Irmandiño
Encyclopedia
The Irmandiño Wars were two revolts that took place in 15th-century Kingdom of Galicia
Kingdom of Galicia
The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Founded by Suebic king Hermeric in the year 409, the Galician capital was established in Braga, being the first kingdom which...

 against attempts by the regional nobility to maintain their rights over the peasantry and the bourgeoisie. The revolts were also part of the larger phenomenon of popular revolts in late medieval Europe
Popular revolt in late medieval Europe
Popular revolts in late medieval Europe were uprisings and rebellions by peasants in the countryside, or the bourgeois in towns, against nobles, abbots and kings during the upheavals of the 14th through early 16th centuries, part of a larger "Crisis of the Late Middle Ages"...

 caused by the general economic and demographic crises
Crisis of the Late Middle Ages
The Crisis of the Late Middle Ages refers to a series of events in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that brought centuries of European prosperity and growth to a halt...

 in Europe during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Similar rebellions broke out in the Iberian Kingdoms, including the War of the Remences
Remença
Remença was a Catalan mode of serfdom. Those who were serfs under this mode are properlypagesos de remença ; they are often referred to simply as remences .The Rebellion of the Remences or War of the Remences was a popular revolt in late medieval Europe against...

 in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

 and the foráneo revolts in the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...

.

Despite being joined to the Crown 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...

, with the dynastic union of the Kingdoms of León
Kingdom of León
The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...

 and Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...

 in 1037, the Kingdom of Galicia
Kingdom of Galicia
The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Founded by Suebic king Hermeric in the year 409, the Galician capital was established in Braga, being the first kingdom which...

 maintained unique features, characterized by an economy which depended heavily on agriculture and a society marked by enormous feudal power, concentrated on both secular and ecclesiastical lords. In addition, Galicia was isolated from the rest of the kingdom due to its mountainous territory and geographical location, a situation which was reinforced politically by the Galician nobility. These lords—the Osorios in Monforte de Lemos
Monforte de Lemos
Monforte de Lemos is a city and municipality in northwestern Spain, in the province of Lugo, Galicia. It covers an area of 200 km² and lies 62 km from Lugo. As of 2005 it had a population of 19,472. It is located in a valley between the shores of Sil River and Miño River, in the area...

 and Sarria
Sarria
Sarria is a municipality in the province of Lugo, northwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Sarria is the most densely populate town on the French Way in Galicia, with 13 700 inhabitants...

, the Andrade in Pontedeume
Pontedeume
Pontedeume is a municipality in the province of A Coruña, Galicia, north-western Spain.- Industry :Farming and services are the main economic activities, though from the late 1950s and particularly from the mid 1970s Pontedeume has developed into a coastal resort.- Parishes :Pontedeume is divided...

, the Moscosos in Vimianzo
Vimianzo
Vimianzo is a municipality of Spain in the Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia....

, among others—held excessive power, with which they abused the general rural population. This resentment triggered two uprisings: the Irmandade Fusquenlla (the Fusquenlla Brotherhood) from 1431 to 1435 and the Grande Guerra Irmandiña ("Great Brotherhood War") from 1467 to 1469. (The term irmandade here should not be confused for the similarly named hermandad
Hermandad
Hermandad, literally "brotherhood" in Spanish, was a peacekeeping association of armed individuals, which became characteristic of municipal life in medieval Spain, especially in Castile....

es
, which were a constabulary
Constabulary
Constabulary may have several definitions.*A civil, non-paramilitary force consisting of police officers called constables. This is the usual definition in Britain, in which all county police forces once bore the title...

.) Although ultimately unsuccessful, they lay the groundwork for the incorporation of Galicia into the direct administrative control of the Spanish crown, which was beginning to be created by the Catholic Monarchs
Catholic Monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile; they were given a papal dispensation to deal with...

.

The Irmandade Fusquenlla

The Irmandade Fusquenlla was formed in 1431 on the estates of the lords of Andrade due to the harsh treatment of Nuno Freire de Andrade, "the Bad." The revolt broke out in Pontedeume and Betanzos
Betanzos
Betanzos is a municipality in Galicia, Spain, in the Province of A Coruña. In Roman times Betanzos was called Carunium or Brigantium. During the Medieval period the settlement was known as Carunio....

, and spread to the bishoprics of Lugo
Lugo
Lugo is a city in northwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Galicia. It is the capital of the province of Lugo. The municipality had a population of 97,635 in 2010, which makes is the fourth most populated city in Galicia.-Population:...

, Mondoñedo
Mondoñedo
Mondoñedo is a small town and municipality in the Galician province of Lugo, Spain. , the town has a population of 4,508. Mondoñedo occupies a sheltered valley among the northern outliers of the Cantabrian Mountains.-History:...

 and Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...

. The revolt was led by a hidalgo
Hidalgo (Spanish nobility)
A hidalgo or fidalgo is a member of the Spanish and Portuguese nobility. In popular usage it has come to mean the non-titled nobility. Hidalgos were exempt from paying taxes, but did not necessarily own real property...

 of low status, Roi Xordo, of A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...

, who died in the reprisals after the revolt was suppressed in 1435.

