Spain's Centuries of Crisis

A comprehensive history that focuses on the crises of Spain in the late middle ages and the early transformations that underpinned the later successes of the Catholic Monarchs.

• Illuminates Spain's history from the early fourteenth century to the union of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon in 1474
• Examines the challenges and reforms of the social, economic, political, and cultural structures of the country
• Looks at the early transformations that readied Spain for the future opportunities and challenges of the early modern Age of Discovery
• Includes a helpful bibliography to direct the reader toward further study

Preface and Acknowledgments viii

Map 1: Spain in the Late Fifteenth Century xi

Map 2: The Crown of Aragon and the Western Mediterranean
in the Late Middle Ages xii

1 At the Dawn of a New Century: The Spains around 1300 1

2 Medieval Spain in the Late Middle Ages: Society and Economy 28

3 The Answers of Politics: Spain, 1300–1350 51

4 Toward Trastámara Spain, 1350–1412 72

5 Spain in the Fifteenth Century: Toward the Rule of the Catholic Monarchs, 1412–1469 86

6 The Sinews of Power: Administration, Politics, and Display 110

7 Muslims, Jews, and Christians in a Century of Crisis 139

8 Culture and Society in an Age of Crisis 164

9 Epilogue 196

Notes 202

Bibliographical Essay 217

Index 228

Teofilo F. Ruiz is Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. His publications include Crisis and Continuity: Land and Town in Late Medieval Castile (1994) and Spanish Society 1400-1600 (2002) and From Heaven to Earth. The Reordering of Castilian Society, 1150-1350 (2004). This book is a comprehensive history of Spain from the turn of the fourteenth century to the union of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon in 1474.

In the early 1300s instabilities threatened to undermine Spain's basic social, economic, political, and cultural structures. This text focuses on the crises of Spain in the late middle ages, ranging from plague and famine to violence and civil war. It considers the early transformations that underpinned the country’s later successes and describes resolutions to the country’s hardships brought about by the reforms of the Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, in the late 1470s. The book examines the administrative changes and cultural revival that readied Spain for the opportunities and challenges of the oncoming early modern Age of Discovery.