The Soldier, the Bureaucrat, and Fiscal Records in the Army of Ferdinand and Isabella
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2824354 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Paul Stewart (0000-0001-8902-1497, corresponding author), Paul M Stewart (0000-0002-1749-9640, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1969 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 281 |
| Publication date | 1969-05-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Hispanic American Historical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-2168 • E-ISSN: 1527-1900 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2510822 |
| OpenAlex | W4248714450, W2328671867 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
HE SHREWDEST of Renaissance observers recognized that Ferdinand the Catholic could achieve his ambitious military and diplomatic goals only by carefully husbanding his resources-here lay the explanation of his proverbial parsimony.' In this royal economy the value of fiscal records seems obvious. Their role in the army's growth from feudal horde to something like a department of state may be less obvious, but it is only a little less important. Because the great commanders, the heart and backbone of the Spanish armies, retained a much freer attitude about money than the king, they resented having to keep records and developed animosity against the bureaucrats who required the records. Two conceptions of government strove with each other-one essentially personal with a medieval indifference to fiscal matters, the other essentially anonymous and rooted in a concern about finances. Ferdinand himself was always torn between the two positions. He sponsored the records and supported the bureaucracy as necessary to his immediate ends. But he apparently never recognized their full potential, and he reverted to traditional practices when it seemed useful. Yet almost as if by plan the very process of keeping records shaped the development of the royal army, and the anonymous bureaucracy pointed the way not only for the military commander, but for the monarch himself. Ferdinand and Isabella learned financial prudence early. Having inherited an empty treasury and a disputed succession from Henry TV of Castile, they had to resort to desperate measures during the wars of Castilian succession in 1474-1479.2 The famous Granadan cam
Economics · Fiscal year · Management · Political science · Historical Art and Architecture Studies · Historical Studies in Latin America · Historical Studies on Spain · Law · Medieval and Early Modern Iberia
| Citations per year | 0.43 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1998 - 2020 (23) |
| Highly cited | No |