Council of Castile

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The Council of Castile (Consejos de Castilla, plural, in Spanish) was a high council for the domestic government of Castile. However, it also enacted governance for the Spanish dominion during the renaissance period of Hapsburg Spain.

[edit] Origin

The Council of Castile was an outgrowth of the Act of Resumption of Toledo in 1480 by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. This act was established to wrest both the power of the sword and the purse away from the nobles, and place them more securely under the control of the Crown. While this act brought about several needed reforms, vis-à-vis the Cortes of Toledo, by far its greatest achievement, was the creation of the Consejo Real -- or Council of Castile.

[edit] Composition

This first Council was composed of a prelate, three caballeros, and between eight and ten letrados (jurists). It also included a President and a Fiscal del Consejos de Castilla. Among its chief duties were:

Advise the Crown on matters of appointments, both military and Court.
Supervise works and projects of the (Castilian) government.
Offer consideration of and judgment to the Crown's regarding the conferring of pensions, emoluments, and sundry favors.
Serve as the Supreme Court of Justice of the Kingdom of Castile.
For each member of the Council to sign all legal documents that in anyway effected the working of the Kingdom (of Castile), even down to the most detailed, day-to-day governmental decisions.

In order to prevent it from falling under control of the great Houses, as had happened with the original royal council, non-appointed nobles were allowed to attend Council meetings but were given no vote. The result of this meant that the Council, and its bureaucracy, was composed chiefly of "new men", i.e. minor nobility, townsmen/citizens, civilian magistrates,etc.

[edit] Power and Influence

The council's political power peaked in 1520 during the reign of Charles V as it put down a popular uprising of Castilian Hidalgos or noble men (Comuneros rebellion) to restore Charles and Hapsburg hegemony in the region. The Bishop Ruiz De la Mota was an influential member of the council during this period.

With the ascension of Charles V, the growth of Spain's overseas empire, and the prodding of Charles' grand-counselor and close friend Mercurino Guttinara [1472-1532], the Council of Castile underwent a far reaching reformation. Between the years 1522-1524 the Council of Castile became an intrinsic part of the reorganization of the government of Navarre and the establishment of both a Council of Finance (Hacienda) and the Council for the (East) Indias. Thirty years later, in 1555, the Council of Italy was formed (yet another off-spring of the Council of Castile).

Perhaps most important of the reforms of Guttinara was the establishment of the Consejo de la Cámara de Castilla. An inner council of the Council of Constile, the Consejo was composed of three or four members of the Council; upon whose members the Crown felt it could rely implicitly.

The Council of Flanders was its counterpart for the Spanish Netherlands.