Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cortes
As its name implies, this Iberian legislative
institution derives from courts that exer-
cised judicial functions under the authority
of the crown in all of the Iberian kingdoms,
including Portugal. In some of the Spanish
realms an assembly known as the
cortes
existed as far back as the early 13th cen-
tury. Originating as gatherings of noblemen
whose purpose it was to advise and support
the king's policies, or to restrain his
excesses, these bodies eventually expanded
to include representatives of the common
people. The latter were seen as the tax base
and source of rank-and-file manpower
upon which all royal power ultimately
rested. As this representation was usually
provided by delegates selected by town
councils and urban elites, they were demo-
cratic only in a limited sense. By the middle
of the 14th century most of the Iberian
cor-
tes
contained these representatives of the
“communes.” There was also usually a
house of the clergy, and some kingdoms
had an additional
brazo
(arm) in which the
lower nobility, or “gentlemen,” sat sepa-
rately from the
ricos hombres
(rich men) of
the upper nobility. With the consolidations
carried out during the later medieval
period, the
cortes
were reduced to those of
Portugal, C
ASTILE
, and the lands of the
crown of A
RAGON
, although separate, sub-
ordinate
cortes
in V
ALENCIA
, C
ATALONIA
, and
Aragon proper survived through the 16th
century. N
AVARRE
, too, preserved nominal
cortes
of its own, meeting occasionally until
the mid-19th century.
For all practical purposes the history of
the Iberian
cortes
followed a parallel course
with that of France, on a rising arc during
the Middle Ages when the Crown needed
support for its growing ambitions, then on a
but could not climb more than a third of
the way down. These were the first Europe-
ans to reach this great terrain feature of
North America, and their reports would
astound the Old World.
Coronado's main force had marched
directly to the designated location of Cíbola
only to discover that it was no more than
a collection of poverty-stricken Indian vil-
lages. Cursing the deceitful friar they
trekked wearily back to the banks of the
Rio Grande where they remained until
1541. The following spring Coronado led a
part of his cavalry into what is now east-
ern Kansas pursuing yet another tale of
rich Indian settlements at a place called
Quivira. This, too, proved to be nothing
more than an overgrown village. Mortified
and depressed, Coronado led his men back
into Mexico where he was received with
chagrin and hostility by the viceregal
administrators. Although he was allowed
to resume his governorship of New
Granada for a time, he was soon made the
object of political persecution, accused of
mismanagement, and even sentenced to
house confinement. Eventually released,
he lived quietly, receiving only minor
assignments until his death.
By the standards of high expectations
set for conquistadores Coronado was a
failure. Yet his expedition opened up
whole new areas of western North Amer-
ica, including much of N
EW
M
EXICO
, and
provided valuable information about what
would later be the states of A
RIZONA
and
Kansas, the course of the Colorado River,
and the astounding dimensions of the
Grand Canyon. If not rich in material
gains, his enterprise enriched the Spanish
fund of information about the perimeters
of the empire.
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