Remensa (
Catalan: ''Remença'') was a Catalan mode of
serf
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed du ...
dom. Those who were serfs under this mode are properly ''pagesos de remença'' (''pagesos'' meaning "peasants"); they are often (though not quite correctly) referred to simply as ''remences'' (singular ''remença'').
The Catalan term ''remença'' derives from the
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''redementia'' and emphasizes the possibility of redemption from
servitude.
The severity of this way of life led to rebellions by the remensa peasants in 1462 and 1485 known as the
War of the Remences
The Rebellion of the Remences or War of the Remences was a popular revolt in late medieval Europe against seignorial pressures that began in the Principality of Catalonia in 1462 and ended a decade later without definitive result.
Ferdinand II ...
. After the second revolt, King
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand II, also known as Ferdinand I, Ferdinand III, and Ferdinand V (10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), called Ferdinand the Catholic, was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband and co-ruler of Queen Isabella I of ...
issued the ''
Sentencia de Guadalupe
The ''Sentencia Arbitral de Guadalupe'' (Arbitral Decision of Guadalupe) was a legal decree delivered by King Ferdinand II of Aragon at the Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe in Extremadura, Spain on 21 April 1486 to free the Catalan reme ...
'' (1486), outlawing the more severe abuses of the oppressive
evil customs
Evil customs (Catalan: ''mals usos'', lit. "bad uses") were specific medieval feudal customs, generally levies, which peasants were subjected to by their feudal lords in the Crown of Aragon and other European countries. These obligations are relate ...
and allowing remensa peasants to be redeemed by a payment of 60
sous
The Sous region (also spelt Sus, Suss, Souss or Sousse) (, ) is a historical, cultural and geographical region of Morocco, which constitutes part of the region administration of Souss-Massa and Guelmim-Oued Noun. The region is known for the en ...
per household, leaving a rural society that was still
feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...
in character, but significantly reformed.
[Nunez, Clara, Eugenia, and Tortella, Gabriel. "Economic Development and the Problems of National State Formation: The Case of Spain". In Teichova, Alice, and Matis, Herbert, (ed.) ''Nation, State And The Economy In History''. Cambridge; ]Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
, 2011 (p.115)
See also
*
History of Catalonia
The recorded history of the lands of what today is known as Catalonia begins with the development of the Iberians, Iberian peoples while several Greek colonies were established on the coast before the Roman conquest. It was the first area of His ...
*
Principality of Catalonia
The Principality of Catalonia (; ; ; ) was a Middle Ages, medieval and early modern state (polity), state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of its history it was in dynastic union with the Kingdom of Aragon, constituting together ...
*
Catalan Civil War
The Catalan Civil War, also called the Catalonian Civil War or the War against John II, was a civil war in the Principality of Catalonia, then part of the Crown of Aragon, between 1462 and 1472. The two factions, the royalists who supported John ...
*
Spain in the Middle Ages
Spain in the Middle Ages is a period in the history of Spain that began in the 5th century following the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ended with the beginning of the early modern period in 1492.
The history of Spain is marked by waves of ...
References
External links
"La qüestió remença"
Crown of Aragon
Peasant revolts
Medieval history of Spain
{{Catalonia-hist-stub