Relationship With Rulers
The hermandad have had an inconsistent relationship with the ruling powers of Spain. They were sometimes used to undermine the authority of the king or his officials, and sometimes used to enforce it. While under the reign of Isabella I of Castile they were used to consolidate her authority and silence those who objected to her reign, even against her ordinances for them not to do so. Early in their formation, they tended to be temporary and to work in favor of royal authority in times of unrest. The king also took only a very minor role in the formation and regulation of the league.
Under the reign of King Alfonso in 1298 the hermandad were used against the king because some of the towns felt that he had been abusing his power. This contrasts with the way the Hermandad sought to
guard the sovereignty and service of the king and all the rights he ought to have and to guard our bodies and all that we have … and we will live in peace and quiet so that when our king comes of age he will find the land well ordered and richer and better settled for his service.When the country was operating under a regency the hermandad, in cooperation with one of the towns, wanted to keep the town in the best condition possible in order to better serve the future king’s needs. Under the rule of Isabella, the hermandad were used to strengthen centralized power, and were given much more power and legitimacy in order to do so. Some of the proof for this is in the changes in the balances of power between the hermandad and the Cortes and the Corregidor. At one point, the corregidores began to lose the respect of the people because they were unable to do anything about the outrages and abuses of power on the part of the hermandad. The corregidores were able to hold posts within the Holy Brotherhood, but their power was limited as was their power to control the Brotherhood from the outside. After the hermandad had been made official by Isabella and Ferdinand, creating the Santa Hermandad (also called the Holy Brotherhood), the hermandad gained a great deal of power. By 1476, the administration of the “soon-to-be-kingdomwide league was incorporated into Isabella’s government as the Holy Brotherhood”. Lunenfeld argues that the hermandad incorporated very tightly into the government to create a higher degree of centralization.
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