La republica comunera de Castilla (a succesful comunero revolt)

1.Introduction: The revolt,the war and the junta
Discontent had been brewing for years before the Revolt of the Comuneros. The second half of the 15th century saw profound political, economic, and social changes in Spain. Economic growth created new urban industries and offered a route to power and wealth not tied to the aristocracy. Support from these urban elites was critical to Ferdinand and Isabella's centralization of power, and they acted as a counterweight to the landed aristocracy and the clergy.

However, with Queen Isabella I's death in 1504, this alliance between the national government and the budding middle class faltered. The Castilian government decayed with each successive administration, becoming rife with corruption. King Philip I ruled for a mere two years; he was replaced by Archbishop Cisneros as regent for a short time, and then by Isabella's widower Ferdinand who ruled from Aragon. Ferdinand's claim to continue ruling Castile as regent was somewhat tenuous after Isabella's death, but no plausible alternatives existed as the sovereign, their widowed daughter Joanna, was mentally unfit to reign on her own. The landed nobility of Castile took advantage of the weak and corrupt Royal Council to illegally expand their territory and domain with private armies while the government did nothing. In response, the towns signed mutual defense pacts, relying on each other rather than the national government.
In 1516, Ferdinand died. The remaining heir was Ferdinand and Isabella's grandson Charles, who became King Charles I of both Castile and Aragon in co-regency with his mother Joanna. Charles was brought up in Flanders, the homeland of his father Philip, and barely knew Castilian. The people greeted him with skepticism, but also hoped he would restore stability. With the arrival of the new king in late 1517, his Flemish court took positions of power in Castile; young Charles only trusted people he knew from the Netherlands. Among the most scandalous of these was the appointment of the twenty-year-old William de Croÿ as Archbishop of Toledo. The Archbishopric was an important position; it had been held by Archbishop Cisneros, the former regent of the country. Six months into his rule, discontent openly simmered among rich and poor alike. Even some monks began to agitate, denouncing the opulence of the royal court, the Flemish, and the nobility in their sermons. One of the first public protests involved placards posted in churches, which read:
"You, land of Castile, very wretched and damned are you to suffer that as noble a kingdom as you are, you will be governed by those who have no love for you"

In April 1520, Toledo was already unstable. The city council had been at the forefront of protests against Charles' bid to become Holy Roman Emperor. They decried the short-term expenses that would be borne by Castile and questioned the role of Castile in this new political framework, given the possibility that the land would become a mere imperial province. The situation erupted when the royal government summoned the most radical of the city councilors away from the city, intending to send back more easily controllable replacements on a royal salary. The order came on April 15; one day later, as the councilors prepared to leave, a large crowd opposed to the departure rioted and drove out the royal administrators instead.A citizen's committee was elected under the leadership of Juan López de Padilla and Pedro Laso de la Vega, naming themselves a Comunidad. On April 21, the remaining administrators were driven from the fortifications of the Alcázar of Toledo.

Following Charles' departure to Germany, the riots multiplied in the cities of central Castile, especially after the arrival of legislators who had voted "yes" to the taxes Charles had asked for. Segovia had some of the earliest and most violent incidents; on May 30, a mob of woolworkers murdered two administrators and the city's legislator who had voted in favor. Incidents of a similar size occurred in cities such as Burgos and Guadalajara, while others, such as León, Ávila, and Zamora, suffered minor altercations.

The Junta of Ávila
Other cities now followed the lead of Toledo and Segovia, deposing their governments. A revolutionary Cortes, La Santa Junta de las Comunidades ("Holy Assembly of the Communities"), held its first session in Ávila and declared itself the legitimate government deposing the Royal Council. Padilla was named Captain-General, and troops were assembled. Still, only four cities sent representatives at first: Toledo, Segovia, Salamanca, and Toro.
Faced with the situation in Segovia, Regent and Cardinal Adrian of Utrecht decided to use the royal artillery, located in nearby Medina del Campo, to take Segovia and defeat Padilla. Adrian ordered his commander Antonio de Fonseca to seize the artillery. Fonseca arrived on August 21 in Medina, but encountered heavy resistance from the townspeople, as the city had strong trade links to Segovia. Fonseca ordered the setting of a fire to distract the resistance, but it grew out of control. Much of the town was destroyed, including a Franciscan monastery and a trade warehouse containing goods valued at more than 400,000 ducats. Fonseca had to withdraw his troops, and the event was a public relations disaster for the government.Uprisings throughout Castile occurred, even in cities that previously had been neutral such as Castile's capital, Valladolid. The establishment of the Comunidad of Valladolid caused the most important core of the Iberian plateau to declare for the rebels, upending the stability of the government. New members now joined the Junta of Ávila and the Royal Council looked discredited; Adrian had to flee to Medina de Rioseco as Valladolid fell. The royal army, with many of its soldiers unpaid for months, started to disintegrate.
The Junta of Tordesillas
The comunero army now properly organized itself, integrating the militias of Toledo, Madrid, and Segovia. Once told of Fonseca's attack, the comunero forces went to Medina del Campo and took possession of the artillery that had just been denied to Fonseca's troops. On August 29, the comuneros' army arrived at Tordesillas with the goal of declaring Queen Joanna the sole sovereign. The Junta moved from Ávila to Tordesillas at the Queen's request and invited cities that had not yet sent representatives to do so. A total of thirteen cities were represented in the Junta of Tordesillas: Burgos, Soria, Segovia, Ávila, Valladolid, León, Salamanca, Zamora, Toro, Toledo, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Seville, Granada, Cordova, Jaén and Madrid. . Since most of the kingdom was represented at Tordesillas, the Junta renamed itself the Cortes y Junta General del Reino ("General Assembly of the Kingdom"). On September 24, 1520, the mad Queen, for the only time, presided over the Cortes.

