La financiación de las guardas reales de la Corona de Castilla durante el reinado de Felipe el Hermoso: ¿una reforma fallida?

Abstract

The payment of the guardas reales, the main Castilian army corps at the end of the Middle Ages, relied on the credit provided by some fi-nanciers, the obligados, that advanced the sums recovering them on the ordinary revenues. No matter its alleged stability, this system underwent several changes and problems. The asiento of 1505 is a clear example, as tax collection difficul-ties during the year prevented the obligados to complete their instalments. Such situation was only solved after the arrival to Castile in 1506 of Philip the Fair, that negotiated and important loan with fray Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros to pay the amounts owed during the previous year. At the same time, the king fostered great changes, partially provoked by the fiscal situation, in the future financing of the guardas reales, thus culminating a reform that his early death stopped from going on.

Keywords

• castile
• royal treasury
• public expenditure
• public debt
• short term credit
• guardas reales
• obligados a guardas reales