The War of the Communities of Castile, or the Revolt of the Comuneros, took place during the reign of Charles I, between 1520 and 1522. It was an armed uprising led by the so-called “comuneros” from the inland cities of Castile, with Toledo and Valladolid at the head of the uprising. This uprising has been interpreted in different ways, as an anti-seigneurial revolt, as one of the first bourgeois revolutions, or even as an anti-fiscal movement. It was motivated by the political instability present in the Crown of Castile from the beginning of the 16th century. The arrival of Charles I in Castile around 1517, barely knowing how to speak Castilian and bringing with him a large number of Flemish nobles and clerics as his court, provoked misgivings among the Castilian elites, who felt a certain displacement and feared the loss of their power and status. This discontent was transmitted to the popular strata. This was compounded by tax demands that provoked a series of urban revolts. After a year of rebellion, the communist leaders Padilla, Bravo and Maldonado were beheaded in 1521, and the communist army fell into disarray. Toledo maintained its rebellion until 1522. In some territories such as Andalusia, for example, the uprising had little impact, as the cities were dominated by the nobility and remained loyal to the king. Only Jaén, Baeza and Úbeda supported the rebellion until 1521. The image is a photograph of the work by Antonio Gisbert Pérez, “Ejecución de los Comuneros de Castilla” (“Execution of the Comuneros de Castilla”), kept in the Palacio de las Cortes in Madrid, which was photographed by Juan Laurent y Minier in 1871 for the National Exhibition of that year. It depicts the execution of the Comuneros Juan de Padilla, Juan Bravo and Francisco Maldonado on 24 April 1521 at Villalar.
Collection: Images
Project: 3. Rural world and urban world in the formation of the European identity., 6. Under a cloak of terror: violence and armed conflict in Europe.
Chronology: XVI
Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University
Resource type: Image
Format: Albumen on photographic paper. 237 mm x 343 mm.
Source: Museo del Prado (Madrid)
Language: Spanish
Date: 1860
Owner: María del Mar Felices de la Fuente (Modernalia)
Identifier: HF00828/195
Copyright: Museo del Prado (Madrid)
Abstract: Photograph of the work by Antonio Gisbert Pérez, entitled "Execution of the Comuneros de Castilla", depicting the execution of some of the Comuneros in 1521
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Tags
1520-1522Antonio Gisbert PérezCarlos ICastillaComunerosComunidadesEjecucionesGuerrasLevantamientosRevueltasSiglo XVI
