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Charles I of Spain and Holy Roman emperor Charles V, a remote foreigner who knew nothing about Spain, arrived in 1517 surrounded by Flemish lords, with whom he replaced the peninsular nobility in government. This inheritance was, for him, a simple addition to the glory of the Habsburgs. The disappointment of his subjects increased with his claim to the Imperial Crown, after the death of his grandfather Maximilian, and his demand that the cost (donations to the German prince-electors) should come from the ''Cortes de Castilla'' convened in 1519 while he was marching to Germany. He was crown Emperor in 1520, but caused an uprising in the cities of Castile (the ''Comunidades'') and trade union revolts in Valencia and Majorca (the ''Germanías''). The nobility condescended to them, until they saw their anti-lordly character (anti-Moorish in Valencia). The ''comuneros'' Padilla, Bravo and Maldonado were executed in [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Comuneros.jpg Villalar] (1521) and the ''Germanías'' (Llorens in Valencia) suffocated in 1522. From then on, the aristocracy and the people of the Spanish kingdoms became hopelessly enthusiastic about the labyrinth of European imperial politics.<br>
In Spain, the elitist movement critical of clerical corruption could have given rise to Protestantism, inspired in the ideas of Erasmus of Rotterdam. However, the Emperor, who soon learned Spanish and ended his life in retirement at the Jerónimos de Yuste Monastery, considered himself an advocate of the ideal of ''Universitas Christiana'', supported by his peninsular kingdoms, which provided so much economic return from America. Thus, he confronted the reformism of Luther and the German princes who defended him, promoted the Council of Trent with a large presence of Hispanic theologians, and supported the Society of Jesus in the Counter-Reformation. He forbade studying at foreign universities (except for Bologna), Erasmism was isolated, Protestantism was persecuted. The Spanish version of the feeling of direct union with God –mysticism– was always frowned upon by the Inquisition. Along with that came movements of an exaggerated spiritualism, such as that of the ''recogidos'' and of the ''iluminados''. {| style="min-width:300px;"|style="border-style:solid; border-width:3px; border-color:#93481b; border-top-right-radius:40px; border-bottom-left-radius:40px"|<brdiv style="padding:1em; font-weight:bold; color: #93481b;"><p style="font-size:140%;">The Habsburgs</p><p>Charles of Habsburg (1516-1556), son of Juana I of Castile and Philip the Handsome, incorporated the peninsular kingdoms and their possessions into his dynasty. He replaces the traditional political line of the Trastámara (Peninsular union and defence of the common interests) by a decisive link with the family interests of the Habsburgs, in their heterogeneous and conflictive Central European domains. In this enterprise were wasted the enormous resources of the Spanish Crown which during the 16<sup>th</sup> century and much of the 17<sup>th</sup>, was the first territorial and economic power in the world. The Habsburgs of the 16<sup>th</sup> century were Charles I and Philip II (1556-98), who in 1580 joined his Crown to Portugal; and those of the 17<sup>th</sup> were Philip III (1598-1621), Philip IV (1621-1665) and Charles II (1665-1700) who in full imperial decline and having died childless, left the crown to the French Bourbons.</p></div>|}
In order to isolate France, the Catholic Monarchs arranged the marriage of their children, Juan and Juana, with two Habsburgs. Although there was an economic interest as well. Spanish merino wool, the main raw material for export had competed advantageously with English wool since the 14<sup>th</sup> century with which it disputed the markets of Flanders and the Netherlands, a flourishing domain of the Habsburgs, inherited from the House of Burgundy. The great European textile centres were there: cloths, lace, tapestries, rugs and bedspreads. The fine linens were known throughout Europe as “cloth from Holland”. Nevertheless, while Flanders, in the south of the Netherlands, remained faithful to Spanish wool, the Dutch soon preferred English wool and linen or cotton, imported from overseas.<br>
The herds were owned by the nobility, powerfully organised in the association called the ''Mesta'' (1273-1836). The cattle migrated in winter, grazed on rented meadows in La Mancha and Extremadura, and returned in spring. They moved along their own paths, protected by cane (''cañas'') fences, or by ropes (''cuerdas'') between stakes, named ''cañadas'' (75 m wide), ''cordeles'' (38 m) and ''veredas'' (21 m), with periodic resting places (''descansaderos''). The ranchers paid the ''servicio y montazgo'' as they passed through the “royal ports” that marked the entire Sistema Central: a great fiscal source for the Crown. The fair of Medina del Campo was the financial centre, and export was organised from the Consulate of Burgos. The ''Mesta'', distributed territorially in four districts (''cuadrillas''), was grouped into route networks: Leonese, Segovian, Sorian and from Cuenca, with a meticulous judicial and economic regulation that still keeps a strong presence today.
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