The legislators met with Queen Joanna and explained the purpose of the Cortes: to proclaim her sovereignty and restore lost stability to the kingdom. The next day, September 25, the Cortes issued a declaration pledging to use arms if necessary and for the whole to aid any one city that was threatened. On September 26, the Cortes of Tordesillas declared itself the new legitimate government and denounced the Royal Council. Oaths of self-defense were taken by all the cities represented over the week, finishing by September 30. The revolutionary government now had structure and a free hand to act, with the Royal Council still ineffective and confused.

The growing success of the comuneros emboldened people to accuse members of the old government of complicity with royal abuses. The protests attacked the landed nobility as well, many of whom had illegally taken property during the reign of the regents and weak kings after Isabella's death. In Dueñas, the Count of Buendía's vassals revolted against him on September 1, 1520, encouraged by rebel monks. This uprising was followed by others of a similar anti-feudal nature.The leadership of the comuneros was forced to take a stance on these new rebellions; reluctant to openly endorse them, the Junta initially denounced them but did nothing to oppose them. The dynamics of the uprising thus changed profoundly, as it could now jeopardize the status of the entire manorial system. The nobles had previously been somewhat sympathetic to the cause due to their loss of privileges to the central government. However, these new developments lead to a dramatic drop in support for the comuneros from aristocrats, who were frightened by the more radical elements of the revolution.

The comuneros' attempt to use Queen Joanna for legitimacy did not bear fruit so the Junta decided to proclaim the republic in 1520 with all the represented cities voting for it.

Acuña soon had to confront Antonio de Zúñiga, who had been appointed commander of the royalist army in the Toledo area. Zúñiga was a prior in the Knights of St. John, who maintained a base in Castile at the time. Acuña received information that Zúñiga was in the area of Corral de Almaguer, and pursued battle with him near Tembleque. Acuña drove the royalist forces off, and then launched a counterattack of his own between Lillo and El Romeral, inflicting a crushing defeat on Zuñiga.

Undaunted, Acuña continued into Toledo. He appeared at the Zocodover Plaza in the heart of the city on March 29, 1521, Good Friday. The crowd gathered around him and took him directly to the cathedral, claiming the archbishop's chair for him. The next day he met with María Pacheco, wife of Juan de Padilla and de facto leader of the Toledo Comunidad in her husband's absence. A brief rivalry emerged between the two, but it was resolved after mutual attempts at reconciliation.

Once settled in the archdiocese of Toledo, Acuña began to recruit any men he could find, enlisting soldiers from fifteen to sixty years old. After royalist troops burned the town of Mora on April 12, Acuña returned to the countryside with roughly 1,500 men under his command. He moved into Yepes, and from there conducted raids and operations against royalist-controlled rural areas. He first attacked and pillaged Villaseca de la Sagra, then faced Zúñiga again in an decisive battle near the Tagus river which would killed royalist authority in the Castillian plateau.
With the resources of archdioceses of Toledo Acuña began defeating the royalist focuses in the south of Spain.
Battle of Villalar
In early April 1521, the royalist side moved to combine their armies and threaten Torrelobatón. The Constable of Castile moved his troops (including soldiers recently transferred from the defense of Navarre) southwest from Burgos to meet with the Admiral's forces near Tordesillas. Meanwhile, the comuneros reinforced their troops at Torrelobatón, which was far less secure than the comuneros preferred.Juan de Padilla considered withdrawing to Toro to seek reinforcements in early April, but wavered.

