Clerical Opposition in Habsburg Castile

Abstract

Church–State relations in early modern Europe were often turbulent. Princes and clergy regularly clashed over ecclesiastical appointments, jurisdiction and finances. Such conflicts were common in both Protestant and Catholic principalities. Yet, for many historians, Habsburg Castile is still the Catholic Monarchy, and any conflict between Church and State there is seen as an aberration. This article argues that clerical opposition in Castile was not unusual, and it calls into question the conventional views that the Castilian Church had a monolithic structure and was subservient to the Crown. The article focuses primarily on clerical resistance to taxation and examines the methods used by the clergy to curtail royal demands, such as the cesación a divinis, appeals to the king and the pope, and preaching against the Crown.