The Great War

The Great Irmandiño War broke out in 1467, but the formation of a "general brotherhood" (irmandade xeral) was begun a few years earlier by Alonso de Lanzós with the backing of Henry IV
Henry IV of Castile
Henry IV , King of the Crown of Castile, nicknamed the Impotent , was the last of the weak late medieval kings of Castile...

 and various municipal councils
Cabildo (council)
For a discussion of the contemporary Spanish and Latin American cabildo, see Ayuntamiento.A cabildo or ayuntamiento was a former Spanish, colonial administrative council that governed a municipality. Cabildos were sometimes appointed, sometimes elected, but were considered to be representative of...

 of A Coruña, Betanzos, Ferrol and Lugo. During the war, the municipal councils became primary actors, giving the conflict the characteristics of a true civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....

, rather than just a revolt, as had occurred three decades earlier.

Several years of bad crops and plagues provoked the popular revolt. According to the testimony of trials after the revolt, the Irmandiños counted with 80,000 troops. Several social classes participated in the organization and direction of the rebellion: peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...

s, city-dwellers, the lower nobility, and even some members of the clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....

 (some in the church hierarchy financially supported the Irmandiños). The heads of the revolt were made up of hidalgos. Pedro de Osório led the armies in the center of Galicia, especially in the Compostela region. Alonso de Lanzós directed the war in the north of Galicia, and Diego de Lemos in the southern part of the Province of Lugo
Lugo (province)
Lugo is a province of northwestern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Ourense, Pontevedra, and A Coruña, the principality of Asturias, the State of León, and in the north by the Cantabrian Sea .The population is 356,595 , of...

 and the north of the Province of Ourense
Ourense (province)
Ourense is a province of northwestern Spain, in the southeastern part of the Autonomous Community of Galicia. It is bordered by the provinces of Pontevedra in the west, Lugo in the north, León and Zamora in the east, and by Portugal in the south. With an area of 7,278 square km it is the only...

. The presence of an "avenging and anti-lord mentality" in medieval Galicia, which portrayed the great lords as "evil-doers," made the Irmandiño Wars possible.

Opposed to the Irmandiños were the nobles, who had castles and forts, and the heads of the principal churches and monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

. The Irmandiños destroyed around 130 castles and forts during the two years of war. The Lemos, Andrade and Moscoso families were the main targets of the rebels, yet the rebels spared the ecclesiastical authorities. At the start of the war, the nobility fled to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 or Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...

, but in 1469 Pedro Madruga
Pedro Madruga
Pedro Álvarez de Soutomaior, popularly known as Pedro Madruga , was one of the most notable figures of Medieval Galicia and an example of the typical European feudal knight....

 began a counter-campaign from Portugal with the backing of other nobles, the kings of Castile and Portugal and the armed forces of the archbishop of Santiago de Compostela. The nobles' army, which had better equipment, such as the latest arquebus
Arquebus
The arquebus , or "hook tube", is an early muzzle-loaded firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries. The word was originally modeled on the German hakenbüchse; this produced haquebute...

es, took advantage of divisions within the Irmandiño movement and defeated them. The leaders of the rebellion were arrested and executed.

Aftermath

The Irmandiño wars prepared the way for the centralization efforts of the Catholic Monarchs
Catholic Monarchs
The Catholic Monarchs is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being both descended from John I of Castile; they were given a papal dispensation to deal with...

 a two decades later. They appointed a Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

-Captain General
Captaincy
A captaincy is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. Each was governed by a captain general.-In the Portuguese Empire:...

 and created an audiencia for Kingdom of Galicia to remove the dispensing of justice from the local lords and place it under the auspices of the Crown. They also ordered that none of the castles destroyed by the Irmandiños be rebuilt, and had the Galician monasteries placed under the authority of their respective Castilian orders
Roman Catholic religious order
Catholic religious orders are, historically, a category of Catholic religious institutes.Subcategories are canons regular ; monastics ; mendicants Catholic religious orders are, historically, a category of Catholic religious institutes.Subcategories are canons regular (canons and canonesses regular...

. The Catholic Monarchs also eliminated or neutralized the powerful lords. In particular it is possible that Pedro Madruga—who remained grateful to the king of Portugal and, therefore, supported Joanna La Beltraneja in her efforts to gain the crown of Castile against Isabella
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...

—was murdered by them in 1486. (The other possibility, depending on the chronicle, is that he died of carbuncle
Carbuncle
A carbuncle is an abscess larger than a boil, usually with one or more openings draining pus onto the skin. It is usually caused by bacterial infection, most commonly Staphylococcus aureus. The infection is contagious and may spread to other areas of the body or other people...

s.) Another powerful lord, Pero Pardo de Cela, was executed and his lands incorporated into the royal domain. Finally, Ferdinand and Isabella extended the authority of the Santa Hermandad to Galicia and abolished any remnants of serfdom
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...

 in the region in 1480.

Current commemoration

Every year a large-scale, role-playing event, "Irmandiños A Revolta," is financed by the Xunta de Galicia
Xunta de Galicia
The Xunta de Galicia is the collective decision-making body of the government of the autonomous community of Galicia, composed of the President, the Vice-President and the specialized ministers ....

 to promote historical reenactment
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational activity in which participants attempt torecreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...

. In past years up to 800 people have participated, making it the largest role-playing event in the world.
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