Finally in a sunny day at Villalar the comunero army faced the royalist army which was crushed due its heavy advantage with their numerous archabusiers.After the battle the northern royalist cities declared their alligance to the Junta of Tordesillas and the former crown of Castile offically became "La república de las comunidades libres de Castilla

 

2. Political,economical and administrative reforms

Political reforms
1. Every comunidad can send three deputies to the Juntas.One representing the clery,a second one representing the army and the third one representing the cities
2. Nobility is eliminated due its corruption and its colaboration with the king of Aragon Charles.Peasants are all under behetrias de mar a mar
3.Each comunidad will hold the junta during three years and the president of the Junta will be from the place where the juntas are.
4. The comunidades will be ruled by a concejo and they will be able to control their economic policies,taxes,their own army and their own diplomatic relationships as long as it doesn't go against the interests of the republic
5.The Juntas will just have control of the capitanias,the right to wage war,the right to name bishops and the right to collect a single tax that could never be raised without the approval of 2/3 of the deputies
6.Comunidades will follow the fuero de Segovia and most will be defined under a new political division so most of them are even in terms of people,power and influence
7.Ports will be ruled directly by the Juntas so coastal cities can't sabotage other comunidades
8.The military orders that were controlled by the crown will now be part of the Junta
9.The army and of all the comunidades will have to join the army of the junta in case of war.
10. Comunidades could organize hermandades

Comunidades de Castilla
Economic reforms
1.All the land and wealth of the nobles will be controlled by the comunidad.
2.The junta and the president won't be able to spend more than what the catholic kings did
3.No fiscal priviledges for hidalgos and the church
4.The removal of the tax for crusading and the alcazaba.
5.The devaluation of the coin so it matches 1:1 the value of the French sun
7.Limiting gradually the export of wool to create local jobs.Wool merchants will recieve a compensation to adapt for their lose in revenue
Administrative reforms
1.The removal of prebendas and some parasitic jobs
2.Fiscal austerity
3.Acummulation of charges is punishabe
4. Experienced men have priority over younger proffesionals
5.Corregidores will need the support of their communities
6.Judges could not judge the different process of the same trial
7.Judges will have a flat income.They won't recieve part of the wealth of the supposed criminal if he is found guilty

And after 3 months of debating this was the rough draft that the Junta came up with and approved with a wide majority.The first comunidad to hold the juntas will be Toledo for simbolical reasons and they will move to the different comunidades in the order in which they opposed the crown.

 

International reactions
The first country to recognize the new republic was France that saw in the new independent republic a valueable ally against the emperor Charles the V who still encircled them with the possesions that he had inherited from his grandparents and the power of the Holy Roman empire.King Francis the I was quick in stablishing relations with the newly formed republic with the intention restablishing the old French and Castillian alliance that was forged during the reconquista,the Castillian civil war and the HYW.The junta and its president Acuña,the archbishop of Toledo, were releaved that they started to get international recognition and the might of France on their back.

The junta sent diplomats to Portugal but the recently crowned John refuse to meet with them .The Portuguese monarch didn't want to anger the emperor Charles the V who still was king of Aragon and might take back their neighboring kingdom sooner and later.The king didn't want to anger too much the goverment of the possible new neighbor so he accepted to pay all their expenses while their were in Portugal which would be carried in secret.The diplomats were allowed to sleep in the Jerónimos Monastery.

The crown of Aragon was still under control of the emperor Charles to refuse to recognize the rebels.The crown itself was under turnoil as the militias refused to dismantle after the nobles fled the cities and they took control of the urban areas.This revolt grew stronger after the crush of the royalist forces in Castile and some cities inside the kindom of Valencia and Mallorca tried to join la Junta at Toledo and sent their deputies which remained as observants for the time being. The Castillian nobility that wasn't murder or refuse to give their lands back to the rebells fled to Aragon with their wealth and were mostly hosted by Aragonese nobles that had bloodties with them. The emperor was meant to come soon to the crown and put some order in all his Spanish possesions and most people were ready for war

At first the pope excomunicated all the leaders of the revolution for removing the priviledges from the church and naming their own bishops.But seeing how fast the ideas of the reformists and specially Luther were spreading he decided to just excomunicate Juan Gil who was a protestant sympathizer that was in the concejo of Segovia and was a teacher in the university of Alcalá de Henares.

First conflicts
The Junta had a defined role so it let all its comunidades resolve most of the conflicts. The first great conflict came when the comunidad de Campoos and the comunidad de Segovia dissolved the inquisition inside the land and stopped prosecutting lutherans and erasmists. This caused a lot of tensions inside the junta as 1/3 of the deputies were catholic bishops and the current president was a bishop himself.The comunidades ruled by bishops or priests like Cuenca that was ruled by the archbishop of Sigüenza were ready to launch a military assault on their neighbors of Segovia and an army was raised in Guadalajara ready to launch and assault. As soon as this news were heard the concejo of Segovia decided to movilized their army and move it to Alcalá de Henares which is 26 km away from Guadalajara.Once the news came to Toledo the junta decided to send the Santa Hermandad as mediators of the comflict and santioned the actions of both concejos.The vote to send the Santa Hermandad was close as a lot of comunidades sympathized with the actions of the archbishop of Sigüenza like Leon and comunidad of Niebla y Tarifa but at the end of the day most comunidades saw the threat of Charles much larger than any internal conflict. As such the Junta decided to create in the middle of the republic in the town of Madrid a court with backed by the junta itself to solve problems between other comunidades.It was named la camara de disputas territoriales and had the power to solve legal disputes between different comunidades.
The first resolution gave Segovia and all the other comunidades the right to govern over their religious matters as long as the power of the catholic church was not harmed and protestants spread their gospel in public.The regidor of Cuenca decided to put tariffs on Segovian cloths as punishment for their heretic tolerance but la camara de disputas provinciales declared it to be an illegal measure
After this resolution came to light the comunidad of Granada decided to spell all muslims from its shores alledging that they had the right to decide over their religious matters.
This opened the door to different reactions. Nobody really opposed the measure but as all comunidades could control their borders some comunidades ruled by merchant elites like the old county of Castille and the comunidad of Cordoba and Jaen decided to lift the ban of the jews from their lands as they were the backbone of a lot of their business interests.

