[Photo 13] Ruins of the Reial Palace in the Calle General Elío. Here is where the viceroys of Valencia had their residence.

In the sixteenth century Valencia saw the power it had built up during the previous century fade away. The discovery of America had changed the axes of international politics and Valencia became a regional centre engaging in trade that had largely moved away from its exchange.

Valencia’s entry into the modern age was marked by a traumatic event: the revolt of the Germanías (brotherhoods), a civil war that divided Valencian society with artisans, peasants and some members of the petty bourgeoisie joining forces against the nobility, Moriscos (subject Moors) and the wealthy bourgeoisie. Following an initial period (1519-1520) in which the Germanía gained control of the city, the situation deteriorated. The forces of the Brotherhood achieved a few military victories to begin with but were finally defeated and the movement destroyed (photo 13).

The courts of the Inquisition began operating in Valencia at the end of the fifteenth century and continually persecuted the Jewish community. The family of Lluís Vives, the great Valencia-born humanist and philosopher of the European Renaissance, was among those to suffer harassment at the hands of the Inquisition.

It was at this time that the humanist ideas and Renaissance aesthetics circulating Europe reached Valencia. They were only nurtured, however, within the restricted circle connected to the vicereine’s court and had little or no influence on society in general (photo 14). In addition, Protestant beliefs were countered by the ideology of the Counter-Reformation postulated by figures of the stature of the Patriarch, Juan de Ribera, the founder of the College of Corpus Christi (photo 15). As regards cultural life, the city underwent a process of “Castilianization” promoted mainly by the court of the vicereine, Germana de Foix. Important literary works were translated into Spanish, such as El Cortesano by Lluís Milà or Historia de Valencia by Antoni Beuter.