The Ordenamiento de Alcalá is a collection of 58 laws enacted by the courts of
Alfonso XI
Alfonso XI (13 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...
in
Alcalá de Henares in 1348. They are an important part of the principal legislative body of the
Castilian Crown during the low
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
until the 1505
Leyes de Toro.
This work represented the success of the
lawyers
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicitor, ...
(who had training in
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (c. 449 BC), to the '' Corpus Juris Civilis'' (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Ju ...
), who represented the interests of the king to increase the power of the monarchy (with the goal of creating an early absolute monarchy). The creation of a normative body that would straighten up the legal situation was needed due to the dispersion of laws and many undefined jurisdictional situations (local and
estates).
Contents
Besides new laws on fines (in the regulation of those laws was included many detailed questions, for example, regarding contracts and wills), it established a legal order of precedence for the application of different existing legislative bodies. In this manner it was established that they should apply disciplinary laws in Alcalá, that the
Fuero Juzgo and the local
fueros
(), (), () or () is a Spanish legal term and concept. The word comes from Latin , an open space used as a market, tribunal and meeting place. The same Latin root is the origin of the French terms and , and the Portuguese terms and ; all ...
or estates were kept in place, and the
Código de las Siete Partidas. Finally in cases of doubt or silence from the king the nobles would give their interpretation.
Application
The Ordenamiento de Alcalá was applied to areas with local fueros, like Sahagún, Cuenca, Castile and León, that gradually would adopt the Fuero Real that was given to them.
However, the king had to yield to pressure from the nobles who wished to see recognized different land concessions and privileges during the continued revolutions and civil wars of the Middle Ages, especially in the turbulent years under the regency of his grandmother
María de Molina
María Alfonso Téllez de Meneses (c. 1265 – 1321), known as María de Molina, was queen consort of Castile and León from 1284 to 1295 by marriage to Sancho IV of Castile, and served as regent for her minor son Ferdinand IV (1295 - c.1301) ...
, during his years as a minor and those of his father
Fernando IV.
The nobles argued precedents in an assembly in
Nájera
Nájera () is a small town, former bishopric and now Latin Catholic titular see, former capital of the Kingdom of Navarre, located in the "Rioja Alta" region of La Rioja, northern Spain, on the river Najerilla. Nájera is a stopping point on the F ...
with
Alfonso VII
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
in 1138, and finally obtained fiscal and judicial privileges, to conserve the lands under lordship determined conditions, and above all to become established as ', powerful nobles that already distinguished themselves clearly from the ''
nobles caballeros'', or knightly nobles and of course the rest of the free men.
As time passed they clearly distinguished themselves in the Crown of Castile the royal lands, under royal jurisdiction, and of the lords, under lordly jurisdiction (of a lay or ecclesiastic nobles).
The terms in the Ordenamiento de Alcalá were in force for a long time. It can be seen that orders fixed in this law were incorporated later in compilations of the
Modern Age; being faithfully maintained until the enactment of the
Código Civil at the end of the 19th century.
References
*Norman Roth "Alcalá de Henares, Ordenamiento of." ''Medieval Iberia: An Encyclopedia.'' ed. E. Michael Gerli Routledge, Dec 4, 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ordenamiento De Alcala
Law of Spain