When Charles V (King Charles I of Spain) left Spain for Germany in May 1520, riots had already erupted in some Castilian towns, a physical expression of the anger felt towards the king and his largely foreign court. The first occurred in Toledo, the town that had been given a seventeen-year old Burgundian as Archbishop and which had refused to attend the second Cortes. The violence soon spread to other towns, although its ferocity and targets varied according to local circumstances: in some places the corregidores were harassed, while in Segovia the men who had represented the town in the second Cortes - and who had thus voted for a new servicio - were murdered.
The Creation of a Comunero
The riots provoked further rebellion in Toledo where, in April 1520, royal government was rejected altogether. Family rivalries had been overshadowed by the antipathy towards Charles, and several leading citizens - most prominently Juan de Padilla - seized control of the popular sentiment, ejecting the corregidores and creating a council of elected delegates: a comunidad. Other towns soon followed Toledo's example, reacting against Charles' government by creating their own. As the revolt continued, these governments evolved further, combining local quirks with more radical ideas, increasing in their power and growing in independence. These councils may not have been revolutionary, but they were a widespread break with both royal and aristocratic government; the communes gave their name to the whole rebellion - the Comuneros.
Other Reasons for Revolt
Anger at Charles' mismanagement may have triggered the revolt, but two other key factors also facilitated the comuneros' formation. Urban Castile contained a class of people who were ready to lead, and serve in, the new councils: the lesser nobility, church leaders, the deputies who had visited the Cortes and other charismatic individuals. Whether they wished to serve for personal gain or from a sense of civic responsibility, they were all united in a dislike of outside control, and a desire to regain local power. Equally, the grandees of Castile remained relatively quiet during the rebellion's initial phase, despite the challenge to their power implicit in every council's formation.The aristocracy also had grievances with Charles, particularly his preference for 'foreigners' over themselves, and few of them wished to stop a process that was destabilising the crown, a situation from which they could certainly benefit. One important exception was Burgos, the major wool-trading town in the north, where the Constable of Castile - one of the country's leading nobles - became leader of the town's comunero. Additionally, the grandees were far from unified, and the situation wasn't yet serious enough to unite them in opposition.
The Santa Junta
In the June of 1520 Toldeo went a step further, summoning all the Cortes towns together. Although only four attended the first meeting, this gathering nevertheless declared itself the 'Santa Junta de Comunidad' or 'Santa Junta' (Holy League) in early August. The original four towns were Toledo, Salamanca, Segovia and Toro. Support for the Junta was accidentally increased by the crown in late August: Charles' regent, Adrian of Utrecht, acted to halt the growing rebellion by sending an army to attack, and punish, Segovia for killing one of their Cortes deputies. Segovia appealed to Toledo for help, and the town sent an army under Juan Padilla.
The Burning of Medina
Adrian's army reacted accordingly, sending a detachment to seize the artillery of Medina del Campo and keep it safe from the rebels. However, Medina resisted, and during the ensuring conflict royal forces started a massive blaze, gutting large areas of the town; historians are unsure whether the fire was started deliberately or accidentally. This disaster shattered the crown's remaining authority, and previously neutral or disinterested towns now sent representatives to the Junta; meanwhile, Adrian had been forced to disband his army.By September 1520 the Junta had grown to include thirteen towns - well over half of the Cortes - and they had raised an army of urban militia. Although it's unclear whether these towns deliberately sought to recreate the Council of the Holy Brotherhood, or precisely how large a role the memory of this group played, the Santa Junta represents a significant escalation in the rebellion. The communes challenged royal authority - and also that of the aristocracy - at a largely local level, but the League was a nationwide union that could act on a far grander scale.