The Junta also decided to offer neutrality to the emperor Charles in his internal affairs in Aragon as long as he accepted their independence.These proposal was never answered so the Junta decided to go to war. Cuenca,Murcia and Soria were quick to raise their armies with the hopes of annexing land from Aragon.The Archbishop of Sigüenza desired Valencia so he could have sea access.Despite the junta taking technical control of the ports the comunidades still had some economic independence over their borders and coastal access could really boost his power.The junta didn't mobilize any of the military orders yet and warned all bordering comunidades that they would not support any of their incursions against the crown of Aragon yet.

A new problem that arised for the junta came from the new lands in America.The comunidad of Sevilla claimed all to itself as they hosted el consejo de las indias.Juan Bravo of Segovia argued that the land in America should be splitted into new comunidades while the bishop of Caceres argue that the land should be owned by the comunidad which conquered it (as Cortes had recently conquered the valley of the Mexica his intentions were obvious).This dispute would be one of the most corncerning issues of the Junta.For the moment they would decided to give exploration rights to any explorer that could finance it while the issue was being discussed.

 

The republic is divided in 15 independent comunidades.Each comunidad is ruled by a concejo who has a president and a regidor.
Originally concejos were the general meeting of the neighbors in which they decided on the communal use of meadows, forests and hillsides for livestock and agricultural purposes,irrigation and exploitation of the mill, furnace or salt pit.Concejos not only dealt with economic matters, but they also gave the administrative and judicial acts legitimacy.
The concejos used to meet on Sundays, after mass, in the atrium of a church. The call to council was made by ringing the bells of the church or through another instrument, such as a horn. Attendance was obligatory and not going to one was usually punished with a few.

The newly formed comunidades inherit some aspects from the old concejos. The main meeting of the concejo happened every Sunday after mass in a cathedral.As these comunidades were bigger than the old ones each county,town,village,city or episcolar city could send representatives. Appart of discussing economic,legal and administrative matters the new concejos also had to send 3 deputies to the Junta General.

Each concejo is presided by a judge, who could call an emergency meeting and his main job was to structure the discussion of the meeting, and a regidor who took most of the executive decissions and his main job was to keep each comunidad prosperous,serene and prepered to fullfil all its duties. Regidores were usually named by the crown before but after the stablishment of the republic the concejo could name their regidor and depose him whenever they want.The Regidor's rule lasts as long as the concejo pleases.

The 15 comunidades of "La república de las comunidades libres de Castilla" are:
1.Comunidad del Reino de Toledo

Flag of the comunidad del reino de Toledo
The comunidad del Reino de Toledo contains the heart of the old kingdom of Toledo with the capital of the old kingdom (Toledo) and Ciudad Real the heart of la Orden de Calatrava and one of the most important cities on the region of the geographic region of "La Mancha". Toledo is the spiritual capital of all of the Spains and represents the catholic nature of its people. As such the Archbishop of Toledo was often seen as the second king of Castile as his wealth and power could be only match by the king.In the current republic of Castile the Archbishop of Toledo still remains the single most powerful figure in Spain as his power is not limited by a junta or a concejo.
The concejo of Toledo is the Cathedral of Toledo inside the city of Toledo and is presided by Rodrigo Gomez and its regidor is Juan de Padilla a hero of the war against the Flemish invasors. Padilla's project of Castille was "To make all the cities of the kingdom free as the cities and towns of Italy".His main interest is to retain the autonomy of Toledo and preserve it.

Toledo's cathedral

Statue of Juan de Padilla the first regidor of Toledo


The main economic activities of Toledo are agriculture, its renown metal working and weapon factories and sheep hearding in the region of La Mancha.The main political players of this comunidad are the mesta,the metalurgy guilds and the church
2. Comunidad de Segovia

Flag of the comunidad of Segovia
The comunidad de Segovia was the role model for the stablishment of this institutions.At its peak the comunidad de Segovia could raise 5000 spears on its own. The new comunidad incorporates the wealthy walled city of Avila and its surrounding land,the university town of Alcala de Henares and the village of Madrid which hosted the newly formed " la camara de disputas territoriales". The comunidad of Segovia is characterize for its wealthy cities and towns,for hosting one of the most important universities in Castille and for having one of the two permanent institution of the republic.The land of this comunidad is characterize for its dryer areas in the border with Toledo but specially due the mountanious region of Guadarrama who crosses throughout it. The concejo is supposed to be hold in the cathedral of Segovia, but as it was damaged during the war the concejo is temporarily hosted in the cathedral-fortress of Avila. The president of the comunidad is Juan antonio de Ayllón and the regidor is Juan Bravo one of the leaders of the revolution.Bravo that was married to the daughter of Abraham senior always had a simpathy for jews and decided to allow them to live in his comunidad. Bravo is well known for his values of tolerance and cooperation.

