Medieval Spanish Legal Systems: Castile, Aragon, Valencia, Majorca

Posted on Dec 3, 2024 in Law & Jurisprudence

Castilian Law

Local Charters (Fueros)

  • Early fueros granted to towns established population foundations and settler conditions.
  • Fueros provided extensive legal frameworks for public, private, criminal, and commercial matters.
  • The king confirmed existing Mozarabic law (Liber Iudiciorum) for private and procedural issues.

Social Classes and Law

  • Nobles had privileged legal status and tax exemptions, subject to royal court jurisdiction.

Royal Legal Reforms

Fernando III

  • Aimed for legal unification, translating and adapting the Liber Iudiciorum as the Fuero Juzgo.
  • Granted the Fuero Juzgo as local law to many cities, initiating territorialization of law.

Alfonso X

  • Fuero Real (1255): Addressed legal gaps, covering political, religious, criminal, and private law.
  • Promoted a unified city law (Fuero).
  • Siete Partidas (1290-1310): Comprehensive legal code influenced by Roman law, covering various legal areas, though not officially sanctioned by Alfonso X.

Systematization of Castilian Law

Ordenamiento de Alcalá (1348)

  • Established a hierarchy of legal sources: 1st Royal Ordinances, 2nd Municipal Fueros, 3rd Customary Law, 4th King’s Will.
  • Consolidated legislative power in the king and his courts.

Legal Compilations

  • Ordenamiento de Montalvo (1484): Compiled royal laws and ordinances from 1348 onwards.
  • Nueva Recopilación (1567): Updated and revised existing laws, repealing outdated provisions.
  • Novísima Recopilación (1805): Further revision, incorporating new laws and eliminating repealed ones.

Aragonese Law

Five Historical Periods

1st Period (8th-12th Centuries)

  • Oral customary law, transitioning to written charters in the 11th century.
  • Fuero de Jaca: Granted freedoms to inhabitants under royal jurisdiction.
  • Fuero de Sobrarbe: Noble and military law, defining lord-vassal rights and obligations.

2nd Period (12th-13th Centuries)

  • Fueros granted to new towns during territorial expansion.
  • General law began to be written and binding.
  • Catalan influence on the crown.

3rd Period (1247-1437)

  • King ordered the compilation of private fueros into a unified Aragonese legal code.
  • Hierarchy of sources: 1st Fueros of Aragon, 2nd Natural Reason, 3rd Jurisprudential Doctrine, 4th Court Acts.

4th Period (1437-1707)

  • Hierarchy of sources: 1st Fueros and Court Acts after 1437, 2nd Observances of 1437, 3rd Fueros and Court Acts (1247-1437), 4th Code of Huesca, 5th Natural Sense and Fairness.
  • Compilation of Fueros and Observances of Aragon (1522).

5th Period (1707-1711)

  • Spanish law imposed, replacing Aragonese law except in specific civil cases.

Valencian Law

Conquest and Legal Development

1st Period (1225-1237)

  • Diverse legal practices, with Catalan and Aragonese influences.

2nd Period (from 1237)

  • King James I approved the Furs of Valencia, inspired by Roman law.
  • Hierarchy of sources: 1st Furs of Valencia, 2nd New Charters and Court Acts, 3rd Natural Reason and Equity.

Majorcan Law

Unification under James I

  • James I granted a charter in 1231 to unify the legal system.
  • Established a hierarchy of sources: 1st Charter, 2nd Population Letter, 3rd Regional Law, 4th Ordinances of the Governor and Council, 5th Common Law.