The Castilian Meseta

The Castilian dominates the life of Spain. He has been to Spain what the Norman has been to England. In the development of the United States there has been no such dominant personality, since this country is a voluntary fusion of many dissimilar cultures. The modern Spanish state is the work of Castile. That work is not yet complete.

Castile itself is a political creation. There is no natural region assigned by history to Castile as the lower plain of the Segura River was assigned to Murcia. The crown of Castile, itself simply an am bitious development of the royal family line of Leon, came in the course of time to administer all that central part of Spain extending from the central Biscay coast in the north to Andalusia in the south, Portugal in the west and the Valencian strip in the east. Aragon will be considered here with Castile because the two kingdoms share the central position on the peninsula, share part of the upland meseta and share the labor of construction of a complete integrated nationality. Aragon is a part of the dominant Spanish region and the dominant Spanish political force.