Cathedral of Avila

Statue of Juan Bravo
The main economic activities of this comunidad are cloth manufacturing,jewelry production and farming.The main political players in this comunidad are the guilds,the mesta and the merchants
3. Comunidad de Salamanca

Flag of la comunidad de Salamanca
The comunidad of Salamanca is composed of 2 totally different areas.The first one is composed of Salamanca and its surrounding cities like Ciudad Rodrigo.Salamanca hosts the oldest and most important university in all of the Iberian peninsula.The university was considered by many the intelectual capital of Spain and the city had grown into a wealthy and powerful city with great influence over Castile. The other part of the comunidad was a vastly agrarian area in which farming and agriculture were the biggest activities and were mostly poor outside of some pockets of wealth in Plasencia,Caceres and recently Trujillo.This led to a lot of people from this region to focus on a military carrer. The landscape of this vast comunidad varies a lot with a lot of forests in the northern provinces where farming was more common to the dryer regions that could be found in the south.The main characteristic of this land were the dehesas which are characteristic mediterranean forest that were apt for pork hoarding. The concejo was placed in the old cathedral of Salamanca while the new one was being built.The president of the Comunidad was David de Guzmán and the regidor was the military captain and local hero Francisco Maldonado. Maldonado was fond of war and tried to improve the lifes of poorer families through mercenary companies in which most of the painment would go to the soldiers and the rest would go to the comunidad to spend freely.This projects were seen as pointless by the intelectual groups from Salamanca which preffered to focus on their intelectual activity rather than war and exploration

Old cathedral of Salamanca

Maldonado leading his troops
The main economic activities of the comunidad were farming,academic and spiritual training and exploration and war.The main groups of influence of the comunidad were the university,the behetrias and the church.
4.La comunidad del reino de Leon

flag of the comunidad del reino de Leon
Forth on the list as Toro was the 4th city in joining the rebellion.The former kingdom of Leon is the birthplace of the reconquista and the continuation of the kingdom of Asturias.Despite having a different language than most of the other regions of Castile most people in Leon could keep a conversation in Castillian.This region contains what the romans called the silver routes as the region was once wealthy in this mineral.The north of the comunidad is dominated by Asturias the birthplace of the reconquista.This region is very rainy,rich in minerals and fertile.The middle province is formed by Leon and its surrounding areas.The city of Leon is full of craftsmen and it is the nexus of comunications between Asturias and Galicia with the rest of Castile.As such it has become a logistic center for trading and comunications with those regions.Appart from Leon the mighty episcolial city of Astorga shines as the religious center of the comunidad.In the south of the Comunidad Zamora and Toro are the southernmost important towns and despite being smaller than Leon they are key for their fertile land and the conection with Salamanca. The concejo of Leon is hosted in the cathedral of Leon.The president of the concejo is Pedro Rodriguez and its regidor is Esteban Gabriel Merino the archbishop of Leon. Esteban was an orphan who was sent at a young age to Rome.After studying theology he decided to join the Spanish army in Italy and became a renown soldier.After quitting his military carrer he became bishop of Baza,then the Pope named him archbishop of Bari and currently he is the bishop and regidor of Leon.His faith and relations with the Pope make him a prestigious man with a reputation of being a brave and a god fearing man.He refused to become the bishop of Jaen, his home town, as he thought he could do more good as a regidor in Leon. Esteban won't tolerate protestantism or any heresy on his land and he is decided to end all pockets of it inside its comunidad.His other major project consist on increasing the literacy amongst its population and specially orphans.

Leon's cathedral

Cript of Esteban Gabriel Merino
The main economic activities of these comunidad are fishing,farming and mining.The biggest political players of the region is the churh
5. Comunidad de Campos

Flag of the comunidad de Campos
Containing the biggest city of the Castillian plateau this region is the nexus of the Castillian plateau.The region of campoos is well know for its lack of forested area and its multiple rivers which make the region's land very fertile. This allowed the region to produce a lot of wheat that would be exported all throughout the peninsula and even abroad.This made the region the breadbasket of the republic and fed less productive regions. Its importance economically is represented by Medina del Campo one of the premier financial places in Europe which hosted the general fair of Castile in which people from all Europe traded currency and for the most part obtain wool.The city of Medina del Campo was burnt by the royalist forces but the intention was to keep it as a trading hub. The most important city of the region would be Valladolid which was the most populated city in the Castillian plateua and home of a lot of wealthy and powerful people in the country which was known for the relative lack of influence that the church had on it as the city itself didn't even have a cathedral yet despite its importance. The concejo then had to be hosted in the cathedral of Palencia. Its president was Benito Benavente and its regidor was the young
Gómez Pereira who was a famous doctor but also a humanist that was highly respected by the elite in Valladolid. His naming was controversial as the elder people were meant to hold the positions of power, but all the elder people in campoos that ran for the job were alredy too powerful and most representatives decided to name the young doctor that won the sympathy of many merchants and landlords as he had healed them and their families in multiple ocassions. He was known for his anti-medieval thinking and his reformists desires.He believed that pure reason and logic were more important than old knowledge and he always found authority arguments weak.His interest in engineer also shocked a lot of people as his machines and designs were often something revolutionary. Overall Pereira would allow protestants to process their religion freely inside his comunidad and he allowed the jews to comeback to it. This thinking enfuriated the church who lacked the support to deposed him. His rivalries with Gabriel Merino was also a public matter as both men had totally different and contrasting views

