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The Wreck of Catalonia: Civil War in the Fifteenth Century

Online ISBN:
9780191708718
Print ISBN:
9780199207367
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

The Wreck of Catalonia: Civil War in the Fifteenth Century

Alan Ryder
Alan Ryder
Professor Emeritus, Bristol University
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Published online:
1 September 2007
Published in print:
28 June 2007
Online ISBN:
9780191708718
Print ISBN:
9780199207367
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

This book examines the fate that overtook the principality of Catalonia in the 15th century, reducing it from dominance within the state of Aragon to a marginal role in the Iberian power created by the union of Aragon and Castile. Part one studies the tensions destabilizing Catalonia: unrest among a peasantry resentful of outdated burdens; merchants and artisans struggling to wrest control of the towns from entrenched oligarchies; an aristocracy devoted to endless feuding; and a monarchy thrown into disarray by the extinction of the Catalan line and its replacement by a Castilian dynasty. In 1462, Catalonia degenerated into a civil war that lasted ten years. Part two seeks to explain how and why the king, Juan II, emerged victorious. The economic and military resources of the two camps, their tactics, and the lines along which Catalan society divided are examined. The book looks at the crucial part played by foreign powers in the conflict, who intervened on both sides until Juan turned the tables with his gamble on a Castilian crown for his heir, Fernando. The surrender of the insurgents in 1472 left Catalonia chaotic, devastated, and mired in many more years of war with France as Juan struggled to recover the territories he had surrendered in return for French aid. Catalonia was then helpless before Fernando, the Catholic King of Castile, who became ruler of Catalonia in 1479. The measures he imposed to restore order and subject the principality to the new ‘Spanish’ state are the theme of the final chapter. The events discussed have a continuing resonance in Spain today.

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