General Ripper
Banned
Very interesting Torbald. Keep it up.
But I wonder, how to prevent "Dutch ( here Spanish ) disease" later?
But I wonder, how to prevent "Dutch ( here Spanish ) disease" later?
Una diferente ‘Plus Ultra’ - the Avís-Trastámara Kings of All Spain and the Indies (Updated 11/7)
- Thread starter Torbald
- Start date
Thanks, Torbald, for your detailed response, now I understand better the motivation behind the reforms.
No problem
I really should have spent more time on the last update, cleared some things up...Thank you!
I've been wondering the same thing myself. The inter-connectivity between Castilian and Portuguese markets ITTL will allow a release valve for excess precious metals - one of the reasons the Portuguese started to decline IOTL was due to their constant shortage of silver, so ITTL they'll have a lot more buying power in the East Indies/Indian Ocean, which means they won't have to use those bronze cannons of theirs nearly as much and won't piss off the locals!
However, for a long term solution I think the only way Spain is going to avoid the hyperinflation that ruined it IOTL is by allowing its colonies to trade. Shutting up those markets ensures subservience but will ultimately just leave them impoverished and feudalistic while bankrupting Spain proper. Using the precious metal supply to establish itself as Europe's bankroller might benefit Spain as well. The king of Spain could keep the French and English under his thumb without using any number of tercios or armadas if he was their sole supplier of bullion. Also, I think disseminating its silver and gold through infrastructural projects and poverty relief programs would give Spain's tax base the means to keep itself buoyant, possibly mitigating the eventual monetary crisis, when it does come.
6. El Estado del Reino - Part III: España de Ultramar
~ El estado del reino ~
Part III: España de Ultramar
The Spanish Americas c. 1500-1515
- Organización de las Colonias y de la Población India -
As outlined in the Capitulations of Santa Fe, Cristóbal Colón was entitled to lordship over any of the lands he discovered across the Atlantic as well as to one-tenth of their collective profits. Once the sheer vastness of this concession became apparent and the accusations of cruelty and mismanagement began to mount against Colón, the Catholic Monarchs decided that this manner of colonial organization was simply unworkable, and they commissioned Francisco Fernández de Bobadilla, the knight commander of the Order of Calatrava and trusted court bureaucrat, to travel to the Indies to take Colón’s place. Bobadilla arrived in Santo Domingo in August of 1500, where he immediately set about establishing royal authority. Bobadilla rapidly began dismantling Colón’s vast personal demesne and reversing his disastrous extraction policies, such as lowering the absurdly high mining tax that had been placed on the Indios and allowing them to till their conucos once again. Colón and his brother Bartolomé would be sent back to Spain in chains to answer for their misdeeds within a few months of Bobadilla’s arrival. In many places, the damage done by Colón’s taste for freebooting was irreversible, with nearly all of Los Caribes [1] and Las Lucayas [2] completely depopulated by Spanish diseases and slave raids. The wholesale reneging of Cristóbal Colón’s promised colonial property earned the ire of his son Diego, who began assembling investors and planning a campaign to strike at Santo Domingo, restore his family’s control to the colony, and expunge any intransigent Spaniards with deadly force. However, while sailing to Spain to gather funds and pursue legal action against Bobadilla, the young Diego’s ship was caught in a hurricane in July of 1502, drowning him and scores of his supporters. With the troublesome Colón family out of the picture, the Indies could now be more fully opened to widespread Castilian immigration.Part III: España de Ultramar
The Spanish Americas c. 1500-1515
- Organización de las Colonias y de la Población India -
Francisco Fernández de Bobadilla,
Segundo Gobernador de las Indias
In the latter years of Cristóbal Colón’s governorate, the Spanish Archbishop Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca was chosen by the Catholic Monarchs to study and evaluate the situation in the Indies and how they might be better governed. After a year of correspondence with Bobadilla, Fonseca advised the creation of a royal Council of the Indies (Real y Supremo Consejo de Indias) that would concern itself solely with colonial matters, would supervise the Casa de Contratación (House of Trade, established by Isabel in 1503 in Sevilla), and would be answerable only to the Crown. Under this council in the colonial hierarchy would be the governor of the Indies, although important enough cases could be brought by the audiencia of the Indies, circumventing the governor, while under the governor and the audiencia would be the captaincies general. Such a council was approved and formed with 8 members and Fonseca at its head (as Ministro de Indias) in December of 1504. This council formed the last word in colonial matters and, when given royal approval, had the power to empty and fill any administrative position in the Indies.
