The importance of written documents in the genesis of the royal diplo-macy. Diplomatics in the Luso-Castilian relations during the Late Middle Ages

Abstract

One of the most hackneyed themes in medieval political history is the formation of royal diplomacy and the relations between the diverse kingdoms of the Christian West. However, few researchers has been detained in the decisive importance of the written document to articulate that diplomacy and the adaptation of the notarial system to this new need, which is due to the intermonar-chical relations are subject to private law, in the absence of an international law. To analyze this phenomenon we have studied the specific case of Portuguese-Castilian relations in the Late Middle Ages, two kingdoms in the process of monarchical empowerment that maintained intense relations. Proof of which are the important legacy of more than two hundred documents preserved of this activity in the long century between the battle of Aljubarrota (1385) and the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494). The notary was present under the figure of the secretary of the embassy in all diplomatic missions. All negotiations carried out will need to be validated with the notary sign of the two states parties, and be ratified later by the two monarchs in documents validated by their respective notaries. Professionals who adapted the notarial forms to the particular needs of diplomacy. Finally we also observed a paral-lel written system made up by private documents (correspondence, instructions, reports…), which is also fundamental to maintain the functioning of the negotiations. Though we can not speak of a particular diplomatics of diplomatic relations for this period in the absence of a specific scriptorium, we can point a new field in notarial diplomatics.