Padilla, Juan de [key], c.1490–1521, Spanish revolutionary leader in the war of the comuneros [municipalities] against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Charles's conduct and his foreign advisers offended Spanish national feeling and led to a rising in Toledo under Padilla's leadership (1520). Soon other Castilian cities rose and joined Toledo in a Santa Junta [holy league]. Padilla sought to legitimize the junta by securing the support of Charles's mad mother, Joanna, but the movement soon degenerated into class warfare. Padilla's army was defeated at Villalar (Apr., 1521), and he was executed. The comuneros revolt was the most important rising in Castile until the 19th cent. Its defeat permitted royal absolutism to consolidate itself and led to a loss of municipal liberties.
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