Control efectivo español en las Indias, c. 1515
1 = La Española, 2 = Cuba, 3 = (San Juan de) Boriquén, 4 = (Santiago de) Jamaica, 5 = Los Caribes, 6a = Panamá,
6b = Coquivacoa, 7 = Isla (Santa) Margarita, 8 = Puerto Rico de la Vera Cruz, 9 = Cabo de Gracias de Dios
The encomienda was an ancient Spanish tradition of land distribution, refined and given its legal parameters during the Reconquista, in which Christian soldiery would receive grants conquered from the Moor and would be entitled to the labor of all those that dwelled on said grant, provided they were Christianized and protected. The habit of taking encomienda carried over into the colonization of the Indies, with Spanish colonists establishing themselves over populations of Indios and demanding their labor, often coercively. The installment of Francisco de Bobadilla as governor caused this system to recede for a while, but with the number of primarily male, self improvement-minded Spaniards roving the Indies, a compromise would have to be reached and the encomienda would have to be allowed, albeit regulated. Isabel of Castile was aghast to learn of Colón and his associates’ chattel enslavement of the Indios, and forbade further slave-taking without sufficient provocation, affirming the status of the Indios as royal subjects. However, the encomienda, for all its abuses, provided a convenient method for divvying up the remaining Indio workforce and sorting them into manageable communities where they might become converted and Hispanicized. In the Provisions of Valladolid, decreed in 1508, Isabel affirmed the Indios’ equality under the law, while acknowledging their state of ignorance and need of Spanish instruction and rule. These provisions would be included in the more far-reaching Leyes de León of 1510, which outlined the exact guidelines for the distribution and management of an encomienda:
- Wanton cruelty or violence against an Indio is punishable by a fine of 3,000 reales for the first charge, and a remission of the encomienda for further charges.
- Each encomienda is required to be inspected by the local corregidor twice a year.
- Indios are allowed to make an appeal to the local ayuntamiento, and are to be afforded a Castilian-speaking representative if they do not speak Castilian.
- The encomendero must construct a chapel with sufficient space for all the Indios entrusted to him - an insufficiently sized chapel will incur a fine of 1,000 reales, no chapel after two inspections will incur a 3,000 real fine.
- The encomendero must ensure the education of his Indios in the Castilian language - any adult Indio that cannot speak any Castilian after four inspections will incur a fine of 600 reales.
- The encomendero must ensure the catechization of his Indios, quizzing them every fortnight on the faith, with priority given to the Gospels and the Sacraments and secondary importance for the Saints, Patriarchs, and Judges - failure to catechize any member of an Indio household incurs a 1,000 real fine for that household.
- The encomendero must provide dwellings of sufficient size and number for every Indio household - failure to provide adequate housing incurs a fine of 2,000 reales for every homeless Indio family.
- Within 6 months after receiving his encomienda, the encomendero must report its size, mineral wealth, arable land, and location to the local land officer - failure to reach this deadline incurs a 400 real fine every 6 months.
- The encomendero must allow each Indio household one private conuco, sufficient in size and yield to feed that household - every Indio family either lacking a conuco or starving incurs a 2,000 real fine.
