Crown and Cortes in early modern Aragon: Reassessing revisionisms

Abstract

Summary Among the various assemblies of the Old Regime, the Cortes of Aragon came to be celebrated during the sixteenth century as bulwarks of regional freedoms facing inroads from Spanish Habsburg authoritarianism. Over recent decades, modern historiography has made notable advances in their study. Nonetheless, recent revisionist perspectives on early‐modern parliaments invite new approaches to the Aragonese Cortes. That revisionism has, in turn, also been viewed from a critical standpoint. The aim of this article is to provide a synthesis of the functions of the Cortes; to identify the issues under discussion today; and then to propose a new, more balanced view of their evolution, especially after the dramatic revolt against Philip II in 1591. Events in Aragon will also be considered in the light of recent reinterpretations of the parliamentary history of the neighbouring kingdom of Castile.