When we think of the figure of the ‘first king of Spain‘, it is easy to fall into the temptation of looking for a single name that represents the birth of the Spanish monarchy, but reality is much more complex. The idea of ​​a unified Spain is relatively modern, and before its consolidation, The Iberian Peninsula was an amalgamation of kingdomscultures and territories in constant evolution.
The use of the term ‘kings of Spain’ arises informally with the Catholic Kings and became popular among the monarchs of the House of Austria. However, this term It had no political or legal valuesince it referred only to the geographical notion inherited from Roman Hispania.
The Visigoth kings
One of the most prominent monarchs of the Iberian Peninsula was Suintilawho ruled between 621 and 631 AD. Suintila managed expel the Byzantines from the south of the peninsulaconsolidating Visigothic rule over Hispania. Despite this achievement, the Visigoth kingdom did not survive long, as it was defeated by the Muslims in 711 during the invasion of Al-Andalus.
Pelayo and the Christian resistance
After the Muslim invasion, the Iberian Peninsula was divided between the territories controlled by the Muslims and the small Christian kingdoms that resisted in the north. In this geopolitical context, the figure of Pelayo emerges, a nobleman who became the first monarch of the kingdom of Asturias in the 8th century and whose legend considers him the founder of the Reconquista which marked the beginning of the slow but constant recovery of Christian territory on the peninsula.
The Catholic Monarchs and unification
However, the true unification of the peninsula’s territories under a single monarchy did not occur until the marriage union of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon in 1469. Although Isabella and Ferdinand maintained the legal and political systems of their respective kingdoms, their alliance laid the foundation for a unified Spain. Under his command, the Reconquista was completed with the conquest of Grenade in 1492, the last Muslim stronghold on the peninsula.
The Catholic Monarchs are often considered the first monarchs of Spainsince his reign marked the beginning of a common political identity. However, the total integration of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon It was not achieved until much later, after the war of succession, with the arrival of the Bourbon dynasty. in the 18th century. That’s when the Kingdom of Spain was foundeda political and legal order that involved the elimination of Catalan-Aragonese institutions, the imposition of Spanish in all relevant areas and the centralization of power in Madrid.
For more information, you can consult the work ‘The monarchy of Spain. The origins’, by Luis AgustÃn GarcÃa Morenoawarded at the XXVI National University Publishing Awards, and which is accessible in its entirety from the Digital Legal Library, the publishing house of the BOE, by clicking here.