- The encomendero will receive a stipend of 4,000 reales for every four inspections passed without shortcoming, whereas four failed inspections shall result in the remission of the encomendero's title and the confiscation of his land and property in the Indies
Un encomendero abusando de su indio
- La Gobernación General de Santo Domingo y Las Indias Mayores -
After spending several months taking stock of the isles, Bobadilla wrote the Catholic Monarchs in 1503, requesting tools, clothing, hundreds of pigs, goats, and horses, as many mendicant friars as could be spared, and some 4,500 settlers - of which he needed 1,000 of them to be women, 500 of them crossbowmen and 200 of them arquebusiers - all to be sent to Santo Domingo. Such a request was almost ludicrously expensive, but the Catholic Monarchs did their best to meet it, sending - over the course of two years - roughly 2,500 settlers (of which only around 200 were women), 85 horses, 420 pigs, 170 goats, and a sufficient amount of supplies (including, quite generously, 180 arquebuses and 13 bronze cannons) - all on a fleet of 32 ships, which were ordered to remain in the Indies to be used at Bobadilla’s discretion. This resupply greatly increased the colonial population of Española - leading to town charters being granted to Salvatierra de la Sabana and Azua de Compostela - but also consequently greatly increased the risk of yellow fever. Aware of this, Bobadilla encouraged urban residents of Santo Domingo to spread out across the island, and also to the island of Boriquén [3] and its port of San Juan Bautista (founded in 1507 by Juan Ponce de León).
It was necessary to maintain a continuous movement of colonists (save for during the hurricane season), not only for avoiding tropical diseases, but also for the sake of stimulating inter-colonial commerce, opening up more land for cultivation, and providing a more comprehensive understanding of the geography of the Indies. It was with these intentions in mind that Bobadilla authorized an expedition to the island of Cuba (formerly Isla Juana) in 1509, led by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar and his relative Juan de Grijalva (also present were Francisco de Montejo - Grijalva and Velázquez’s chief lieutenant - Juan Díaz, Pedro de Alvarado, Alonso Hernández Puertocarrero, Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, Hernán Cortés, and Juan Lobo de Olivenza), to build towns, proselytize the Indios, and ensure Spanish hegemony. After making landfall and establishing Cuba’s first Spanish settlement at Baracoa, the conquest of the island would be completed within two years, by early 1511. In terms of colonial administration and the division of spoils, the conquest of Cuba would be another watershed event in the history of the Spanish Indies: Velázquez, as leader of the expedition, presumed lordship over the entirety of Cuba while his subordinates received hefty land grants, but Bobadilla still had a bad taste in his mouth from dealing with Colón and opposed such large concessions, therefore he divided Cuba into three captaincies general - one under Velázquez in the east, one under Grijalva in the center, and one under Montejo in the west, all of which were answerable directly to the governorate in Santo Domingo. Velázquez loudly protested this move (especially after discovering that the western captaincy general contained the island’s best natural harbor), but there was little he could do once the Council of the Indies ratified Bobadilla’s decision.
A similar scheme would be applied to the islands of Jamaica and Boriquén, with the former split between Francisco de Garay in the east and Alonso de Pineda in the west, and the latter split three ways with Juan Ponce de León in the west, José Hernández Abaroa in the center, and Alonso de Ojeda in the east. However, the three captaincies of Boriquén would eventually be melded in 1513, following prolonged infighting and the death of Abaroa, with the whole island going to the capable Juan Ponce de León (Alonso de Ojeda would be compensated with a captaincy over Isla Margarita). Likewise, the two captaincies of Jamaica would also be joined in 1518 to pool much needed resources. The captains general continued their grumblings when each of them, in 1511, were required to sponsor (out of their own purse) the settlement of 20 families of Spanish farmers in the countryside of their captaincies and another 5 families of Spanish artisans in their towns over the course of five years, every five years - failure to reach this quota would result in the suspension of their title. These measures would have resulted in a full-scale revolt if not for the arrival of 500 Spanish soldiers, 25 horses, and 12 carracks in Santo Domingo in 1510.
