The offence of «drawing weapons» in the Middle and Modern Ages: Reflections on its legal nature

Abstract

We will make a series of reflections on the complex legal nature of a figure of our historical criminal law: the crime of «drawing weapon or weapons» or «colteyl treyt». It is a conduct which was of a certain gravity and which was typified in practically all the penal regulations of the Catalan-speaking territories and even in Navarre. Castilian legislation is no stranger to it either, although to a lesser extent. We specify the elements that make up the punishable act (possession of the weapon, action consisting of taking it out or displaying it, and the intention to threaten another person). We look at conceptual aspects and examine the legal right protected in the crimes of illegal possession and use of prohibited weapons and threats. Finally, we look at the evolution of the offence of «taking out a weapon» in historical legislation from a comparative perspective, from the point of view of the type of offence, intentionality, protected legal interest and criminality. We take the Liber Iudiciorum as a starting point, to move on to medieval and modern Catalan Law: Usatges, Costums de Tortosa, Costums d'Orta, Costums de la batllia de Miravet, Consuetudines Ilerdenses, Ordinacions de Girona or Costums de la Torre de l'Espanyol, among other texts. We conclude with Castilian-Leonese law and other peninsular laws: Fuero de León, Fuero de Logroño, Fuero de Santander, Fuero de Sahagún, Fuero de Oviedo, Fuero de Molina de Aragón, Fuero de Zamora, Fuero de Córdoba; Fuero de Béjar, Fuero Real, Siete Partidas, Fuero General de Navarra, Fuero de Jaca, Fueros de Borja y Zaragoza, Fuero de Teruel, Valencian Law, Nueva y Novísima Recopilación.