Chapter 5 - Manuela Santos Silva
Regal Power and the Royal Family in a Thirteenth-Century Iberian Legislative Programme
The reign of Alfonso X, known as the Wise (1252-1284), was of the greatest importance to all the kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. Even leaving aside aspects of territorial definition executed in his time, and the abundant evidences about his high cultural background, or even of his political ambition, we just have to focus on the legislative plan, to conclude that this was an unusual reign for the thirteenth century.
The three legal compilations assigned to the labor of jurists of his reign had the goal of unifying the old Leonese laws with Castilian customs, creating conditions for their adaptation in the newly conquered lands. As, with this paper, our aim is to observe the process of construction of regal power, as it was performed in its origins in the Western kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, we will mainly focus on two of these legal works – El Espéculo de las leyes and Las Siete Partidas. Based on them we would like to establish how, in the Western Iberian Peninsula, regal power was a concept that did not involve the king alone or his counsellors, but his all family and servers had a proper role that is still noticeable until at least the 15th century.
By Manuela Santos Silva
Manuela Santos Silva
Manuela Santos Silva is an Associated Professor of Medieval History at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon (Faculdade de Letras – Universidade de Lisboa) with a large experience in research, teaching, and Master and PhD supervision. Her earliest research focused on a coastal Portuguese region where the Queens of Portugal’s seigniorial territories were often located. From the study of the queens’ towns her research evolved to the knowledge of the queens’ statute and competences and from then to the study of the role of the royal family and their households within the earliest Iberian monarchies.
With two other colleagues she coordinated a series of biographies of the Portuguese Queens of Portugal and wrote the biography of Philippa of Lancaster, queen of Portugal. More recently, she coordinated with two other colleagues on a series on the Portuguese Royal Household’s Marriages.
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