Juan Ponce de León
- Castilla de Oro y La Gobernación de las Indias Menores -
Bobadilla was not the only one wary of another Colón. Across the sea, the Council of the Indies were concerned about the number of captaincies and breadth of land under Bobadilla’s administration. By 1510, Vasco Nuñez de Balboa had founded the first permanent European settlement on the mainland at Santa María la Antigua on the coast of Darien, Juan de la Cosa and Rodrigo de Bastidas had taken possession of the Gulf of Urabá and had begun settling Coquivacoa, and Alonso de Ojeda had mapped and claimed Venezuela and Maracaibo as “Nueva Andalucía” for Spain. A new frontier was opening up on Tierra Firma and, given the structure of the colonial government as it stood at the time, all of it was set to be administered directly by Francisco de Bobadilla as governor of the Indies. This would not do. In April of 1512, Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca wrote Bobadilla to inform him that the lands of “Castilla de Oro” would be granted a separate governorate as the “Indias Menores” to Santo Domingo and its “Indias Mayores.” Bobadilla agreed on the condition that he be allowed to choose the new governor, for which he picked his son-in-law, Pedro Arias Dávila. However, unbeknownst to Bobadilla, Dávila had died of a fever in off the coast of Algeria a month prior. Bobadilla knew that the only thing keeping his subordinate captains general from ousting him was the consistent military support of the Crown, so he was not in any position to protest - nor was he willing to, being now in his early 60s. Any such protests would have in fact mattered very little, as Bobadilla was relieved of his position within a year (being replaced by another knight of the Order of Calatrava, Adrián Sanchez de Cardeña). As the Catholic Monarchs were loath to appoint conquistadors as colonial administrators and favored members of the military orders as bureaucrats, their natural choice for the new governorate was the 35 year old Samuel López de Valmojado, a knight of the Order of Calatrava like Bobadilla.
Las divisiones internas de las Indias, c. 1515
1-4 = Las Indias Mayores:
1 = La Gobernación General de Santo Domingo, 2 = La Capitanía General de San Juan de Boriquén, 3a-3c = Las Capitanías Generales de Cuba, 4a-4b = Las Capitanías Generales de Santiago de Jamaica
5-7 = Las Indias Menores:
5a = La Gobernación General de Panamá, 6 = La Capitanía General de Coquivacoa, 7 = La Capitanía General de Santa Margarita
- La Tierra de los Nahuas -
It was not long after the conquest of Cuba was complete that its perpetually restless conquistadors began arranging for another overseas expedition - this time to see what lay further west. Beginning in late 1511, Juan de Grijalva set out from Cuba, mapping the coasts of what he assumed was a very large gulf. What Grijalva and his compatriots found on this voyage were agglomerations of Indios far larger and far more sophisticated than anything yet encountered in the Indies, and when reports of their wealth made it back to Cuba in 1512, another expedition was formed by Francisco de Montejo - this time to establish a settlement. This second expedition chose an island off the coast which Grijalva had named San Mateo (having landed there on September 21st, St. Matthew’s feast day), and arrived with roughly 120 settlers on August 30th, 1514. After two weeks, the settlers decided to relocate to the coast proper, where they officially established their colony, naming it Puerto Rico de la Vera Cruz (to commemorate the concurrent Feast of the Cross), while maintaining a small garrison on San Mateo. After three weeks, this new settlement received visitors from the local Nahua villages, who were fascinated by the Spaniards and eager to trade. Of great interest to the colonists were the rumors of this new land’s precious gems and metals, especially after a 15 man exploration party ventured into the interior for two weeks in October, and returned with proof of gold in the region.
Los viajes de Juan de Grijalva
However, towards the end of that same month, a delegation arrived in Vera Cruz from a man referred to as the “Tlatoani,” named Moctezuma. He was apparently a great king and held sway over the land in which these Spaniards now found themselves, and requested their presence at his palace in a city called Tenochtitlan. The Spaniards consented, hoping to gain an audience with a local potentate and possibly induce him to accept Christianity and the authority of the Crown of Castile. It is more than likely that Moctezuma had friendly intentions for these visitors, but something happened along the way to sour the relations between the Spanish party, numbering 60, and the men sent to collect them, numbering around 340. Whatever occurred, the trust between the two groups broke down, and, after persuading the Spaniards to leave most of their weaponry behind, Moctezuma’s delegation encircled them and massacred them somewhere on the way to Tenochtitlan. While Moctezuma had these warriors of his ritualistically executed for their transgression, it did not take long for word of the bloodshed to make its way back to Vera Cruz, where the majority of the settlers (along with some Indio slaves and converts, in total numbering around 300 individuals) departed the settlement, either re-settling on San Mateo or returning to Cuba by January of 1515.
