Castile

a feudal state in the center of the Iberian Peninsula from the 11th through the 15th century. In 932, Castile became a county in the kingdom of Leon. In 1035 it was declared a kingdom, with Burgos as its capital. In subsequent years Castile was united with Leon several times (1037–65, 1072–1157, and 1230). After its reunification with Leon in 1230, Castile became the most powerful state of the Iberian Peninsula. The capital of the united kingdom was the city of Toledo.

Castile played a leading role in the Reconquista and extendedits territory to the southern coast of the peninsula during the waragainst the Arabs (conquest of Cádiz in 1262). Castile’s victorieswere consolidated by the large-scale population movement fromthe north to the south in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. Inorder to induce the peasants to participate in the Reconquista, rural communities were granted the rights of the behetría (freecommunes). The serfs’ personal freedom and right to changefeudal lords was recognized almost universally. The rights andliberties of urban and rural communities were stipulated in fue-ros, or charters. In the mid-13th century, townsmen were repre-sented in the cortes. The attempts of the feudal lords to bind thepeasantry to the land led to several peasant uprisings during the15th century. The dynastic union of Castile and Aragón in 1479marked the beginning of the unification of Spain into a singlestate.