Date of Award
Spring 4-20-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
History
First Advisor
Alex Novikoff
Second Advisor
Nurten Kilic-Schubel
Abstract
In 1369, the last of the Ivrean kings, Pedro I, died at the hands of his half-brother Enrique II Trastámara at the Battle of Montiel. Pedro’s death marked the end of the House of Ivrea, and Enrique’s ascension in many ways ushered in a new era of monarchy, where the nobility exerted unprecedent influence over a weakened crown and the Jews and Muslims of the kingdom became the victims of increasing hostility and persecution from their Christian counterparts. This study will explore how the changes triggered by the end of the era of rapid expansion in the mid-thirteenth century escalated tensions between the crown, nobility, Jews and Muslims of the kingdom, and how Enrique II’s exploitation of these tensions during his rebellion against Pedro I ultimately undermined the very institution he was fighting to become a part of. Using primarily legal and architectural sources, this study elucidates how the crown’s attempts to expand its power while undermining the growing influence of the aristocracy engendered hostility between the kingdom’s different factions that ultimately resulted in Enrique’s triumph against Pedro in Montiel.
Recommended Citation
Alcaide, Kayla, "“The King of Jews”: Escalating Tensions Among the Crown, Nobility, Jews and Muslims in Fourteenth Century Castile" (2020). Honors Theses. 240.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/honorstheses/240
Rights Statement
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