El hombre mismo
The misfortune that struck Vera Cruz affected the Spaniards of Cuba greatly, as many of the settlers were old comrades and relatives of the Cuban hidalgos - in fact, one of the 60 Spaniards killed was a certain Pedro Altamirano, cousin to none other than Hernán Cortés. The incredible wealth of the Nahuas and a desire for revenge began to set things in motion for a fully militarized expedition, which would spend the next year gathering resources and arms. The Spanish would return to the Tierra de la Vera Cruz in 1516, this time in force.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
[1] OTL Lesser Antilles
[2] OTL Bahamas
[3] OTL Puerto Rico
[4] Not shown on any of the maps posted, but the region west of of what is designated Panamá.
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You're right. Actually the three extra years and the circumstances in which the conquest is going to occur are going to tear the Aztecs an entirely new one: there's more time for Spanish diseases to spread, there's already a Spanish foothold on the coast, the Mesoamericans still have no idea what Spanish tactics/weaponry/horses are like, and the next expedition to Mexico is one of revenge - IOTL it was primarily Cortés and his cohorts trying to evade the strictness of Spanish government, whereas ITTL it's a campaign that has the backing and resources of nearly every Spaniard in Cuba (most importantly the backing and resources of two captains general, Montejo and Grijalva), so the conquest of Mexico is going to be more of a cooperative enterprise ITTL and less of a bunch of renegades under a strongman leader like it was IOTL.
For those of you wondering about the PoDs in the last update, here's the big ones (besides those concerning Mexico, which I elaborated on in my response to Mre64):
1) IOTL, Columbus was sent back in chains just like in TTL, but in OTL his son Diego did not die in a hurricane in 1502 - Francisco de Bobadilla did. IOTL Diego Columbus would spend the next 20 odd years pressing his claim to the Indies, perpetuating his father's old unsavory policies and greatly hindering the colonial process - even spending 9 years as governor from 1509-1518 (the conflict between the Crown and the Columbus family would last until 1537 IOTL!) Without Diego or his relatives ITTL we have Bobadilla - whose primary concerns are identical to the Crown's and who was a much more pragmatic, conscientious administrator than any of the Columbuses (from what we can tell about him IOTL) - serving an extended stint as governor. Bobadilla makes sure to enforce royal authority and keeps the colonies' center of gravity in Santo Domingo, while also breaking up conquests (such as in Cuba) as much as possible in order to further intensify colonization and also to prevent any one captaincy from achieving primacy. This policy of "conquer-and-divide," if you will, will also increase land hunger for the conquistadors and compel to go further afield more often. Since the Indies aren't his personal property (like they were for Columbus), Bobadilla is also much less personally interested in how many Spaniards there are divvying up colonial land, and is therefore much more encouraging of huge waves of settlers.
2) IOTL Castilla de Oro/Tierra Firme (coastal parts of Colombia, Panama, and Venezuela) had its periphery parceled out and would only receive an official administration in the 1540s. Here, it's been collected into a governorate general like the Indies as early as 1512 (centered at Panama) under a royal appointee rather than a conquistador, meaning there are now two supreme authorities in the Spanish colonies answerable to the Council of the Indies - which will help with the balance of power, subservience to the crown, and better regulation and administration overall.
1) IOTL, Columbus was sent back in chains just like in TTL, but in OTL his son Diego did not die in a hurricane in 1502 - Francisco de Bobadilla did. IOTL Diego Columbus would spend the next 20 odd years pressing his claim to the Indies, perpetuating his father's old unsavory policies and greatly hindering the colonial process - even spending 9 years as governor from 1509-1518 (the conflict between the Crown and the Columbus family would last until 1537 IOTL!) Without Diego or his relatives ITTL we have Bobadilla - whose primary concerns are identical to the Crown's and who was a much more pragmatic, conscientious administrator than any of the Columbuses (from what we can tell about him IOTL) - serving an extended stint as governor. Bobadilla makes sure to enforce royal authority and keeps the colonies' center of gravity in Santo Domingo, while also breaking up conquests (such as in Cuba) as much as possible in order to further intensify colonization and also to prevent any one captaincy from achieving primacy. This policy of "conquer-and-divide," if you will, will also increase land hunger for the conquistadors and compel to go further afield more often. Since the Indies aren't his personal property (like they were for Columbus), Bobadilla is also much less personally interested in how many Spaniards there are divvying up colonial land, and is therefore much more encouraging of huge waves of settlers.
