Medieval Times (Need help)

I really need help with my public law lecture.
The thing I need to learn is : 'You are a Spanish conquistador who just took control of a large territory in Americas in medieval time. Which political concept requires you that you should obey the orders of the Spanish King and not to administrate the land on your own??'

I can really use some help.
 
For historical accuracy, when Columbus landed in America, the medieval age (institutions, law and customs) was more or less already replaced by renaissance....
 
I really need help with my public law lecture.
The thing I need to learn is : 'You are a Spanish conquistador who just took control of a large territory in Americas in medieval time. Which political concept requires you that you should obey the orders of the Spanish King and not to administrate the land on your own??'

I can really use some help.
Well, usually (in theory) it is done on the orders, patent, whatever... of the Spanish Crown in Europe or the one issued by it's legal representative in Americas. And it is specifically mentioned that whatever territories you conquered, belongs to the Spanish Crown, which part of the loot you plundered is yours, and which part belongs to the Royal Treasure. And there are usually some other issues like your rights as a governor or your children and the like.
But Spain being far away and the royal representatives in Americas changing, dyeing, corruptible and quarrelsome... the Spanish conquistadors in practice might take control of territories on their own initiative.
But if a Spanish conquistador administrates the land on his own, he is a rebel and that is a High Treason and deserves capital punishment. Which makes it a bad idea.
 
'You are a Spanish conquistador who just took control of a large territory in Americas in medieval time. Which political concept requires you that you should obey the orders of the Spanish King and not to administrate the land on your own??'

In one word... legitmacy. You have the power to exercise your will, but you need the king's recognition, otherwise there will always be a risk of another conquistador or colonial governor attacking you.
 
I really need help with my public law lecture.
The thing I need to learn is : 'You are a Spanish conquistador who just took control of a large territory in Americas in medieval time. Which political concept requires you that you should obey the orders of the Spanish King and not to administrate the land on your own??'

I can really use some help.

First, we must understand that the conquistadors did not aspire or think to conquer land to become independent, even if they could.
Rather, they aspired to improve the status and to obtain material and honorable rewards or a mixture of them (such as titles of nobility and / or be appointed by the Crown, to serve their King in their army and / or to govern / administer the conquered lands).
While there were some exceptions, in general, there was a procedure established both to file applications for conquest (also for exploring) and to authorize it or not.

The organization of the campaign and the Conquest it was begun by the Crown, and it was done through private initiative, that is, by means of a contract (Capitulation) that was established between the King or his representative and an individual by which he was authorized to this, in this case, to conquer a specific territory within a determined period of time.
In order to carry out an operation of the Conquest it was fundamental to organize a 'Hueste', to the front of which was the Leader and/or the 'risk capital investor'.
A chief (Captain), who received from the King various possible titles, depending on the size of the company (Adelantado or Captain).
In return, the leader or leaders of the expedition committed to run the expenses of the company and to carry out in the set time.
The obligations of the King, on the other hand, were the exemption of tribute, the donation of land and lots in the future populations, and the enactment of rights and freedoms in the manner of those existing in Castile.
The king was only obliged to grant these grants in case the Conquest's expedition ended succesfully.
Successively, that is to say, a posteriori, which caused not a few dissensions within the the conquest's group.
Although it may seem that the Crown was relegated and barely intervened in the Conquest, in practice, reserved for itself important tools of intervention.

The capitulation of conquest clearly determined that the territories conquered will belong to the Crown, not the conqueror. On the other hand, the concessions, always flexible, allowed the Crown to guide and direct the conquest actions towards certain territories, according to their interests.

They received a series of instructions, through which, the leader of the expedition also received slogans about of their duties, their obligations to the conquest company, the native population, the military action and the issuance of reports on the results obtained as well as the limits of their privileges.

Later it would be stipulated in the incorporation of a real official (Veedor), that would watch for the fulfillment of the terms stipulated in the capitulations and the allocation to the King of its part of the booty.
However, thousands of miles away, in practice the head of the Host had almost unlimited power, and depended on his own personality and charisma as substantial elements in the development of the expedition.


The conquest company was a private company that had the indispensable supervision of the Crown.
The Capitulations of Conquest, similar to those of Discovery, delegated to an individual
Responsible for the action of dominating a certain territory, which would later be owned by the Crown.
This individual should run with all the expenses and risks of the same and logically would benefit from a large part of the booty he could achieve during it.
The Crown, as the potential owner of this territory, imposed the conditions (territorial demarcation, term in which it should be realized, cities that would be founded / settled in the territory, etc.) and granted Royal 'Mercedes'*(Titles, appointments, right to distribute land and lots, reductions of rights, etc.).
It would also The King receive the 'fifth real' or 20% of the loot to be captured.

* The real Mercedes, in this case had the meaning of land ceded by the king in exchange for a payment. They could be awarded by a title to a particular individual or a specific people.


Useful Book: No Settlement, No Conquest: A History of the Coronado Entrada
By Richard Flint.
 
Just an FYI, since you created this account to ask this question for what I can only assume is homework. Please don't just copy and paste the responses of people on here.

I know on reddit these threads are locked because professors started messaging the mods angry that students weren't actually doing their homework and were just getting answers from posters.
 
For historical accuracy, when Columbus landed in America, the medieval age (institutions, law and customs) was more or less already replaced by renaissance....

The Renaissance, as CS Lewis once said, is just the bits of the medieval period which modern people happen to like.
 
Thank you all for your answers, you helped my a lot. Of course, I won't copy paste, I will use my own words. Thank you all again.
 
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