Algun fecho señalado que sea a honra del rey: royal privileges and the construction of royal memory in Castile (c. 1158–1350)

• Arias Guillén, Fernando ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad de Valladolid

     Universidad de Valladolid

     Valladolid, España

     
• Localización: Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies, ISSN-e 1754-6567, ISSN 1754-6559, Vol. 11, Nº. 1, 2019, págs. 40-58
• Idioma: inglés
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• Dialnet Métricas: 2 Citas
• Resumen

  • Due to their high rate of dissemination, the privilegios rodados, the most solemn diplomas issued by the royal chancery in Castile, were the ideal vehicles for transmitting royal ideology throughout the kingdom. Between the twelfth and the fourteenth centuries, the royal chancery used certain events to date royal privileges, in order to memorialize them. While there are several works which discuss the “micro-stories” written by the royal chancery during the reigns of Alfonso VII, Alfonso VIII and Fernando III; the period comprised between 1252 and 1350 has been neglected. Moreover, the commemoration of events in the royal privileges has not been analyzed as an individual topic. Therefore, a study of the events which the kings of Castile considered worth remembering between 1158 and 1350 would allow to explore the Crown’s notions of prestige and authority. This article will discuss the importance that knighting ceremonies and, especially, the victories against the Muslims played in the construction of royal memory. Additionally, it will be argued that there was a shift in the royal chancery’s practices regarding the use of events to date royal privileges in the decade of 1250s. From then on, the royal chancery commemorated fewer events in the dates of the privilegios rodados while simultaneously creating a more systematic method of recording them. This shift reflects the evolution of royal privileges as instruments of political communication, and illustrates the strengthening of royal authority experienced in this period.