Western Civilization

enabled him to leave England with a stable and pros-

perous government and an enhanced status for the

monarchy itself.

SPAIN Spain, too, experienced the growth of a strong

national monarchy by the end of the fifteenth century.

During the Middle Ages, several independent Christian

kingdoms had emerged in the course of the long recon-

quest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims. Ara-

gon and Castile were the strongest Spanish kingdoms;

in the west was the independent monarchy of Portugal;

in the north, the small kingdom of Navarre; and in the

south, the Muslim kingdom of Granada.

A major step toward the unification of Spain was

taken with the marriage of Isabella of Castile

(1474–1504) and Ferdinand of Aragon (1479–1516) in

1469. This was a dynastic union of two rulers, not a
      political union. Both kingdoms maintained their own
      parliaments—each known as the Cortes (KOR-tez)—
      courts, laws, coinage, speech, customs, and political
      organs. Nevertheless, the two rulers worked to
      strengthen royal control of government, especially in
      Castile. The royal council, which was supposed to
      supervise local administration and oversee the imple-
      mentation of government policies, was stripped of aris-
      tocrats and filled primarily with middle-class lawyers.

Trained in the principles of Roman law, these officials

operated on the belief that the monarchy embodied the

power of the state.

Seeking to replace the undisciplined feudal levies

they had inherited with a more professional royal

army, Ferdinand and Isabella reorganized the military

forces of Spain. The development of a strong infantry

force as the heart of the new Spanish army made it the

best in Europe by the sixteenth century, and Spain

emerged as an important power in European affairs.

Because of its vast power and wealth, Ferdinand and

Isabella also recognized the importance of controlling

the Catholic Church. They secured from the pope the

right to select the most important church officials in

Spain, virtually guaranteeing the foundation of a Span-

ish Catholic Church in which the clergy became an

instrument for the extension of royal power. The mon-

archs also used their authority over the church to insti-

tute reform.

Ferdinand and Isabella pursued a policy of strict reli-

gious uniformity. Of course, this served a political pur-

pose as well: to create unity and further bolster royal

power. Spain possessed two large religious minorities,

Jews and Muslims; both had generally been tolerated in

medieval Spain. Increased persecution in the fourteenth

century, however, led the majority of Spanish Jews to

Durer,€ Adoration of the Magi.By the

end of the fifteenth century, northern

artists had begun to study in Italy and to

adopt many of the techniques used by

Italian painters. As is evident in this

painting, which was the central panel for

an altarpiece done for Frederick the Wise

in 1504, Albrecht D€urer masterfully

incorporated the laws of perspective and

the ideals of proportion into his works. At

the same time, he did not abandon the

preoccupation with detail typical of

northern artists. D€urer portrayed himself in

the center as the wise man with long hair.

Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence//Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

The European State in the Renaissance 293

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