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English and Galician in the Middle Ages:
A Sociohistorical Survey
Begoña Crespo García
The linguistic model imposed in Galicia by foreign noblemen
around the 13 th century might have died out but for the repetition
of history. Another dispute put Juana la Beltraneja, illegitimate
daughter of king Enrique IV, and her sister Isabel
face to face between 1475 and 1479. Once again, Galician
noblemen supported the wrong candidate in this war of succession
to the throne of Castile. The immediate corollary was
a conscious and planned invasion among the Galician medieval
ruling class because once in power, Isabel ‘a Católica’
[‘The Catholic’] embarked on a terrible repression to eradicate
those in favour of Juana (López Valcárcel, 1991).
This was just the second stage in a process that had been initiated
by Enrique II de Trastámara two centuries before. After
the succession war in the last quarter of the 15 th century, the
‘Reyes Católicos’ would strengthen their absolutism through
the centralisation of political life. They would authorise measures
mainly concerned with the defense and expansion of
Castilian to the detriment of other languages spoken in the
Peninsula.
This time the fall of Galician noblemen was intentional and
calculated. Thus, the native nobility is, once more, replaced
by foreigners bringing their own cultural standards with them.
The coercive attitude and the repression exerted by the cen-
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