Cathedral of Palencia

Painting of Gomez Pereira
The main economic of this region were agriculture,trading,cloth making and trading,wool trading, currency exchange and the kingdom's fair. The merchant class and the guilds held the most political influence in this comunidad
7.Comunidad de Cuenca

Flag of Cuenca
The comunidad of Cuenca covers a big extension of land.It contains the other half of the former kingdom of Toledo which was splitted to keep a balance of power. It is a land of contrasts as it contains vast mountain regions with huge flats in the south. The northern region of the comunidad is dominated by the town of Guadalajara a rising trading hub,the epicopal city of Sigüenza, ruled by the archbishop of the city since the XII and the lordship of molina which has served buffer region between Castile and Aragon and it holds some independence to this day.In the central regions of the comunidad de wealthy city of Cuenca shines above all else as it becomes wealthier with its cloth production that has been increasing since the protectionists measures on wool were applied. The city has been recieving workers and artisians ever since. Outside of Cuenca the military order of Santiago with its central seat in Uclés is a force to be reckon with in the region as it directs the wealth of vasts regions of lands and soldiers throughout all of Castile. In the southern regions of the comunidad mostly farming ground is found to feed the wool industry of Cuenca but it also contains comercial hubs for trading with its neighbor in Murcia. The regions martial history is always present and this comunidad is one of the most beligerent ones as they are confident about their soldiers with their recent succesful displays in Italy and later on against the royalist army. The seat of the concejo of Cuenca is Cuenca's cathedral.Its president is Martín Hervás and is regidor is García de Loaysa y Mendoza current archbishop of Sigüenza after deposing the archbishop Fadrique for being also the archbishop of Zaragoza and sympathising with Charles. García de Loaysa y Mendoza is pious man and the general maester of the Dominican order.He is known for his harshness against protestants and heretics,to the point that he caused the first territorial crisis in the republic.He also has a special interest in the American continent and its evangelization and has been working on sending missionaires and exploration groups ever since.The pope is fond of him and the idea of naming him a cardinal has come to his mind more times than once and he would do everything he has on his power to fight islam and always tries to push a more beligerant position against it seeing the attitude of the Junta as weak.

Cuenca's cathedral

García de Loaysa y Mendoza
The main economic activities of the comunidad are sheep hearding,farming,agriculture,cloth production and lumber production. The most important political players in the region are the church,the merchant class,the guilds and the military orders

 

8.Comunidad del condado de Castilla

Flag of the comunidad del condado de Castilla
The birthplace of Castillian culture.Its borders resemble the ones of the county of Castile and Alava founded by Fernán Gonzalez the first independent count of Castile that allegedly gained independence after the king of Leon was unable to repay the money he owed him after buying his hawk.The independent county grew stronger than the kingdom of Leon and became the main force behind the reconquista ever since. The county of Castile has its geographical and cultural heart in Burgos which connects all its provinces and is the economical center of the region with a very powerful merchant class and has always been considered the gate of Castile with France and Europe due its proximity to the port of Laredo, the main port of the north of Castile.Outside of Burgos the county is formed by the region of Alava known for its wine,the lordship of Biscay rich in iron and carbon and renown for its sailors and fishers and the region of Asturias de Santillana or as the Romans called it Cantabria with its main towns being Laredo and Santander. The region contains one of the 3 main fleets of Castile which was crucial in the conquest of Seville and the HYWs. The comunidad del condado de Castilla also contains the hermandad de las marismas which is a powerful alliance of towns,villages,wealthy men and merchants which acts independently,has its own fleet and defends its comercial interests even if it means to use violence.To expand its comercial interests the hermandad lobbied to allow the jews to settle in their comunidad to expand their comercial network.
The concejo of this comunidad is in the cathedral of Burgos and its president is Pedro de Aguirre and its corregidor Jerónimo Fernández who was one of the most renown lawyers in all of Castile.Despite being a brilliant man everybody knew that he was just a figure head as the concejo was directly control by de hermandad de las marismas through bribes.Despite all of this Jeronimos' work in stablishing the legal basis of the comunidad had been crucial in its development.

