| |||||
| Capital | Toledo | ||||
| Largest city | Madrid | ||||
| Other cities | Burgos, Murcia, Palencia and Valladolid | ||||
| Language | Spanish | ||||
| Religion | Western Catholic | ||||
| Ethnic Group | Castilian(Spanish) | ||||
| Demonym | Castilian | ||||
| Government | Hereditary Monarchy | ||||
| Legislature | Council of Castile | ||||
| King/Queen | Alexis I | ||||
| Royal house: | Habsburg | ||||
| Population | 10,800,000 | ||||
| Established | 850 (as county of Castile) 931 (Unification of the counties in Castile) 1037 (union with León) 1065 (re-establishment) 1157 (divided from León) 1230 (union with León) 1749 (sucsessor state of Hispnaina) 1750-1810(Spanish Empire break up) | ||||
| Currency | Spanish real | ||||
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne.
History[]
On the death of Alfonso XI a dynastic conflict started between his sons, the Infantes Peter (Pedro) and Henry, Count of Trastámara, which became entangled in the Hundred Years' War (between England and France). Alfonso XI had married Maria of Portugal with whom he had his heir, the Infante Peter. However, the King also had many illegitimate children with Eleanor of Guzman, among them the above-mentioned Henry, who disputed Peter's right to the throne once the latter became king. In the resulting struggle, in which both brothers claimed to be king, Pedro allied himself with Edward, Prince of Wales, "the Black Prince." In 1367, the Black Prince defeated Henry II's allies at the Battle of Nájera, restoring Pedro's control of the kingdom. The Black Prince, seeing that the king would not reimburse his expenses, left Castile. Henry, who had fled to France, took advantage of the opportunity and recommenced the fight. Henry finally was victorious in 1369 in the Battle of Montiel, in which he had Peter killed. In 1371 the brother of the Black Prince, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, married Constance, Peter's daughter. In 1386, he claimed the Crown of Castile in the name of his wife, the legitimate heir according to the Cortes de Seville of 1361. He arrived in A Coruña with an army and took the city. He then moved on to occupy Santiago de Compostela, Pontevedra and Vigo. He asked John I, Henry II's son, to give up the throne in favor of Constance. John declined but proposed that his son, the Infante Henry, marry John of Gaunt's daughter Catherine. The proposal was accepted, and the title Prince of Asturias was created for Henry and Catherine. This ended the dynastic conflict, strengthened the House of Trastámara's position and created peace between England and Castile.
1400's The initial conquests[]
Conquests of Morocco[]
Throughout the 1400's Castile became a greater power than it previously was. Early on it began the settlement of Gibraltar, Tangiers and the Christianization of Granada. This immediately began some contentious issues with not only the Marinids, the rulers of Morocco, but Algiers and Tunisia as well which created a mutually beneficial alliance through North Africa to counter Castile. With this Castile called upon a few new found allies through trade and in a pre-emptive movement moved on and wiped out the Marinid and other assembling forces and established itself in North Africa along Tangiers and Gibraltar. These areas over a period of years following a mass depopulation of Muslim Moroccans abruptly shifted to majority Castilian settlements and with the value of these cities as major trade area expanding to include Castile at the time majority share in gold and ivory trade.
Following various agreements between Venice and Castile Morocco was once again invaded by Venice in a war not involving Castile in order to expand Castiles trade partner Venice, and her burgeoning slave trade. This war was relatively blown under as Castilian were much more relatively concerned with events unfolding in the Ottoman and Mamluk (eventually Mashriq) Empires respectively and their client state of Cyprus being in the vicinity of the two empires who were Muslim and expansive, and hence hostile to Castilian interests.
Following the Venetian war, the Castilians and their allies began yet another conquest against Morocco which following two years of conflict led to the creation of a Christian kingdom of Morocco. This was the first influx of Christians into North Africa for the first time in hundreds of years which commonly to Castilians became known as the continuation of the Reconquista. This push into North Africa was met with stiff and bloody resistance but with this being the third successive war the Moroccan populace had gone from a thriving population of nearly 1.5 to two million to barely 400,000 in all its former constituent territories. These huge wars left Morocco's population bade vulnerable to not only Christian influence but total adoption of Castilian culture in general.
Following a final religious war over the continued Christianization of Morocco, England and Castile - plus multiple allies - began a massive conquest of the remainder of Morocco and following a short but bloody fight left Morocco in the hands of Castile and the construction of a new holy city to Christianity underway.
Religious break[]
Following this the Castilians became embroiled in the religious issues of the Roman Catholic Church but following a reorganization with England a few other powers
Family Tree[]
House of Trastámara[]
King Henry III (1379-1431) - Queen Catherine (1373-1431)
- King John II of Castile (c. 1400-1457) - (Isabel of Portugal died in 1432) -(Johanna of Naples second wife) Isabel of Portugal (1397-1432)
- Prince Henry of Asturias (Son of Isabel
- Princess Elenor (Daughter of Isabel)
- Princess Maria (Daughter of Isabel)
- Prince Carlos (Regent of the King until age 16) (Son of Johanna)
- King Henry IV of Castile (1457-1462) - Elizabeta of Aragon (1457-1462)
- Prince Ferdinand of Asturias (1458-?)
- King Ferdinand of Castile IV (1462-Dead) - Katrina of Alexandria (1480-Dead)
- Ferdinand II (1483- (Dead)
- Alexis (1483-
- Charles (1485-
House of Habsburg[]
- Alexis Trastamara-Habsburg (1483-? Charles V Habsburg (Dates unknown)
- Phillip de Habsburg (Dates unknown currently)
- Ferdinand de Habsburg (Dates unknown currently)
Vassals/Personal Unions[]
None at the moment
Colonies/Protectorates[]
Colonies[]
None at the moment
Protectorates[]
None at the moment
| |||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
