Social issues and policies: the nobility, the peasantry, urban communities…

The idea

Ferdinand and Isabella’s social policies aimed to consolidate royal authority while maintaining social hierarchy. For the nobility, they reduced political power by excluding grandees from the royal council, yet confirmed their vast economic privileges and landholdings (e.g., the Laws of Toro in 1505). The peasantry faced harsh conditions, though the Sentencia de Guadalupe (1486) abolished the worst feudal abuses (remensa) in Catalonia. Urban communities were tightly controlled through the appointment of corregidores (royal officials) to oversee town councils, curbing local autonomy. Finally, policies towards the Church focused on securing royal patronage (the Patronato Real) to control bishop appointments and reforming clerical morals.

What earns the marks

• Evaluate the extent to which the Crown successfully curtailed the political power of the nobility while preserving their social and economic dominance.
• Analyse the impact of the Sentencia de Guadalupe on the Catalan peasantry compared to the continued struggles of peasants in Castile.
• Assess the effectiveness of corregidores in extending royal authority over urban communities and town councils.
• Examine the Crown's relationship with the Church, specifically the acquisition of the Patronato Real and the drive for clerical reform under Cardinal Cisneros.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Assuming the nobility lost all power.

  Put it right: Recognise that while their political influence in the royal council was reduced, their economic power and social prestige were actually reinforced.

• Treating the peasantry as a uniform group across Spain.

  Put it right: Distinguish between the liberated remensa peasants in Aragon/Catalonia and the heavily burdened peasants in Castile.

• Confusing the role of the Church with the Inquisition.

  Put it right: Treat the Church as a broader social and political institution that the Crown sought to control via appointments, distinct from the specific judicial role of the Inquisition.

Exam tips

• Use the Laws of Toro (1505) as specific evidence when arguing that the Crown protected the economic interests of the nobility through the mayorazgo (entail) system.
• Contrast the Crown's approach to urban communities in Castile (using corregidores) with the more autonomous towns in the Crown of Aragon.
• When discussing social policies, always link them back to Ferdinand and Isabella's overarching goal of centralising royal authority.