Germania (guild)
Encyclopedia
were guilds of artisans in the Kingdom of Valencia
Kingdom of Valencia
The Kingdom of Valencia , located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. When the Crown of Aragon merged by dynastic union with the Crown of Castile to form the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Valencia became a component realm of the...

 in Spain
History of Spain
The history of Spain involves all the other peoples and nations within the Iberian peninsula formerly known as Hispania, and includes still today the nations of Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain...

. Each germania represented a single trade. The germanies are similar to the (also "brotherhoods", but in Castilian Spanish
Castilian Spanish
Castilian Spanish is a term related to the Spanish language, but its exact meaning can vary even in that language. In English Castilian Spanish usually refers to the variety of European Spanish spoken in north and central Spain or as the language standard for radio and TV speakers...

) of Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...

, which were paramilitary law-enforcement militias. Similar to the hermandades, the Germanies at times took up arms to defend Valencia against raids from the Barbary pirates, but this privilege was revoked and the Germanies suppressed after they revolted against the royal government of King Charles I of Spain
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

.

Revolt

The germanies began to take power in Valencia in 1519 after an outbreak of the plague, and the situation degenerated to open warfare between the Germanies and the Crown by 1520. The previous king, Ferdinand of Aragon
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...

, had granted permission for the Germanies to take up arms shortly before his death, but the Valencian nobles had mostly quashed this possibility, fearing the Germanies would gain political power if they could back their demands with force. King Charles I
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

, however, issued an edict legalizing the Germanies to take up arms in 1519, which allowed the Germanies to strike back at the royal government after the new Viceroy of Valencia refused to seat elected representatives friendly to the Germanies.

The Germanies were defeated after a year of warfare and another year of guerrilla raids from the countryside. Their leaders were executed as traitors and the Germanies were banned.
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