Cortes of Spain

The Cortes of Spain appears in the account of Spain’s political transition as an institution stripped of independent constitutional power: by the time the sovereign had been made absolute, its only remaining function was to grant money at the King’s dictation.

Position in the Political Order

The Cortes is placed within a broader account of political change under the policy of Ferdinand and Ximenez. The sovereign’s authority had been made absolute, while the Church and Inquisition were adjusted to sustain that arrangement. The nobles, formerly opponents of absolutism as well as fighters against the Moors, had been deprived of political power; the cities had suffered a similar loss, and the free constitutions of Castile and Aragon had been swept away.

Remaining Function

Against this background, the Cortes retained a narrowly defined role: granting money when directed by the King. The account presents this not as an independent power to shape policy, but as the sole function left to the institution after the removal of its former constitutional setting. It gives no further detail about its composition or procedures.

Historical Significance

The Cortes’s diminished role serves as one measure of the political transformation described in the passage. Spain had moved from an older order in which nobles and cities resisted royal absolutism to one in which the King dictated the terms on which the Cortes granted funds. The institution’s surviving task thus illustrates how little political agency remained outside the sovereign’s authority.