Prince or Princess of Asturias () is the main substantive title used by the heir apparent, or heir presumptive to the Spanish Crown.Coronas González 2001, p. 49.
According to the Spanish Constitution of 1978:
The title originated in 1388, when King John I of Castile granted the dignitywhich included jurisdiction over the territory of AsturiasSuárez González 2000, p. 395. – to his first-born son Henry. In an attempt to end the dynastic struggle between the heirs of Kings Peter I and Henry II of Castile, the principality was chosen as the highest jurisdictional lordship the King could grant that had not yet been granted to anyone.Suárez González 2000, p. 394. The custom of granting unique titles to royal heirs had already been in use in the Crown of Aragon (Prince of Girona) and the kingdoms of England (Prince of Wales), and France (Dauphin of Viennois).Coronas González 2001, p. 53. The title, therefore, had two purposes: to serve as a generic title to name the heir apparent or heir presumptive, and as a specific title to apply to the prince who was first in the line of succession when the King transmitted to him the territory of the principality, with its government and its income.
After the formation of the dynastic union between the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon under the Catholic Monarchs, the title was favoured by the Spanish King, who by custom applied it in the same way, i.e. to his heir apparent. For generations the kingdom's crown prince accumulated the titles "Prince of Asturias, Girona, Spain and the New World", modifying those of the earlier regnant Habsburgs: "Prince of these Kingdoms, Prince of the Spains and the New World" (Príncipe de estos Reynos, príncipe de las Españas y del Nuevo Mundo).Coronas González 2001, pp. 61–62.
When the Bourbons acceded to the Spanish throne in 1705, the title was retained following the decisive help of Castile to the house in the War of the Spanish Succession.Coronas González 2001, p. 64. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Spanish Constitution of 1812 (European year of revolutions) with consent of its counterparties ascribed the title to the heir of the Crown. The Constitutions within the following decades temporarily removed the synonymy between the title and position as heir to the Crown;Coronas González 2001, pp. 67–68. before being reinstated and recited in the second half of the 19th century, first half of the 20th century, and on the restoration of the monarchy (under parliamentary predominance) in 1978.Coronas González 2001, p. 69.Coronas González 2001, p. 73.
History
The jurisdictional lordships, forms of governmentnot of ownership or possession, which were consolidated in the 14th and 15th centurieswere subrogations of the royal power for the administration of towns, usually those with geographical or structural difficulties that generated income. From King Alfonso XI the rulers created these lordships to give to their allies a proper way to maintain their position and to be able to govern and administer areas that were otherwise difficult to take care of with the traditional channels of the monarchy. From its origins, there have been buying and selling operations.
Origins: Counties of Noreña and Gijón
The origins of the Principality of Asturias can be traced to the counties of Noreña and Gijónlocated in the ancient Asturias de Oviedoterritories with seignorial jurisdiction that belonged to Rodrigo Álvarez, who was called "of the Asturias".Suárez Fernández 2000, p. 393. These lordships were unique: they were territories that in remote times formed the Kingdom of Asturias, the one identified with the origins of the monarchy.Suárez Fernández 2000, p. 396.
When Rodrigo died without an heir in 1333, he bequeathed his domains to Henry, Count of Trastámara and illegitimate half-brother of King Peter I, during whose reign a "true civil war"in the words of Luis Suárez Fernándeztook place in Asturias de Oviedo because a group of knights settled in small dominions believed that the consolidation of the "states" that were being occupied by the Count of Trastámara (in a civil war against the King), would affect their power.Suárez Fernández 2000, p. 401. Henry, once King, ceded the counties to his illegitimate son Alfonso Enríquez.Suárez Fernández 2000, p. 407. During the reign of his half brother King John I, the Count of Noreña and Gijón revolted against him several times; for this reason, the King decided to confiscate the counties and incorporate them to the Crown,Suárez Fernández 2000, pp. 413–414. promising in a document dated 18July 1383 that they would always remain part of the royal demesne.Coronas González 2001, pp. 54–55.
Creation of the Principality
After the assassination of King Peter I in 1369, there began a series of disputes and long rivalries between John, Duke of Lancaster (who claimed the Castilian throne as the husband of Constance, eldest surviving daughter of King PeterI and his mistress María de Padilla but recognized as legitimate and in line of succession by the Cortes of 1362), and the two successive Trastámara claimants, HenryII and his son JohnI. After two decades of conflicts of varying intensity, the parties arrived at a compromise through means of the marriage between Prince Henry (son and heir of King JohnI) and Catherine of Lancaster (only surviving child of John and Constance).
