The Theocratic Reunification of Spain
The Theocratic Reunification of Spain
Spain after Reunification by Juan Val IV
Borders in medieval Iberia had always been remarkably fluid. Throughout the Reconquista, changes of administration, language, and even religion were taken in stride by most inhabitants. The Horse Plague wrought widespread death and anarchy on Iberia, and much of the Peninsula was devastated. In some places, particularly in the central plains, long-term political or religious authority was effectively nonexistent for decades.
In 1617, Prince Juan Val III would die, leaving his throne to his son, also named Juan Val. All leaders of the Christogrenada were called princes, each maintaining that the Kingdom’s true King was God himself. A few years his ascension to power, Juan Val IV would ride out from Seville, and over the next three years, working occasionally in conjunction with Leonese and Aragonese allies, his armies would reunify much of the Peninsula.
The people of Iberia found in Juan Val IV a leader who inspired hope. Under the black flag of Christogrenada, Andalucians, Castilians, Murcians, and Portuguese alike once again felt God’s smile upon them. Battle after battle, city after city fell to Juan Val VI’s seemingly blessed forces. Word of the holy army soon spread ahead of it, and cities like Lisbon and Salamanca voluntarily joined the Christogrenadine Kingdom, seeing a new age of holy glory ahead of them.
The Coat of Arms of Christogrenada
By 1621, Iberia was transformed. The weak successor kingdoms of Portugal and Castile had crumbled before Christogrenadine armies, and those lands were formally incorporated into the crown. The north of Iberia remained split between León, Austuras, Navarre, and Aragón. French support of these states had been vital in the years following the Plague, and continued to be important. With French support, the states stretched along Christogrenada’s long and newly conquered northern frontier formed a power bloc that managed to balance the military might of Juan Val’s armies.
Juan Val IV was not only a gifted military commander, but a brilliant civil administrator as well. Juan Val IV codified into law the odd theocracy that his great-grandfather, Juan Val I, had cobbled together as he gained power. In Christogrenada, the concepts of tithe and taxes were interchangeable, with the Christogrenadine clergy conducting the majority of the tax-collection for the Kingdom. With the help of royally-appointed administrators, the Clergy split these tithes between the Church, the Royal family, and the different civic administrators: the fortunes of the kingdom’s many dukes, princes, mayors, city councils, and governors were all administered by the Christogrenadine Church. Oftentimes, especially in newly conquered areas where civic institutions were weak, the Church took up many tasks of civic administration, such as policework, administration of trade issues, and other civic duties.
The Christogrenadine Church’s relation with the Reformist Catholic Church was inconsistent. While the Christogrenadine Church recognized the moral supremacy of the Reformist Pope, it sought independence in economic issues, including the payment of tithes it received. This would constantly bring it into conflict with the Reformist Catholic Church throughout the next several hundred years. During this time, however, the Christogrenadine Church continued to align its doctrine to that of the Reformed Catholic Church and thus was never considered to be a true heresy.
In 1631, with most of Iberia under his heel and a huge army growing restless, Juan Val IV turned his attention south, to what had most obsessed his great-grandfather: the Moorish threat to Christianity.