Between the Sovereing and the "voluntas publica": An Outline for a Concept Itinerary in Late Medieval Catalonia

Abstract

The transition of meanings in the political vocabulary of the Thirteenth Century demonstrates the emergence of an abstraction of power that is based on romanistics and it is going to became into public law only into the next Century. What happens in Catalonia at this time has had deep concordance with what happened in the kingdom of France and northern Italy, where the prince becomes the dominus potestatis in the generality of a large jurisdictional mosaic. His figure evolved from the powers of the feudal link to the abstraction of a legal axis, which has surpassed the military duty of the vassal to the universal obligation of the subject. Thus the king would act over a general jurisdicció that would strengthen his authority while limiting it through the moral-religious agreement of the res publica christiana. The work of jurists and theologians in the Principality thus led the king’s competence to the status of public leader who, before forging the monarchical autocracy, would isolate the personal will of the monarch in a diverse concept of sovereignty.