2) IOTL Castilla de Oro/Tierra Firme (coastal parts of Colombia, Panama, and Venezuela) had its periphery parceled out and would only receive an official administration in the 1540s. Here, it's been collected into a governorate general like the Indies as early as 1512 (centered at Panama) under a royal appointee rather than a conquistador, meaning there are now two supreme authorities in the Spanish colonies answerable to the Council of the Indies - which will help with the balance of power, subservience to the crown, and better regulation and administration overall.
A good number of the conquistadors and their fathers served under de Córdoba in the Italian Wars, Pizarro included. ITTL he died at Langhirano, a non-OTL battle in the northern Apennines.
Heck yeah Columbus us out of the game and the Monarchy is establishing it's rule with more control. Now onto the revenge war against the Aztecs.
Yeah meant to respond to this sooner but mostly my response was just to point out that his reign should definitely be far more stable rather than it was originally with less debt on top of that. Imperial elections are always bound to be expensive especially when the King of France gets involved ha However with Phillip living longer the transition for TTL Charles will be better to the throne. If only Charles could inherit France there'd be something to foam at the mouth over (just kidding)
Yeah with this I think the amount of effort Charles will have to go through to ascend to ruler of the HRE will be much smoother. Heck who knows what new ITTL wars will bring and perhaps more land for the Habsburgs to stake claim too.
Yeah meant to respond to this sooner but mostly my response was just to point out that his reign should definitely be far more stable rather than it was originally with less debt on top of that. Imperial elections are always bound to be expensive especially when the King of France gets involved ha
However with Phillip living longer the transition for TTL Charles will be better to the throne. If only Charles could inherit France there'd be something to foam at the mouth over (just kidding)Yeah with this I think the amount of effort Charles will have to go through to ascend to ruler of the HRE will be much smoother. Heck who knows what new ITTL wars will bring and perhaps more land for the Habsburgs to stake claim too.
I'm really enjoying this so far. It's very well researched and interesting.
Firstly, does anyone know some reliable sources for 16th century demographics? I haven't checked my text sources, but from purely internet searches I have about 4.5 million for Castile, 1.1-1.2 million for Portugal, ~1.8 million for Aragon and similar numbers for the Kingdom of Naples (not including Sicily and Sardinia). Any info would be appreciated.
They won't be Castilian
Imagine Cortés' conquest, but with ~4 Cortés's
That's quite flattering, thank you! I'll try to update as often as I can this coming week.
They won't be Castilian
Imagine Cortés' conquest, but with ~4 Cortés's
That's quite flattering, thank you! I'll try to update as often as I can this coming week.
Jeez they're going to collapse like a house of cardsImagine Cortés' conquest, but with ~4 Cortés's
Will the encomienda system be as prevalent in the Americas though? With all of these conquistadors demanding their fair share of land from fighting to avenge the massacre it'll be hard to resist them.
In a book written by W. Blockmans about Charles V in Dutch, named: Karel V keizer van een wereldrijk 1500-1558 (which translates as Charles V Emperor of a global empire 1500-1558). There I found some numbers (which naturally are estimates) for 1550. The Habsburg/Burgundian Netherlands 2.9 million, Castille 5.9 million, kingdom of Naples 2.1 million, Sicily 1.1 million, the duchy of Milan 0.77 million, France 19 million, the German lands of the HRE 14 million in total, the Italian peninsula 11.4 million.
France might have felt encircled by the alliance between Castille-Aragon and Austria-Burgundy, OTOH France was the most populous realm in Western Europe, which in turn made it threatening for neighbours.