Military history of the Revolt of the Comuneros
The Revolt began with mobs of urban workers attacking government officials, grew to low-level combat between small militias, and eventually saw massed armies fighting battles and sieges.
The royalists tended to maintain the same commanders and armies in each area, with the one major exception of when the Constable of Castile moved out of Burgos to unite with the Admiral and crush the Comuneros at Villalar.
The most important fighting of the war, and where the fighting was mostly by organized armies rather than raiding militia bands, took part in the north-central part of the Meseta—Old Castile, which contained the capital of Valladolid, the temporary capital of both sides Tordesillas, and the stronghold of the Admiral of Castile, Medina de Rioseco.
A decent amount of combat took place to the north around Burgos and the Basque country as well, where the Constable of Castile vied against Bishop Acuña's raids and the Count of Salvatierra.
The royalists never were able to deploy much in the way of armies here, depending on their allies in the Knights of St. John and the local nobility, but some notable events in the war did take place there.
With the central cities of Castile on their side, no expensive foreign entanglements to fund, and a tendency to loot and repossess property of the opposed nobility, the rebels were well-funded.
The need to constantly search out new towns and manors to sack and pillage also made slower or defensive strategies difficult for the comuneros to implement.
The royalist cause's most important allies were the landed nobility, many of whom threw their allegiance behind King Charles after seeing the comuneros support peasant rebellions against them.
After the victory at Toredesillas, for example, many royal guards were dismissed due to lack of funds to pay them, and many noble-controlled armies returned to their home areas, greatly endangering the defense of Tordesillas and preventing any new offense.
Untrained peasant levies were unlikely to be very effective on the battlefield, but would be additional bellies to feed and could easily offend the countryside with undisciplined looting.
It was crucial for the government to act unified to maintain stability; if some cities of Andalusia were to join the Comunidades and others not, a civil war among the Spanish Christians would invite a revolt among the Moriscos.
In the Meseta, the bourgeoise and lower classes had tasted prosperity for a time under Isabella, but had seen their gains fade in the past twenty years, which fed bitterness at the nobility and helped spark revolts.
The Captain-General of Granada, who was also the Marquis of Mondéjar and Count of Tendilla (same person bearing all three titles), led a force of some 1,500 men in September to retake Jaén.
The rebellion was quickly crushed the next day by the Duke of Medina-Sidonia, a member of the rival Guzmán family, and Figueroa was lightly wounded.
[1][2] A later attempt, la Feria y Pendón Verde ("The Fair and the Green Flag") led by lower classes, seemingly confirms this explanation.
The Rambla Congress admonished towns to return to the royal government and organized a military force of 4,000 infantry and 800 cavalry to be ready should the need to quickly suppress a Morisco rebellion arose.
[5] With Pedro Girón in command, the army of the comuneros advanced on Medina de Rioseco, following the orders of the Junta.
[5] This situation continued until December 2, when Girón, apparently thinking the royal army would remain entrenched,[note c] moved his forces west to the small town of Villalpando.
[6] Morale fell among the rebels, and much angry criticism was directed towards Pedro Girón for his maneuvering of the troops out of position and for his failure to attempt to retake Tordesillas or capture Medina de Rioseco.
After the triumph in Tordesillas, Cardinal Adrian had to face the continuing paucity of funds in the royal coffers and the fickleness of his noble allies.
The Constable of Castile began to send troops to the Tordesillas area to contain the rebels and prevent any further advances.
[10] Despite the renewed enthusiasm among the rebels, a decision was made to remain in their positions near Valladolid without pressing their advantage or launching a new attack.
The Constable of Castile began to move his troops (including soldiers recently transferred from the defense of Navarre) southwest from Burgos to meet with the Admiral's forces near Tordesillas.
The commander of the comunero armies, Juan de Padilla, considered withdrawing to Toro to seek reinforcements in early April, but wavered.
He delayed his decision until the early hours of April 23, losing considerable time and allowing the royalists to unite their forces in Peñaflor.
Heavy rain slowed Padilla's infantry more than the royalist cavalry and rendered the primitive firearms of the rebels' 1,000 arquebusiers nearly useless.
[12] Padilla hoped to reach the relative safety of Toro and the heights of Vega de Valdetronco, but his infantry was too slow.
Instead of an opportunity to win the war, the invasion instead became a way for former comunero cities nervous about potential reprisals to prove their loyalty by sending large contingents to fight the French and Navarrese.
