The County of Castile was created when Rodrigo was created governor of the eastern march of the realm, which later became the county of Castile, by Ordoño, King of Asturias, upon the latter's assumption of the crown. How the kingdom of Castile became on one of the richest kingdoms in 15th century?
The University of Salamanca became an important center for economic thought at that time. All the wealth flowing into Spain from their enormous colonial empire in the Americas must have attracted skill and intellect from across Europe.
The School of Salamanca was very much a proto-liberal school of political economics and law. Makes the likes of Smith and Say seem derivative by comparison.
I don't know if Castilla was any wealthier than any other European country prior to the discovery of the Americas. It's true that southern Spain enjoyed quite a bit of mercantile activity under the Caliphate -- although, I'm not sure of the history of policy changes as the Caliphate began to slowly lose control over Spain -- and some of this activity may have spilled over to northern Spain (Castilla and Aragón). But, economic activity in the Spanish kindgom was tightly regulated: it was a feudal and guild society. It's also possible that the throne extracted quite a bit of wealth after slowly expelling the Caliphate out of what is today Andalucía. But, the major source of "wealth" would come from extracting resources -- especially silver and gold -- out of the Americas. More than wealth, it signaled the beginning of vast coinage of currency that would be used to buy materials for, mostly, the Spanish crown (especially to pay for its wars). Much of this new coinage was first chanelled through Sevilla, which helps explain why that city went through an "industrial fluctuation;" it also helps to explain the European price revolution that took place roughly during the 1500s and 1600s.
But Castile was a rich territory before discovery of America. Castile was one of the more rich and advanced territories in Europe when Isabella ascended to the throne in 1474.
Regulated? Here a article:
The Castilian region of Spain experienced an economic boom in the latter half of the 15th century owing to a combination of circumstances: protectionism between England and France in the aftermath of the Hundred Years' War; the social effects of the Great Schism; and the pronounced impact of the Black Plague on central and northern Europe. The region therefore stood ready to satisfy otherwise unmet Continental demand, which stimulated a primitive form of mass production. Innovations in the hydraulic press sped up aspects of the wool, ceramic, soap, leather, wine, book, paper, dye, sugar, jewelry, gold, and silver businesses. The increased pace of manufacturing drove road and bridge improvements, while modernized, expanded transit networks led in turn to larger and more widely attended trade fairs. The critical role of fairs in Castile's economic growth — large meetings of producers, wholesalers, transporters, warehousers, and consumers — cannot be overstated, serving as they did the critical functions of promoting specialization and differentiation as well as fostering price competition.[1] This, in addition to the concomitant expansion of money, capital, and commodity markets, established an environment in which the most efficient, responsive, and agile firms grew to overtake and subsume inferior competitors. There was an additional effect brought about by rapidly expanding markets: merchants managing to profitably provide goods and services to consumers at competitive prices became successful, and with success came upward mobility. Wealth and respect propelled many to positions of social prominence, and toward the end of the 15th century the savviest businessmen — accompanied by the values and ingenuity that had guided them in building successful enterprises — began to displace appointed nobles and dominate knightly associations throughout Castile.[2] In the communities they influenced, nascent features of a society based more upon contract and trade than upon royal appointment and status began to emerge. The Castilian monarchy, meanwhile, faced rising costs associated with garrisoning troops in both Granada and Navarre in addition to those of upholding their sumptuous lifestyles — which included a coterie of influential, if controversial, Flemish courtiers and advisors. Consequently, the Crown aggressively expanded its extractive capacity. By 1504, when Isabella I was succeeded by Joanna the Mad, taxes had increased almost 350 percent in two and a half decades.[3] Notes [1] Stephen Haliczer, The Comuneros of Castile (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1981), p. 16. [2] Ibid., pp. 26–27. [3] Ibid., p. 53.
The Castilian region of Spain experienced an economic boom in the latter half of the 15th century owing to a combination of circumstances: protectionism between England and France in the aftermath of the Hundred Years' War; the social effects of the Great Schism; and the pronounced impact of the Black Plague on central and northern Europe. The region therefore stood ready to satisfy otherwise unmet Continental demand, which stimulated a primitive form of mass production. Innovations in the hydraulic press sped up aspects of the wool, ceramic, soap, leather, wine, book, paper, dye, sugar, jewelry, gold, and silver businesses.
The increased pace of manufacturing drove road and bridge improvements, while modernized, expanded transit networks led in turn to larger and more widely attended trade fairs. The critical role of fairs in Castile's economic growth — large meetings of producers, wholesalers, transporters, warehousers, and consumers — cannot be overstated, serving as they did the critical functions of promoting specialization and differentiation as well as fostering price competition.[1] This, in addition to the concomitant expansion of money, capital, and commodity markets, established an environment in which the most efficient, responsive, and agile firms grew to overtake and subsume inferior competitors.
There was an additional effect brought about by rapidly expanding markets: merchants managing to profitably provide goods and services to consumers at competitive prices became successful, and with success came upward mobility. Wealth and respect propelled many to positions of social prominence, and toward the end of the 15th century the savviest businessmen — accompanied by the values and ingenuity that had guided them in building successful enterprises — began to displace appointed nobles and dominate knightly associations throughout Castile.[2] In the communities they influenced, nascent features of a society based more upon contract and trade than upon royal appointment and status began to emerge.
The Castilian monarchy, meanwhile, faced rising costs associated with garrisoning troops in both Granada and Navarre in addition to those of upholding their sumptuous lifestyles — which included a coterie of influential, if controversial, Flemish courtiers and advisors. Consequently, the Crown aggressively expanded its extractive capacity. By 1504, when Isabella I was succeeded by Joanna the Mad, taxes had increased almost 350 percent in two and a half decades.[3]
[1] Stephen Haliczer, The Comuneros of Castile (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1981), p. 16.
[2] Ibid., pp. 26–27.
[3] Ibid., p. 53.
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I haven't read the entire article, but the excerpt might make the situation sound better than it actually was. Although, note the very last sentence which gives you an idea of the level of extraction perpetrated by the Spanish crown. It makes sense that there was an increase in mercantile activity "thanks" to the Black Plague, but the fact of the matter is that most of Spain was a feudal and guild society. The loaded terms used like "exploded" give an image that might embellish reality (mercantile activity also "exploded" in North Korea for a few years in the past decade). Most people in Spain, at the time, were as poor as any other European society's.
Smiling Dave, I was searching about, then I found the article quoted.
Ah OK. I'm used to wiseacres who don't acknowledge that I know everything better than them.
Welcome to the forum, btw.