Revolt of the Brotherhoods
revolt by Valencian guilds against Spanish government (1519-1523)
The Revolt of the Brotherhoods (Catalan: Revolta de les Germanies, Spanish: Rebelión de las Germanías) was a revolt by artisan guilds (Germanies) against the government of King Charles V in the Kingdom of Valencia, part of the Crown of Aragon. It took place from 1519–1523, with most of the fighting occurring during 1521. The Valencian revolt inspired a related revolt in the island of Majorca, also part of Aragon, which lasted from 1521–1523.
The revolt was an anti-monarchist, anti-feudal autonomist movement inspired by the Italian republics. It also bore a strong anti-Islamic aspect, as rebels rioted against Valencia's peasant Muslim population (also called mudéjars, to contrast with crypto-Muslims or Moriscos in the Crown of Castile, where Islam was outlawed) and imposed forced conversions to Christianity. The agermanats are comparable to the comuneros of neighboring Castile, who fought a similar revolt against Charles from 1520–1522. Both rebellions were partially inspired by the departure for Germany of Charles, the new King of both Castile and Aragon (in a personal union that would form the basis for the Kingdom of Spain), to take the throne as Holy Roman Emperor and leaving behind a somewhat disreputable Royal Council and regent.
Origins
Economic troubles and pirate raids
Valencia was dealing with a variety of problems in the early 16th century. In King Ferdinand II's later years as ruler, the government slowly decayed and became more corrupt. The economy in Aragon was not as vibrant as in Andalusia, as it was more based on agriculture and less on the lucrative maritime trade.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Revolt of the Brotherhoods” as revolt by Valencian guilds against Spanish government (1519-1523). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as revolt by Valencian guilds against Spanish government (1519-1523). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3098752. The Library of Congress control number is sh85141825. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1519, 1523, 1521 and 1520.
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This entry incorporates text from “Revolt of the Brotherhoods” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.