Images of Royal Power in the Works of Alfonso X (II): ‘Rex Iustus’

Abstract

This paper presents the image of the rex iustus, which is directly connected to what was considered the main role of the king: the administration of justice. In the first place, we analyse the Alfonsine corporate thought based on definitions of the elements that formed the political body provided by the Siete Partidas. The king’s duty of keeping their people in justice reflects primarily on his role as a judge (rex iudex), which Alfonso X sought to centralize under his authority. In the second place, the notion of sovereignty, which is found in germination in the Alfonsine works, allows us to understand how it was possible for a thirteenth-century Castilian king to also exercise a legislative function (rex legislator). Finally, we analyse some of the most influential Roman law principles of the period, which reflect not only the theoretical justification for Alfonso X’s centralization process but also, at the same time, the very factors that limited the king’s powers.