The great Catalan nobility was assimilated into the families of the Spanish grandees through marriage. The Church evolved in a similar manner. The bishops, appointed by the king, were often from Castile, and the most important monasteries, with the highest revenues, were linked to the Castilian province of their order and occupied by monks and nuns from Castile. The petty Catalan nobility had few options: careers in politics or the military were not open to them, nor could they undertake new ventures in the Americas. Minor positions in the Church were occupied by second and younger sons. The crisis amongst the nobility led to factions developing and irreversible conflict with the peasantry.