Crisis and Continuity: Land and Town in Late Medieval Castile [Reprint 2016 ed.] 9781512806649

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Crisis and Continuity

University of Pennsylvania Press M I D D L E AGES SERIES Edited by Edward Peters Henry Charles Lea Professor of Medieval History University of Pennsylvania

A listing of the available books in the series appears at the back of this volume

Crisis and Continuity Land and Town in Late Medieval Castile Teofilo F. Ruiz

University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia

Publication of this volume was assisted by a subvention from the Program for Cultural Cooperation Between Spain's Ministry of Culture and United States Universities.

Copyright © 1994 by the University o f Pennsylvania Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ruiz, Teofilo F., 1 9 4 3 Crisis and continuity: land and town in late medieval Castile / Teofilo F. Ruiz. p. c m . — ( M i d d l e Ages series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8122-3228-3 ι. Agriculture—Economic aspects—Spain—Castile—History. 2. Cities and towns, Medieval—Spain—Castile. 3. Castile (Spain)—Economic conditions. 4. Castile (Spain)—Social conditions. I. Tide. II. Series. HD2025.C325R85 1993 330.946'3—dc20

93-35573 CIP

To Scarlett amiga, companheira, alma irmi e meu primeiro amor

En estos campos de la tierra mía, y extranjero en los campos de mi tierra —yo tuve patria donde corre el Duero por entre grises peñas, y fantasmas de viejos encinares, allá en Castilla, mística y guerrera, Castilla la gentil, humilde y brava, Castilla del desdén y de la fuerza— Antonio Machado, Campos de Castilla

Contents

List of Abbreviations Preface and Acknowledgments

ix xiii

Part I. The Land and Climate of Northern Castile

ι

ι. The Limitations of Geography and Climate

π

Part II. Rural Society in Late Medieval Castile

29

2. Peasants and Their Masters

36

3. Working the Land: The Village Community

75

4. The Lands of Santa Maria la Real de Aguilar de Campóo in the Late Middle Ages: A Case Study

101

5. The Market for Land in Late Medieval Castile: Selling and Leasing the Land

140

Part III. Urban Society in Late Medieval Castile

175

6. The Institutional Organization of Castilian Towns

180

7. Merchants, Trade, and Agriculture

196

8. Society and Politics in Urban Northern Castile: The Non-Noble Knights

235

9. Society and Politics in Urban Northern Castile: Peones, the Poor, and the Religious Minorities

262

viii

Contents

Part IV. The Crisis of Late Medieval Castilian Society: Continuity and Change

287

10. The Conquest of Seville Revisited: Demography and Fiscal Oppression

291

π. Epilogue to an Age

314

Appendix 1: Partial List of Taxes Collected by the Kings of Castile

325

Appendix 2: Glossary of Coins, Weights, and Measures

327

Bibliography

329

Index

343

Abbreviations

ACB AHDE AHN Albelda y Logroño

Alfonso XI

AMB AMS Becerro

CHE C.C.R. C.P.R. C.F.R. Los códigos españoles

Colección diplomática calceatense

Cortes

Archivo de la catedral de Burgos Anuario de historia del derecho español Archivo histórico nacional Colección diplomática de las colegiatas de Albelda y Logroño (Tomo I: 924—1399), Eliseo Saínz Ripa, ed. (Logroño: Instituto de estudios riojanos, 1981). Colección documental de Alfonso XI, Esther González Crespo, ed. (Madrid: Universidad Complutense, 1985). Archivo municipal de Burgos Archivo municipal de Segovia Libro Becerro de las Behetrías. Estudio y texto crítico, Gonzalo Martínez Diez, ed. 3 vols. (León: Centro de estudios e investigaciones "San Isidoro," 1981). Cuadernos de historia de España Calendan of the Close, Patent, and Fine Rolls (London: Public Record Office, 1901- ). Los códigos españoles concordados y anotados, ΐ2 vols. (Madrid: Imprenta de la Publicidad, 1847-51). Colección diplomática calceatense: Archivo catedral, II2S-I397, C. López de Silanos and E. Saínz Ripa, eds. (Logroño: Instituto de estudios riojanos, 1985). Cortes de los antiguos reinos de León y Castilla, 5 vols. Vols, i and 2 (Madrid: Imprenta y Estereotipia de M. Rivadeneyra, 1861-63).