Burgo's cathedral

The main economic activities are based around ship making,fishing,mining and trading. The main political players of this comunidad are the hermandad de las marismas,the guilds and the powerful merchants of Burgos.
9. Comunidad del reino de Murcia

Flag of the Comunidad del reino de Murcia
Incorporating the kingdom of Murcia and Almeria the region was the first port of Castile in the mediterranean.As such it became the host of one of the 3 main navies of the kingdom and now republic.Its land its known for its fertile soil but dry land so most of the agriculture in the region demands irrigation.The two provinces have an important maratime tradition and an inherit conection with the republic of Genoa who ofently stations its boats in the region for reparations and trade and has a sizeable diaspora in the region.Due its proximity with Valencia the north of the region has some of its customes and even has pockets of catalan speakers.While the south has a more Castillian culture. The main cities in the region are Cartagena,Murcia and Almeria with Cartagena being the economic and religious capital while Murcia being its political capital. Its concejo is hosted in the cathedral of Murcia its president is Juan Bernat and its regidor is Fray Diego Fernández de Villalán the newly named bishop of Almeria ,who was Cisnero's right hand at some point, that was known due its hard work ethic, his building projects and his obsession for demographic and fiscal records to keep as much control over as possible

Murcia´s cathedral

First regidor of Murcia
Its main political activities are fishing,ship maintenance, agriculture and trading. Its main political players are the church, the navy and the Genovese diaspora who control a lot of money and trade in that area
10. Comunidad de Soria y Najera


Flag of la comunidad de Soria y Najera
Bordering the old kingdom of Navarra and the crown of Aragon this region was known as a crosspath and as a border region.Despite being the least populated comunidad its key geographical position makes up for it. The region is composed of Soria that focused mostly on agriculture and sheep hearding. As it was a buffer region Soria is full of fortresses and its soldiers are known to be amongst the best of the country. In the northern region of the comunidad two main regions are found. The region of Najera and La Rioja. Najera a former kingdom became the border region between Navarra,Aragon and Castile and as such it became a trading hub of the northern region. La Rioja is the most densely populated region in the comunidad with its capital Logroño being its biggest city.It is well known for its wine and being the birthplace of Spanish.After the expulsion of the jews the region lost around 6-10% of its population and to counter-act this the jews were allowed to resetle in their old lands. The concejo of the comunidad is hosted in catedral de Burgo de Osma. Its president is Jacobo de Medinaceli and its regidor Juan Pardo de Tavera bishop of Burgo de Osma.Juan Pardo de Tavera is known for its efficiency and cooperation with the Junta.His docility had granted him more concessions from the Junta which he would use to preper its people for war.

Burgo de Osma's cathedral


Juan Pardo de Tavera
Its main economic activities are farming,sheep hearding and agriculture.Its main political players are the mesta,the army and the church
11. Comunidad de Granada

The last bastion of islam in the peninsula that was conquered no more than 20 years ago. Despite missing Almeria that went to Murcia for balance issues these land retained its main port in Malaga and its capital Granada. This land is well known for its multiple mountain regions, rivers and hills which make this a tough region for agriculture.Despite this muslim farmers managed to farm the land succesfullydue years of development and learning how to sow the land, but even at its peak production the emir of Granada had to import food from Castile to sustain its population.Once a wealthy region due its silk production and trade with Genoa the emirate and then kingdom of Granada was having a slow decline for most of the latter half of the XV century characterized for its civil wars and inestability which led to the following christian conquest. The christian conquest caused to main migration waves to form. The first one came with the christian colonists from the rest of the crown that started to settle the land whil the other one was a wave of emigrants that moved to North Africa. Still the muslim population of the city was very sizeable which was something that always scared the christian authorities.After the comuneros won the mostly catholic elite decided to not fullfil the treaty that the catholic kings had made with the last muslim emir to respect the religion of his subjects and decided to pursue a very agressive policy of executions,displacements and conversions. But the process had slowed down after an army of Granada was defeated by a muslim army from the emirate of the Alpujarras that had been declared in the geographic region of Alpujarras. While muslims were able to form a resistance in that area the muslims from the area of Malaga were not difficult to deal with and most of them fled from the region.Some tried to move to Segovia and Campos believing that they could practice their religion in peace there but most were killed by the armies of Granada and surrounding comunidades.These event was having a huge tool in the local economy empobrishing it but the Junta was more focus on the enemy in the east more than the muslim revolt that was taking place in the south.
The concejo of Granada was held in the royal chapel as the cathedral was under construction.The president was Damián Delgado and its regidor was the new archbishop Gaspar Ávalos de la Cueva. Deboted catholic that found in Cisneros a figure to go by.He was a debout catholic and believed that Castile should be a land only for catholics. He followed Cisneros agressive policy against muslims elevating the level of violence.Another project of his was to create a university in Granada emulating the renaissance university at Alcala de Henares

Royal chapel
The main economic activities of this region were agriculture and silk production. The main political player is the catholic church
12. Comunidad de Cordoba y Jaen

