Today's Spain owes many of its institutions to the Catholic Monarchs. Centuries before the National Police was founded, these monarchs understood the need to create an armed body that would ensure the safety of citizens. Thus, in 1476 the kingdom of Castile became the first in Europe to have a public organization to persecute criminals, although in its beginnings it also went after heretics. The promoters of the idea were the senior accountant, the Asturian Alonso de Quintanilla , the first sacristan, the Burgos native Juan de Ortega , and the provider of Villafranca de Montes de Oca. In March 1476, in the Palencia city of Dueñas The first general meeting was organized with representatives of the most important cities of the current Castilla y León:Burgos, Palencia, Medina, Segovia, Olmedo, Salamanca and Zamora, among others, made up the Council of the Brotherhood .
This body, the Holy Brotherhood called itself, was in force until 1834, when it was extinguished after the creation of the Police ten years earlier, while the Civil Guard was born in 1844. Its formation had already taken shape under the reign of Enrique IV, but his death he left the process unfinished, until Isabel I, in the courts of Madrigal, instituted the Holy Brotherhood. Its creation was a clever measure, because it limited the jurisdiction of the mayors, it acted not only against evildoers, but also against undisciplined nobles.
In total, it was made up of a body made up of some 2,000 armed men who could act throughout the territory of the Crown. The first captain was the Duke of Villahermosa, Alfonso de Aragón , stepbrother of King Ferdinand the Catholic. He achieved his purpose:to achieve peace in the kingdoms, security on the roads and tranquility in the streets. It was so effective that it even participated in the taking of Granada.
Although initially this rural police was very efficient, it soon became a burden for the councils, who were in charge of paying for it. They did it by establishing the sisa tax -it was very unpopular because it taxed basic necessities and consisted of deducting at the time of purchase an amount based on the weight of certain products, the difference between the price paid and the price received was the "sisa"-. Another reason that increased its gradual unnecessaryness was that the green sleeves (as they were known for their clothing) never arrived on time, so most crimes went unpunished, giving rise to the well-known saying
Good morning, green sleeves!
Collaboration of Javier Ramos of Places with History