χ

Abbreviations

Crónica de Alfonso Χ Crónica de Sancho TV Crónica de Fernando IV Crónica de Alfonso XI Cuéllar

Cuentas

Curso de historia

Desde Estella a Sevilla

DMA

Fernando IV

FMCL

Fuentes

IGR, Texto

Crónicas de los reyes de Castilla, I (Madrid: Biblioteca de autores españoles, vol. 66, 1953)· Colección diplomática de Cuéllar, Antonio Ubieta Arteta, ed. (Segovia: Diputación Provincial de Segovia, 1961). Mercedes Gaibrois de Ballesteros, Historia del reinado de Sancho IV de Castilla, 3 vols. (Madrid: Tipografía de la Revista de archivos, bibliotecas y museos, 1922-28). Luis García de Valdeavellano, Curso de historia de las instituciones españolas. De los orígenes al final de la edad media (Madrid: Revista de Occidente, 1968). Desde Estella a Sevilla. Cuentas de un viaje (I3S2María D. Sánchez Villar, ed. (Valencia: Instituto de estudios medievales, 1974). Documentación medieval de la catedral de Avila, Angel Barrios García, ed. (Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca, 1981). Antonio Benavides, Memorias de Fernando TV de Castilla, 2 vols. (Madrid: Imprenta de J. Rodríguez, i960). Fuentes medievales castellano-leonesas, J. José García, F. Javier Peña, et al., eds. Twenty volumes published of a projected one hundred and three (Burgos, Palencia: Ediciones J. M. Garrido Garrido, 1983— ). Fuentes para la historia de Castilla, Luciano Serrano, ed. 3 vols. (Valladolid: G. del Amo, 1906—10). Ismael García Rámila, Texto cronológico de las tres "Keglas,"por las que sucesivamente, rigió su vida corporativa esta Real Hermandad fundada por el ry Alfonso XI en la era de 1376 (año de Cristo de 1338) (Burgos: Imprenta Provincial, 1970).

Abbreviations Las Huelgas

Lìébana

MHE Oña

Osma

Poema de Alfonso XI

"Primitiva regia"

Propiedades del cabildo segoviano

Repartimiento de Jerez

Salamanca

xi

Antonio Rodríguez López, El real monasterio de Las Huelgas y el Hospital del Rey, 2 vols. (Burgos: Imprenta y Librería del Centro Católico, 1907). Cartulario de Santo Toribio de Liébana, Luis Sánchez Belda, ed. (Madrid: Archivo histórico nacional, 1948). Memorial histórico español, 49 vols. (Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia, 1851—1948). Colección diplomática de San Salvador de Oña, Juan del Alamo, ed. 2 vols. (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas., 1950-51). Juan Loperráez Corvalán, Descripción histórica del obispado de Osma, 3 vols. Vol. 3, Colección diplomática (Madrid: Imprenta Real, 1788). Poetas castellanos anteriores al siglo XV (Madrid: Biblioteca de autores españoles, vol. 57,1966). Julián García y Sáinz de Baranda, "Primitiva regla escrita de la Cofradía de Nuestra Señora de Gamonal," Boletín de la Comisión de monumentos artísticos de la Provincia de Burgos, 65 (1938), 158-64. Ángel García Sanz et al., Propiedades del cabildo segoviano: Sistemas de cultivo y modos de explotación de la tierra a fines del siglo XIII (Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca, 1981). El libro del repartimiento de Jerez de la Frontera: Estudio y edición. Manuel González Jiménez y Antonio González Gómez, eds. (Cádiz: Instituto de Estudios Gaditanos, 1980). Documentos de los archivos catedralicio y diocesano de Salamanca, siglos XII-XIII, José L. Martín et al., eds. (Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca, 1977).

