ABSTRACT
Over the last third of the fifteenth century and the early years of the sixteenth, the kingdoms of the Iberian peninsula experienced major internal transformations, while at the same time emerging to take on a central role on the international stage and as pioneering powers in the age of discovery. During the fifteenth century, each one of the Christian Iberian kingdoms pursued its own course in domestic affairs, while at the same time maintaining close relations with the others through dynastic, economic, and cultural exchanges. Dynastic politics was a favoured instrument of the different peninsular kingdoms: Portugal, Castile, the Crown of Aragon and Navarre. In the space of scarcely more than a single generation much had changed in the Iberian world. While in its outward aspect this world was also Flemish, Asian, and Atlantic, inwardly it had undergone significant changes in the practices of government.
