King Alfonso IV of Spania in his "neo-Gothian" clothes
27. The civil war (1416-1443) and its aftermath.
It all exploded when
Maria, the mother of king Fernando, decided to restore the strenght and prestige of the monarchy and, in a palace coup (1416), she became the de facto ruler of Spania, even if his son was still the king. However, Maria was a not a gifted ruler and her own supporters turned to Juan, Duke of Huesca just a Fernando, Earl of the
Alcáçovas. proclaimed himself as king
Fernando I of Portugal in late 1416. Juan, now the regent of Spania for Fernando, became the king in all but in name. His "reign" was characterized by his harsh measures. He resolved to suppress many abuses and limited the power of the nobles. The people, even if the felt the severity of his laws, felt protected by his justice, which kept at bay the rapacity of their lords. However, by 1420, Spania had descended into a terror state. In September that year, Juan began a purge of the court, including the murder of the king, which lead to an open revolt. Francisco de Lara, Earl of Salamanca, who had been freed by Juan, led an 80,000-army, including 5,000 knights, and marched against Toledo, which he took and pillaged ruthlessly as Juan, who claimed to be
Juan I of Spania, tried to assemble and army but his supporters deserted him. Eduardo, Earl of Palermo, who had been one of the reasons that had led to the downfall of the late king Fernando I, murdered Juan I and recognized Francisco de Lara as the new king. However, Francisco refused the honour and called for the Royal Council to find a successor.
This would led to the "
Anarchy" (1420-1432), when several noblement attempted to claimo the throne for themselves, murdering their way to the top. The first was the governor of Valencia (1420-1421), who died from natural causes when preparing to invade Castille. This would lead to the breakaway regime by Berenguer, earl of Barcelona who, after being defeated in the battle of Tarragona (1422), fled with his followers to the Baleares, where he reigned as a king until his death (from natural causes) in 1429), ,when the Islands were recoverd by the Spanian king. In 1423, Eduardo II, Earl of Palermo, true to his schiming father, proclaimed the "
Imperio de Sicilia" (Empire of Sicily, which included the Italian continental lands) and broke away from Spania. This led to a further revolt, by Alfonso, Earl of Zaragoza, who finally managed to "persuade" the Royal Council to choose him as king in 1424.
Alfonso III would put down four more revolts by four pretenders to the crown (in 1424, 1425-1426, 1427-1443 and 1429). During the third of those revolts, Ramiro, Duke of Pamplona, followed the Portuguese example and proclaimed himself king of Navarra, which led to the Navarrese War (1427-1443), which ended with his defeat and death and the return of Navarra to Spania.
Alfonso IV (1451-1485), son of Alfonso III, became king afer his father died in a hunting accident in 1451). After defeating two pretenders (the first one in 1452 and the third one in 1454), he reigned for 32 years in almost total peace. He is remembered as a successful ruler who laid the groundwork for thes recovery of Spania. He was successful in maintaining generally peaceful relations with his most powerful neighbor, France, and his network of diplomatic relations extended to the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy, while his armed forces included French and Arab mercenaries. He pacified Occitania, which had been on the verge of beign lost to France during the Anarchy and wage war against Sicly, recovering Sardinia in 1461, and had good relations with Venice. He is credited with a successful campaign to diplomatically isolate the Sicilian Empire. He also developed the internal prosperity and economy of his realm and became famous for his justice and charity. Today he is remembered as "the Father of the Spanians".