Agrarian Policies in the Castilian Cortes (1188-1351)

A Survey of Topics

Abstract

The paper proposes a brief survey on the scope and utility of the Cortes’ legislation as a valuable source for the study of agrarian history in medieval Castile. Both the legislative work by the royal crown and the petitions of the procuradores share some common interest in economic policies, and hence in the promotion of the agrarian production. A variety of topics related to breeding and agriculture in medieval Castile which came thus to be discussed in the Cortes, leading to some influential legislative developments on the matter.