The 2 first places reconquered by the christians in Andalucia this region had changed a lot throughout the years. After the fall of the caliphate in the XI century the city of Cordoba had been suffering a continous decline. After the christians conquered the city was remodel converting most mosques into churches. The regions that compose this region are mostly known for their vast fields for agriculture in which the main product was oil. The main cities in the region are Ubeda,Baeza,Jaen and Cordoba.The cities served mainly as hubs for trading but they also produced ceramics,tiles and other products derived from the muslim tradition. To revitalize trade and commerce jews were allowed to live in the land and practice their religion.
The concejo is hold in Cordoba's cathedral. The president is Fernando de Morón and his regidor is Francisco de los Cobos y Molina who ,despite being tied with the royalist as he was a diplomat at Flandes at some point in his carrer as a diplomat, was a experienced funcionary and probably the most capable of any comunidad. A colector of art he was always interested in Italian and Flemish art which he bought and popularized in his region

Cordoba's cathedral

Francisco de los Cobos y Molina
The main economic activities of the region are agriculture and artisian production. The main political players are the church and the guilds
13. Comunidad del Reino de Sevilla

The heart of the former kingdom of Sevilla it contains the biggest city in the entire iberian peninsula.After its conquest by the Castillians this city became the center of trade between the atlantic and the mediterranean and its size and wealth grew larger every year. The city is the most cosmopolitan place in the peninsula in which it is not hard to find people from all of Europe and even some Africans and Indians that were recently bought as slaves. The biggest foreign comunity in the city are the Genovese that in Seville had stablished one of their main nexus in their commercial network and a lot of them have invested money in the American affair. The city thrives on its trade and its prestige is growing everyday with wealthy men moving to the city and buying states to clinge on the American project. The city contains one of the main fleets of Castile and the one of the only two permanent institutions of the republic.La casa de contratación de las Indias.Which deals with American affairs and has a certain degree of autonomy.This institution has not been changed yet but some future reforms are being considered. The concejo of the comunidad is hosted on Sevilla's cathedral.Its president is Pedro de Girón and its regidor Antonio Enríquez a "trapero" was one of the merchant-bankers that had traditionally managed the finances of the city.He also owned multiple ships that traded with the Canary islands. He was an ambitious person and his dream was to make his city the wealthiest and most influential one in Europe.

The main economic activities of the region were related to trade and craftsmanship. The biggest political players were the bankers,merchants and guilds
14.Comunidad de Niebla y Tarifa

Composing the other half of the kingdom of Sevilla this region shares a lot of similiraties with the previous one.The main difference between the two regions is that in Niebla and Tarifa the nobility had a stronger grip and the place was more rural and agrarian than Sevilla. The nobles of these region fertile region got involved into trading pretty fast as the land produced more than what they could consume and started to make huge fortunes. This weird trader nobility is the only one in all of Castile that hadn't fled to Aragon as money had become more important to them than their title. The region also has a strong influence from the church and its monasteries. From the ports of this land lots of ships come and go to the new world bringing new oportunities to their ambitious leaders.As the region had no cathedrals the concejo would be taking place in the monastery of la Rabida. Its president is Juan Boquilla and its regidor is Pedro Ponce de León descending from the fith bastard son of Juan Ponce de Leon he had dedicated his life to trading. Having a reputation on not being a trustworthy partner as he had bankrupted some of his partners in the past for its own benefit.

The main economic activities of the region are agriculture and the comerce of their products. The main players in the region are the former noble-traders and the abbots that held the power that the bishops lacked in the region.
15. Comunidad del reino de los Gallegos

A region that is physically isolated from the rest of the Peninsula. This region maintain their own traditions and culture and in some ways was closer to Portugal than Castile. This comunidad contained the city of Santiago that was the holiest place in all of Spain and contained the grabe of the patron of Leon and all of Spain, Santiago. Outside of Santiago the region is known due its seafish,fish and mainly agrarian society. The concejo of Galicia is in Santiago's cathedral.Its president is Pedro Muñoz and its regidor is Alfonso de Fonseca current archbishop of Santiago and the son of the previous archbishop of Santiago. He sided with the comuneros after Charles denied them a vote in the cortes as they were supposed to be represented by Zamora which deeply offended Galicians. His project is to make Galicia a trading force and that's why he founded a comertial society in Coruña


The main economic activities of the region are agriculture,farming and fishing. The main political players is the church since the nobility lost its power.
16. Comunidad del Reino de Navarra

The former kingdom of Navarra was the most recently addition to Castile.After 700 years of independence and even becoming the most powerful christian kingdom in the Peninsula the kingdom had become weaker each generation due its inheritance law and was eventually surpassed by the two kingdoms that came out of it. Castile and Aragon. Navarra had become a very poor region after the Castillians stole their main port. With the addition of their old port back to the comunidad the Junta was planning on pacifying the region that was the only one that had not been fully controlled by the Junta.For the moment Only Guipuzcoa was part of the comunidad that was missing Navarra which was planned to be conquered soon.