of the proclamation was promptly dispatched to the cities represented in the Cortes.[3] Ferdinand set out for Segovia and entered the city on 2 January 1475.[4]

The arrival of Ferdinand precipitated immediate discussions about the succession and the role that the consort should play in the government of the kingdom.[4] Members of Ferdinand's entourage argued that his rights surpassed those of Isabella because, as the eldest direct male heir of the House of Trastámara, he stood closer to the dynastic line; and that, under prevailing custom, husbands enjoyed free disposition of their wives' property, which would entitle him to dispose of the Castilian realm at will.[5][6] Yet the royal couple had not yet produced a male heir, so applying such prerogatives in favour of the male line would have undermined the legitimacy of their own future descendants.[4][5]

The Castilian aristocracy meanwhile remembered that Ferdinand was the son of John II of Aragon and a kinsman of the so-called Infantes of Aragon, a branch of the Trastámaras who had participated in noble conjurations during the reign of John II of Castile. Those nobles who had opposed the Aragonese faction feared reprisals and pressed for clear limits on the new king's powers, in particular for guarantees that Ferdinand would not grant Castilian offices or royal favours without consultation.[6][7]

Provisions

Archbishop Carrillo and Cardinal Mendoza drafted the text of the Concord, which is dated 15 January 1475.[8]

The agreement confirmed Isabella as the sole proprietress of the kingdom in her capacity as sole heir, so that on her death her titles would pass to her direct descendants. Ferdinand received the title of king and was not reduced to a mere consort: official documents, coinage, the royal seal and public proclamations would be issued in both their names, with Ferdinand named first; however, the arms of Castile took precedence over those of Aragon.[1][2] Isabella retained the appointment of public offices in Castile, and the proceeds of Castilian taxation were earmarked first for the administrative obligations of the kingdom, with any remaining surplus to be applied by common agreement. Ecclesiastical benefices were to be granted by joint decision, although in cases of disagreement the queen's choice would prevail. Administrative and judicial business, and the appointment of corregidors, would be regulated jointly when the monarchs were together and in each one's name when they were apart.[1][2][9]

Aftermath

The Concord did not constitute an agreement between husband and wife but between two rival political factions, and was drafted to reassure the Castilian nobility that the Aragonese would not interfere in the government of the kingdom.[1][2] Accordingly, the text dealt only with the ordinary revenues, the appointment of offices and the administration of justice, leaving foreign policy, warfare and extraordinary revenues to the discretion of both monarchs.[10] It also established a public posture of political cohesion between Ferdinand and Isabella designed to forestall court intrigues that might exploit any disagreements between them.[2]

On 28 April 1475, on the eve of the War of the Castilian Succession against the supporters of Joanna la Beltraneja and her husband Afonso V of Portugal, Isabella issued a document authorising Ferdinand to exercise all the governmental faculties she herself was legally entitled to exercise.[11] This document effectively turned Ferdinand into a king of Castile in the full sense and overrode the separation of competences set out in the Concord, although the latter remained legally valid as the constitutive instrument of their joint rule.[9][12][13]

Following the death of John II of Aragon in 1479, Ferdinand succeeded to the Aragonese throne. At the Cortes of Calatayud on 14 April 1481, he granted Isabella the same powers he had received in 1475, designating her co-regent, governor and administrator in the realms of the Crown of Aragon. Some historians read this concession as an open-ended recognition rather than a formal procuration.[13][14] The fact that in 1488 Ferdinand granted Isabella a separate Lieutenancy General of the States of the Crown of Aragon, and that her name does not appear in routine Aragonese documents, has led other authors to view the powers as ad hoc rather than systematic.[15][16]

Legacy

The Concord of Segovia is widely regarded by Spanish historiography as a foundational text of the joint reign of the Catholic Monarchs, establishing the institutional and symbolic framework under which Castile and Aragon would be ruled by a single conjugal sovereignty while preserving their separate legal personalities.[2][1] The original document is preserved in the Archivo General de Simancas in Simancas, Valladolid.

See also

References

  1. Suárez Fernández, Luis (1989). Los Reyes Católicos: La Conquista del trono (in Spanish). Ediciones Rialp. p. 85.
  2. Pérez, Joseph (1997). Isabel y Fernando: los Reyes Católicos (in Spanish). Editorial NEREA. p. 62.
  3. Pérez, Joseph (1997). Isabel y Fernando: los Reyes Católicos (in Spanish). Editorial NEREA. p. 60.
  4. Suárez Fernández, Luis (1989). Los Reyes Católicos: La Conquista del trono (in Spanish). Ediciones Rialp. p. 84.
  5. Pérez, Joseph (1997). Isabel y Fernando: los Reyes Católicos (in Spanish). Editorial NEREA. p. 61.
  6. Suárez Fernández, Luis (1989). Los Reyes Católicos: La Conquista del trono (in Spanish). Ediciones Rialp. p. 83.
  7. Suárez Fernández, Luis (1989). Los Reyes Católicos: Fundamentos de la monarquía (in Spanish). Ediciones Rialp. p. 18.
  8. de Cáceres Blanco, Francisco Ignacio (1970). El Alcázar de Segovia, vida y aventura de un castillo famoso (in Spanish). Aldus Velarde, S.A. p. 93.
  9. Dumont, Jean (1993). La «incomparable» Isabel la Católica (in Spanish). Encuentro. p. 43.
  10. Suárez Fernández, Luis (1989). Los Reyes Católicos: La Conquista del trono (in Spanish). Ediciones Rialp. p. 86.
  11. de Francisco Olmos, José María (2007). "La moneda castellana de los Países Bajos a nombre de Doña Juana (1505-1506) (1517)" (in Spanish) (10): 134. ISSN 1133-1240. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. Edwards, John (2004). Isabel la Católica: poder y fama (in Spanish). Marcial Pons Historia. p. 84.
  13. Suárez Fernández, Luis (1989). Los Reyes Católicos: Fundamentos de la monarquía (in Spanish). Ediciones Rialp. p. 19.
  14. Martínez Ruiz, Enrique (1992). La España moderna (in Spanish). Ediciones AKAL. p. 31.
  15. Ribot García, Luis Antonio; Valdeón Baruque, Julio; Maza Zorrilla, Elena, ed. (2007). Isabel La Católica y su época: actas del congreso internacional, Valladolid-Barcelona-Granada, 15 a 20 de noviembre de 2004 (in Spanish). Vol. 1. Instituto Universitario de Historia Simancas, Universidad de Valladolid. p. 39.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  16. Martínez Ruiz, Enrique (1992). La España moderna (in Spanish). Ediciones AKAL. p. 32.

Bibliography

  • Pérez, Joseph (1997). Isabel y Fernando: los Reyes Católicos (in Spanish). Editorial NEREA.
  • Suárez Fernández, Luis (1989). Los Reyes Católicos: La Conquista del trono (in Spanish). Ediciones Rialp.
  • Suárez Fernández, Luis (1989). Los Reyes Católicos: Fundamentos de la monarquía (in Spanish). Ediciones Rialp.
  • Dumont, Jean (1993). La «incomparable» Isabel la Católica (in Spanish). Encuentro.
  • Edwards, John (2004). Isabel la Católica: poder y fama (in Spanish). Marcial Pons Historia.