Kingdoms of Castile and Navarre 1

Abstract

The kingdoms of Castile and Navarre developed their medieval tax systems under different models. In Castile, the kings expanded their taxation to the entire kingdom early in order to finance their military activity within the framework of the gradual construction of a strong royal power. At the end of the fourteenth century, the ordinary collection of many of the taxes that rise between 1250 and 1350, or inherited from the Andalusian tradition, was consolidated, especially those that taxed consumption and foreign trade. At the same time, the towns deepened their fiscal autonomy since the thirteenth century and were integrated into the architecture of the monarchy, collaborating in the collection of the extraordinary subsidies granted to the kings by the Cortes. In this way, towards the year 1400 in Castile, decisive steps had been taken in the construction of a strong fiscal state. On the contrary, in Navarre the tax system developed later. To the patrimonial bases of the royalty, new indirect and direct tributes were added since 1350, the concession of which the kings always had to agree with the political forces of the kingdom. In the same way, municipal fiscal autonomy was very limited in Navarre and only developed from the end of the fifteenth century.