On 8 July 1388 the Treaty of Bayonne was signed between John of Lancaster and King JohnI of Castile, establishing the final dynastic reconciliation after the assassination of King PeterI. By this treaty, the Duke of Lancaster and his wife Constance renounced all their rights over the Castilian throne on behalf of the marriage of their daughter Catherine to the first-born son of King JuanI of Castile, the future HenryIII, who was granted as heir the dignity of Prince of Asturias. The title was granted with a ceremony.Coronas González 2001, p. 55.
The premature death of John I and the minority of HenryIII prevented the institutional and juridical conformation of the principality while Alfonso Enríquez rebelled again after obtaining his freedom by royal decree. Besieged by the King's troops, he submitted to the arbitration of King Charles VI of France, who imposed on the count the return of the territories he held in Asturias. The territory was subdued, and his royal status was confirmed.Coronas González 2001, p. 55–56.
In the early days of its creation, the title of Prince of Asturias was not just a simple honorific title, as it included control of the territory of Asturias. The Prince ruled it in representation of the King and was able to appoint judges, mayors, etc. King JohnII by decree dated in Tordesillas on 3March 1444 declared the conversion of the principality into a jurisdictional lordship, linking the cities, towns, and places of Asturias deOviedo with their rents and jurisdictions to the Majorat of the heirs of the Crown;Coronas González 2001, p. 56. however, this document was in some case disobeyed and ignored by the Asturian towns as it went against their traditional fueros.Coronas González 2001, p. 57. On 31May of that same year the future HenryIV tried to make the Majorat effective and remember Oviedo and the twenty-one principal Asturian villages that rightfully belonged to his lordship even though he had not "executed or used [the principality] because of my minority and the great debates and scandals that have taken place in these kingdoms".Coronas González 2001, p. 58.
With the legal conformation, the duality principality–lordship was recovered and would last under the jurisdiction of the Prince until the time of Catholic Monarchs,Coronas González 2001, pp. 56–57. who limited the scope of the title, making it merely honorary; this decision was upheld by the members of the House of Habsburg and the House of Bourbon until the present day.
Although all the heirs of the Crown of Castile have traditionally been considered Princes of Asturias, not all had a formal act by which the jurisdictional lordship was granted;Suárez Fernández 2000, pp. 394–395. strictly speaking, the only Princes of Asturias were Henry, during 1388–1390, Enrique, during 1444–1453, Isabella during 1468–1474, and John, briefly during 1496–1497.Suárez Fernández 2000, p. 395. In the periods in which no prince was proclaimed, the Principality did not disappear but was directly governed by the monarch, to whose treasury were sent the jurisdictional rents.
With the Catholic Monarchs, there began a policy of reintegration of the royal patrimony that gave rise to a long fight with the principality, lasting from 1483 to 1490, with the signing of an agreement by which the House of Quiñones handed over to the Crown the districts of Cangas, Tineo, Llanes, and Ribadesella in exchange for five million maravedis and the Leonese Babias.Coronas González 2001, p. 60. In 1496 there was an attempt to revive the principality by Royal Letter dated 20May, in which the monarchs, "wishing to observe the ancient custom" of their Kingdomsan allusion to Aragongave to Prince John the rents and jurisdictions of the Asturian places that had previously reverted to the Crown, reserving to them the majority of the judges and the condition of not alienating his patrimony.Coronas González 2001, p. 61.
Decadence under the Habsburgs
With Prince John the title was added to a list of titles used by the Hispanic monarchy, the heir adding the titles of Prince of Asturias, Girona (1496), Spain, and the New World. The imperialist aspirations are observed in the new title of the heir of the Catholic Monarchs: "Prince of these Kingdoms, Prince of the Spains and the New World" (Príncipe de estos Reynos, Príncipe de las Españas y del Nuevo Mundo). The title lives from that moment a time of partial decadence with the establishment of the House of Habsburg on the Spanish throne; for example, PhilipII was educated to take on the functions of Regent during the absences of his father, not like a Prince of Asturias. The 16th and 17th centuries were characterized by various conflicts between the King and the principality because of the titles and dignities granted and referring to the territory.Coronas González 2001, pp. 62–64. Only during the reign of PhilipIV was a proper ceremony introduced for the Prince's oath as heir.
Absolutism under the Bourbons
With the arrival of the House of Bourbon to the Spanish throne after the War of the Spanish Succession begins a new period for the Principality of Asturias, whose population looked upon the new dynasty with hope. The new royal house promoted an identification of the Principality with the Spanish heir following the aid given by the Crown of Castile during the war, and the Principality of Asturias, which until then had been held by the heir of Castile, tended to be considered properly Spanish.
19th century Constitutions