xii

Abbreviations

Sancho TV

Sepúlveda

Sißuenza

Silos

Gaibrois de Ballesteros, Historia del reinado de Sancho IV de Castilla (documentary appendix). Colección diplomática de Sepúlveda (1076-1454), Emilio Sáez, ed. (Segovia: Diputación Provincial de Segovia, 1956). Toribio Minguella, Historia de la diócesis de Siguenzay de sus obispos, 3 vols. (Madrid: Imprenta de la Revista de archivos, bibliotecas y museos, 1910—13). Recueil des chartes de l'abbaye de Silos, Marius Férotin, ed. (Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1897).

Viajes de extranjeros

Vida econòmica

Viajes de extranjeros por España y Portugal, José Garcia Mercadal, ed. 3 vols. (Madrid: Aguilar, 1952). J. José García González, Vida económica de los monasterios benedictinos en el siglo XIV ( Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid, 1972).

A Note on Spelling The spelling of names and places varies from document to document, at times even in those written by the same scribe. For example, the name Juan in modern Spanish is rendered in medieval Castilian as John, Johan, Johanus, and other variants but seldom as Juan. Whenever possible, names have been spelled in their most frequent and accessible usage.

Preface and Acknowledgments

My father's parents left their small village in Gallejones de Zamanzas in the mountains north of Burgos and settled in Cuba at the onset of the twentieth century. Through the years my family traveled back and forth between Castile and Cuba, keeping strong links to their ancestral home. Many of my relatives (on my father's side) still live in Gallejones and in other villages in the valley of Zamanzas, their lives deeply rooted in settlements dating to the very early phases of the Reconquest, a millenium ago. It is a green and beautiful valley, watered by the Ebro River, encircled by rugged mountains and forbidden wastelands. Having been born and raised in Cuba, and having spent most of my adult life in the United States, I am at home in many places, yet fully at home nowhere. But one of my homes is in that isolated village in the heart of Old Castile (Castilla la Vieja). To its history, that of the village and the region, I bring, I hope, a great deal of skepticism and a critical attitude toward the frequent historical idealization of the Reconquest, the Castilian past, and its legacy. The angel of history, as Walter Benjamin wrote, "his face turned towards the past . . . sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage upon wreckage . . . in front of his feet." But my critical and somewhat pessimistic perception of the wreckages of the past does not diminish my passion, pride, and love for my family, Gallejones, and Castile, nor the joy of telling stories about a place that is also home. *

*

*

The telling of this story, the completion of this book, has been far too long in the making. I began to research this project in earnest during the academic year 1979-80 when, thanks to an ACLS Fellowship, I was able to undertake extensive research at the Archivo histórico nacional, the Biblioteca nacional, and municipal and ecclesiastical archives in northern Castile. Thanks to the generous support of the Research Foundation of the City University of New York, I was able to return in successive summers to continue my archival research and to follow the itineraries of medieval and

