The Code of Cuenca : : Municipal Law on the Twelfth-Century Castilian Frontier / / ed. by James F. Powers, James F. Powers.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Pennsylvania Backlist eBook-Package 2000-2013
• HerausgeberIn: Powers, James F.,
• Place / Publishing House: Philadelphia : : University of Pennsylvania Press, , [2016]; ©2000
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Edition: Reprint 2016
• Language: English
• Series: The Middle Ages Series
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (256 p.)

Sometime around 1190, King Alfonso VIII of Castile granted a royal charter to the community of Cuenca, a Castilian frontier town recently recaptured from the Muslims and resettled by Christians. The royal charter was in the form of a law code, or fuero. Fueros, which evolved from short lists of exceptions to standing royal directives into much more extensive commentaries on legal matters, were used as an incentive to Christian settlement on the frontier. Reflecting the complexities of administering a town that still had large Muslim and Jewish populations, the fuero or code of Cuenca was meant to assure the permanence of Christian conquest and settlement. James Powers provides the first translation into English of this notable historical document. The Code of Cuenca is of great importance to legal historians, particularly as a comparison to contemporary English and other European law texts. Because there is no similar urban compilation anywhere else in twelfth-century Europe that contains significant descriptions of everyday life in a medieval frontier town, the code will serve as a primary source for scholars and students of medieval Iberian and western European political, economic, and social history.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- Poem and Prologue -- I. Concession of the Code and Outline of Its Privileges -- II. Statutes Regarding Property Holdings -- III. How Grain Fields Should Be Guarded -- IV. Care of the Vineyards -- V. Demarcation of Orchards -- VI. Aggression with Illegal Weapons -- VII. Public Land of the Council -- VIII. Concerning Mills -- IX. Marriages and Wills -- X. The Right of Succession of Children and Parents -- XI. No One Should Pay the Pecuniary Penalty of Homicide for a Man Killed During Sports -- XII. Insults to Men and Many Other Violent Acts -- XIII. No One Should Respond for Counseling -- XIV. The Penalties for Murderers: The Challenged -- XV. Surety Bondsmen -- XVI. The Election of the Iudex and the Alcaldi -- XVII. Concerning the Manner in Which Each One Obtains His Rights -- XVIII. The Citations -- XIX. Bondsmen -- XX. Witnesses and Accusers -- XXI. Testimony of Responsible Intermediaries or of Substitute AIcaldi -- XXII. Fighters of Judicial Combat -- XXIII. Debtors Who Flee from the City -- XXIV. Those Who Appeal to the Court of the Alcaldi on Friday -- XXV. The Manner of Pleading and the Witnesses -- XXVI. The Festival Days on Which No One Should Be Allowed to Take Sureties or Cite to Judgment -- XXVII. Those Who Appeal to the King -- XXVIII. The Collectors of Money for the Council -- XXIX. Cases Between Christians and Jews -- XXX. The Government of the Military Expedition -- XXXI. The Emergency Military Muster -- XXXII. The Code of Purchase, of Sale, and of Collateral of Real Estate -- XXXIII. The Code of Pledging and of Sales -- XXXIV. Dogs -- XXXV. The Code of the Hunters -- XXXVI. The Code of Hired Workers -- XXXVII. The Code of the Herders -- XXXVIII. The Loyalty of All Wage Earners -- XXXIX. The Code of the Guards Who Watch the Livestock -- XL. Those Who Find Something Should Proclaim It, and the Corroborators -- XLI. The Code of Guests [and Other Matters] -- XLII. Craftsmen -- XLIII. The Equalization of the Parishes -- Notes -- Glossary -- Select Bibliography -- Index -- Acknowledgments