Desperate measures. Finantial crisis, apropiation of ecclesiastical revenues and State building during the reing of the king Pedro the Great of Aragon (1276-1285)

Abstract

This article examines one of the measures adopted by Pedro III of Aragon in the latter part of his reign, when he ordered the seizure of the assets of ecclesiastical offices that became vacant. After setting this decision in context, we analyse one of the cases in which the king appropriated ecclesiastical revenues, the brief period when the post of abbot of Montearagón was unfilled (August-September 1284). The accounts of the local bailiwicks show this appropriation and the transfer of a significant part of the abbot’s income to certain nobles to pay them for their participation in the siege of Albarracín at that time. These accounts also provide information on the characteristics of the government of the Crown of Aragon in these years and, in particular, on the accounting and financial system that sustained the state.