xiv

Preface and Acknowledgments

early modern travelers along the roads and byways of Old Castile. An N E H Fellowship, together with an appointment to the sylvan and intellectually fertile setting of the Institute for Advanced Study in 1983—84, allowed for the completion of a rough and much longer first draft: of this book. After 1984, however, my own research interests shifted to other areas: the nature of Castilian kingship, the role of festivals in Castilian society. The book was put aside and sorely neglected. A sabbatical year in 1990, half of it spent most rewardingly as a visiting professor at the University of Michigan, together with major changes in my personal life, provided me with the impetus to revise the manuscript and to submit it to the consideration of readers. The publication of this book has been most generously subsidized by a grant from the Program for Cultural Cooperation Between Spain's Ministry of Culture and United States Universities. I am most grateful for their support. Throughout this long journey, I have had the support of family and friends, above all, from my sons, Daniel and David. For a long time they have been more than good sons; they have been very good and close friends as well. In Spain, New York, Paris, at Princeton and Ann Arbor, I have benefited from the kindness and generous help of the staff of archives, libraries, and universities. At Brooklyn College, where I have taught for twenty years, my colleagues and students have made my life as a teacher a particularly rewarding one. I have learned a great deal and derived much satisfaction from my students, especially from Toba Friedman, our first Marshall scholar at Brooklyn College, student, friend, and most welcomed surrogate daughter. Carol Green, formerly a secretary in the history department, most generously typed large segments of the initial manuscript. Eliza McClennen prepared with great care and patience—considering my many revisions—the maps included in the book. At the University of Pennsylvania Press, Jerry Singerman, Mindy Brown, and Jennifer Shenk offered me a great deal of support and encouragement. The editors saved me from untold inconsistencies and embarrassments, and I am most grateful for their courtesy and careful treatment of my work. The book, however, never would have been completed without John H. Elliott's encouragement and prodding. My natural inclination has always been to publish my work as articles. John H. Elliott's insistence that I write it as a book, and my own wish to acknowledge, however modestly, my immense personal and scholarly debt to him, were central to the completion of this project. All of us who study the history of Spain here and abroad know well of his kindness and generosity. John Elliott is not only a

Preface and Acknowledgments

xv

gifted and inspiring historian, but both he and Mrs. Elliott are kind and generous people indeed. Thanks John and Oonah. For suggestions, bibliographical leads, sharp and honest criticisms, I am most indebted to Charles M. Radding, who read the manuscript several times—a deed beyond the call o f friendship and duty—and helped me, more than I can express, to sharpen and define my arguments. Paul Freedman's insightful comments, careful reading, suggestions, and, most o f all, friendship have been most important for my work and personal life for the last decade. I must also thank an anonymous reader for the care and honesty with which she/he read and commented on the manuscript. I hope my revisions show that I did take her/his comments very seriously indeed. Peter Linehan (to whom I owe a great debt in this and many other projects), Adeline Rucquoi, Elizabeth A. R . Brown, Hilario Casado Alonso, Remie Constable, Francisco Hernández, Ruth Behar, David Frye, and Xavier Gil Pujol have all made important contributions to this manuscript. Finally, my late and much missed teacher, Joseph R. Strayer, read and commented most generously on earlier versions o f the first two chapters. Throughout the last two decades, I have incurred a debt o f gratitude to many other scholars and friends. Their work and friendship have contributed a great deal to the formulation o f my ideas in this book and elsewhere, to my growth as a scholar, and to my sanity. I would like to thank Joseph F. O'Callaghan, William and Carla Phillips (who have done so much for Spanish history in this country), Angus MacKay, Denis Menjot, Inga Clendinnen, James V. Hatch, James F. Powers, Thomas Glick, Heath Dillard, Julio Valdeón Baruque, Manuel González Jimenez, the late Luis Garcia de Valdeavellano, Miguel Angel Ladero Quesada, J. A. Garcia de Cortázar, Jordi Nadal, Felipe Ruiz Martin, Jean Pierre Molenat, Maria Asenjo, and Miguel Santamaría Lancho. Jacques Le Goff's generous friendship and inspiring insights, Jacques Revel's long and sustaining friendship, Jean Claude Schmitt, and Bernard Vincent have always made my stays at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes enjoyable and valuable learning experiences. At Princeton, my long-time friend William C. Jordan, Lawrence Stone (through his combative erudition and the unparalleled experience o f the Davis Center), Judith Herrin, Carl Schorske, Giles Constable, Natalie Z. Davis, Peter Brown, David Nirenberg, and many others have given me a nurturing intellectual community for the last twenty years. Finally, if without John H. Elliott I would not have completed this book, without Scarlett Freund I would not have had the joy o f doing it.

xvi

Preface and Acknowledgments

Friend, companion, colleague, sister soul, she has commented, revised, and fiercely contested many aspects of this book and recent articles. Beyond "the middle of the road of my life," I found in her and with her a "new life," a true home. To Scarlett, then, I dedicate this book, a very small token indeed of feelings that are ineffable. Teofilo F. Ruiz Princeton and New York

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