The Golden Age of Spain, 1474–1598 - 3 The price revolution and its…

The idea

Inflation in Spain across c1500–c1570 was a sustained rise in prices, most visible in Castile, where grain, wool and manufactured goods roughly doubled or trebled in money terms over the period. Its extent can be measured from price series, tithe records and municipal accounts, though these are uneven and often local. Contemporaries found it new and puzzling because they expected stable or customary prices; they blamed debased coinage, bad harvests, demand from the Indies, monopolies and speculation. Writers such as the arbitristas and theologians debated causes, while wage-earners, tenants and the poor suffered most as real incomes fell. Assess significance by weighing how far inflation reshaped government finance, trade and social tension, and how far it was a monetary or a real shock.

What earns the marks

• Explains the extent of inflation using evidence such as Castilian grain and wool prices rising substantially across c1500–c1570, while noting regional and annual variation.
• Analyses contemporary comment as a new and puzzling phenomenon, showing that observers lacked a settled theory and offered competing explanations.
• Evaluates significance by linking inflation to real wages, rents, Crown borrowing and social unrest rather than treating it as a single price figure.
• Distinguishes monetary causes, such as bullion inflows and coin debasement, from real causes, such as harvest failure, population pressure and demand.
• Judges how far inflation was genuinely novel by comparing it with earlier medieval price movements and customary expectations.

Common mistakes and how to put them right

• Treating inflation as a uniform national rate.

  Put it right by noting regional and commodity variation and the limits of surviving price data.

• Assuming all contemporaries agreed on one cause.

  Put it right by showing a range of explanations, including coinage, harvests, demand and monopoly.

• Confusing rising money prices with falling living standards for everyone.

  Put it right by distinguishing debtors, landlords and wage-earners, whose experiences differed.

Exam tips

• Anchor each claim about extent in a specific commodity, place or period rather than a vague national trend.
• Use contemporary writers as evidence of contemporary comment, but assess their reliability and bias.
• Conclude on significance by ranking causes and consequences, not by listing them.