ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Germanias revolt 1519-1523

Synopsis
This long and violent revolt took place in the crown of Aragon, first in Valencia and later in Mallorca, and was led by the artisan guilds or brotherhoods (named “germanias” in Castilian and “germanies” in Catalan). After the death of Ferdinand the Catholic in 1516, a period of instability began in the crown of Aragon. The absence of his successor, Charles V, who was crowned emperor of the Holy Roman empire in 1519, together with a series of economic imbalances and subsistence crises, gave rise to an urban protest movement led by the guilds, which demanded greater participation in city government and the implementation of measures to favour local production. The revolt began in Valencia in 1519, when the Junta de los Trece, a body representing the city's guilds aside from the royal authority, was created. It would soon become radicalized and reach the countryside, turning into an anti-seigneurial insurrection, led by peasants, and with a marked anti-Mudejar character. Meanwile, another similar Germanías revolt broke out in the kingdom of Mallorca in 1521. However, unlike the Valencian example, in Mallorca the rebels did not persecute the Mudejars, but rather tried to integrate them into their ranks. The Germanías revolts were defeated by the royal armies between 1522 and 1523. After the defeat, dozens of “agermanats” (the revolt’s partisans) were executed and mass confiscations took place. The Germanias revolt in Aragon was parallel to the revolt of the Comuneros in Castile (1520-1522).
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 3,4 years. Name in sources: Revuelta de las Germanías. Location: Valencia and Mallorca (Crown of Aragon) Country (current): Spain. Monarchy: Spanish. Main participants: Artisans, Local elites, Peasants. Number of participants: >500. Main reasons & motivations: Anti-seigneurial, Fiscal, Political. Leadership: Mallorca: Joan Crespí, Joanot Gual, Joanot Colom, Joan Casesnoves; Valencia: Joan Castellví ‘Guillem Sorolla’, Joan Llorenç, Joan Caro, Vicent Peris, El Encubierto.. Relevance: high.

Further reading
DURAN, Eulàlia (1982). Les Germanies als Països Catalans. Barcelona: Curial. GARCÍA CÁRCEL, Ricardo (1981). Las Germanías de Valencia. Barcelona: Edicions 62. PERELLÓ, Maria Margalida (2021). La Germania mallorquina. Un estat de la qüestió. Palma: Lleonard Muntaner.
Cite this entry

(2023) "Germanias revolt 1519-1523", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. (accessed on ).