Key Historical Institutions and Movements in Spain
Domains
Domains were territorial areas of the late Roman Empire in which the cultivators of land were falling under the owners’ personal dependence. The manor was a large estate of land belonging to a noble or ecclesiastical entity. It was divided into two parts: the owner’s private land (reserve) and parcels delivered to the farmer. The gentleman had jurisdictional power over their economic and lands. Depending on the owner of the manor, they are distinguished as: Infantazgo (owned by infants or children of kings), Abadengo (lords of the church), Maestrazgos (military domains), and Ancestral (of the secular nobility).
In the fifteenth century, manor bases were extended until the nineteenth century when the liberal revolution finally ended with the particular jurisdictions.
American Commendation
The colonization of America by the Spanish brought territories and economic wealth. This led to the imposition of social mores, religion, and politics of Spain to the Americas. For this to be fulfilled, Spain was forced to use the task. It was a right granted by the Crown for a Spanish subject (encomendero) for the purpose of this perceived taxes or jobs that Indian subjects had to pay the monarchy, and in return, the encomendero should look after the welfare of indigenous people. The distance between Spain and America made the commissioners break the rules and abuse their power manor. In 1512, a board of theologians met in Burgos to discuss this issue, enacting laws prohibiting Indian slavery and improving the encomienda system, leading to the figure of Visador, responsible for monitoring compliance with laws.
The beginning of the agonies of parcels began in 1542 when new laws were enacted, which involved the abolition of slavery and the prohibition of new parcels and reaffirmed its for life. At last, the parcels were abolished in 1718.
Inquisition
The Inquisition was a judicial institution created by the Papacy in the Middle Ages to identify, prosecute, and convict those guilty of heresy. The usual penalty was excommunication. The Spanish Inquisition was founded in 1478 with papal approval sought by the Catholic Monarchs. This was established to deal with Jewish and Muslim converts who converted to Christianity. A few years later, the papacy renounced its supervision practices, leaving it to the Catholic Monarchs. The Spanish Inquisition was directed by the Supreme Council of the Inquisition.
It also served as a filter to work out any opposition threat to the monarchy.
It was finally abolished in 1843.
Peace of Westphalia
With the reign of Charles I and Philip II of Spain, it established hegemony in Europe and the Mediterranean. From the reign of Philip IV began the decline in Europe. Inside, he faced rebellions in Catalonia and Portugal. Outside, the failures of the Thirty Years’ War represented the Habsburg monarchy. Holland, Denmark, England, Sweden, and France were rivals of Spain and Germany.
The Peace of Westphalia (1648) recognized the right of the German princes to choose the religion of their states and the independence of The Netherlands and Sweden’s territorial advantages. The Peace of the Pyrenees (1659) put an end to the war with France, ceding territories. It is the end of Spanish hegemony on the continent, which passed into the hands of France, while the maritime domain was exercised by Englishmen and Dutchmen.
New Plant Decrees
New Plant Decrees were rules promulgated by Philip V in 1707, which set the removal of all the institutions of Valencia and Aragon, in 1715 those of Mallorca, and in 1716 those of Catalonia, losing these territories their historical political and judicial level (Foral), and governed by laws of Castile. These territories were centralist, dominated by Castile, and adopted their institutions. They were the result of the War of Succession (1707-1714), which pitted supporters of the Spanish throne, Felipe D’Anjou, and the Archduke Charles, after Charles II died childless. The New Plant Decrees had a dual meaning: to punish the rebel territories for not accepting the will of Charles II and the creation of a centralized and unitary state with universal laws for the Spanish territory.
Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was a European cultural movement of the eighteenth century that challenged the political, economic, and social development of the Old Regime. Born in England in the seventeenth century and revolutionary France, it resulted from the consolidation of the bourgeoisie, the emergence of capitalism, and the triumph of rational ideas. It is characterized by trust in reason and progress for attaining knowledge, the basis of happiness. In Spain, it arrived late due to the small bourgeoisie, conservatism, the enormous weight of the Church, and the absence of middle classes. It started from 1750-60 with the criticism of the current model of the enlightened Spanish social. One is Jovellanos; his goal was education as the only recourse to get out of backwardness. He fought against religious orders and the privileged classes and advocated for imposing a civil teaching. The other objective was economic due to the strong predominance of private property and ecclesiastical nobility, the slippage in economic activities, and the lack of new techniques and developments. The solution was reform.
Features of the Old Regime
The Old Regime was a political, economic, and social force in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, characterized by an absolute monarchy where the king has all three powers and is accountable to God alone. It had a stratified society divided into three estates: nobility, clergy, and ordinary people, of which nobility and clergy had privileges (tax exemption and owned large landholdings). Its economy was largely agrarian, based on feudal tenure. This system went into crisis with the arrival of the thoughts of the French Revolution (1789), the bourgeois revolution (1820-30-40), and the advent of liberal ideas.