A History of Spain Part 12

[Sidenote: Decline of the n.o.bility.]

[Sidenote: Persecution of the Jews.]

As a result of these troubles the n.o.bles declined even in social prestige, for they had received very little in the way of tributes from the serfs since the reign of Alfonso V, and had aggravated the situation by their wars with one another or against the towns. Meanwhile, the _caballeros_ and others of the secondary n.o.bility, natural enemies of the great lords, had advanced in importance, and in the reign of Pedro IV had won a right to law courts of their own, free from the jurisdiction of n.o.bles of the upper grades. On the other hand, the great n.o.bles continued to receive donations of land from the king, with more or less complete jurisdiction, since the existing needs of the royal treasury usually seemed greater than the ultimate evil of the grants; often the kings gave away towns which they had previously pledged their word never to alienate. It is to be noted that the mere owners.h.i.+p of land did not ent.i.tle the lords to exercise civil and criminal jurisdiction without a specific grant of those powers from the king. In addition to the serfs and the kings, the n.o.bility had a third element against it, the very powerful bourgeoisie, or middle cla.s.s, which in this period attained to the greatest splendor. The history of the Mudejares at this time was unimportant, for there were not many in Catalonia. The Jews suffered as they did in Castile. The year 1391, which witnessed the ma.s.sacre in Seville, was marked by a similar event in Barcelona, where the Jewish quarter completely disappeared. From that time on, harsh measures were taken in Catalonia, and as a result the Jews came to be regarded as sharing with slaves (of whom there were still a considerable number) the lowest level in the social hierarchy.

[Sidenote: Catalan guilds.]

The modifications of family life arising from the influence of the Roman law were as notable in Catalonia as in Castile and Aragon. The guilds were developed to a point even surpa.s.sing that of Castile. As early as the fourteenth century they were already organizations for technical objects related to their trade. Every trade had its guild, from the more important a.s.sociations of weavers, bakers, and the like, down to the more humble blind beggars' guilds.

[Sidenote: Transition from medievalism to modernity in social customs.]

All that has been said of Castile as regards the immorality, luxury, dress, superst.i.tion, and chivalric pursuits of the aristocracy and middle cla.s.s applies generally, not only to Catalonia, but also to Aragon and Valencia. The n.o.bles endeavored to emulate the king in extravagances, with the result that many were ruined, and their attempts to avoid paying their debts to the Jews were one cause of the ma.s.sacres of the latter. The luxury in dress brought in its train the development of tailoring to such an extent that the Catalan modes were well-known even in foreign countries. In many of the amus.e.m.e.nts of the period,--dances, illuminations, pantomimes, processions, masquerades, and others,--one sees the influence of Renaissance tastes, which were to lead to modern civilization, although these same diversions were also tainted with the rudeness of earlier times.[42] In fine, the customs of the period were made up of a curious mixture of pa.s.sing medievalism and coming modernity. For example, while some seigniorial castles were centres of luxury and entertainment, others retained the austere, military customs of the past. Again, at the same time that there appeared a veneer of literary and scientific culture, ideas as regards sanitation, both public and private, were still rudimentary. Laws continued to be pa.s.sed forbidding people to wash clothes in public fountains, to throw water and filth in the streets, and to loose pigs therein, but they were not very generally obeyed. Even the public baths which had existed formerly fell into disuse. Thus epidemics were frequent, but aside from prayers and sequestration of cases not much was done to check their progress.

_Valencia_

[Sidenote: Victory of Catalan civilization in Valencia.]

The majority of the Christian settlers of Valencia were both bourgeois and Catalan, while the n.o.bles were mostly Aragonese. Down to the time of Pedro IV, the latter exerted themselves to deprive the former of the power which Jaime I had given them, and they were successful to the point of sharing in administrative posts which had formerly been denied them, and also procured the application of the Aragonese law in the land. After their defeat by Pedro IV they declined rapidly, hastening their fall by partisan quarrels among themselves. The history of the Mudejares and Jews followed the same course as in Aragon; here, as elsewhere, the terrible year 1391 was a time of ma.s.sacres of the Jews, followed by increasingly harsh legislation. The influence of the Roman law in modifying family inst.i.tutions and the development of the guilds proceeded on lines a.n.a.logous to the same factors in Catalonia.

CHAPTER XIII

THE CASTILIAN STATE, 1252-1479

[Sidenote: General character and importance of the era in political inst.i.tutions.]

In the relations of the seigniorial elements and the monarchy this was a critical period for the latter, deciding as a result of the virtual, though not at the time apparent, victory of the kings that Castile was to become a power in the world. For that very reason the evolution of political inst.i.tutions in this era was important, for on the development of monarchy depended the conquest of America, but they were also important because the inst.i.tutions which were set up in the new world had noteworthy antecedents at this time. Influenced largely by the principles of the Roman law the kings aspired to absolute monarchy in a centralized state, with a view to overcoming the social and political strife resulting from the diffusion of power inherent in the seigniorial system. Their most dangerous enemies were the n.o.bles, whose spirit of independence and self-esteem and whose vast wealth in lands and fighting men made them a powerful factor in themselves. They were yet stronger because the kings had to depend on them for military service since there was no large standing army, and because they in a measure developed a cla.s.s consciousness in opposition to absolutism, becoming a n.o.bility rather than remaining a mere aggregation of n.o.bles. While the seigniorial ideal was not lacking in the towns, they were not nearly so dangerous to the monarchy, because they were usually as hostile to the n.o.bility as the kings were. Often, however, they fought against the kings, or exacted concessions for their services. The task for the fulfilment of royal ideals was therefore a difficult one, requiring a sagacious type of monarch, such as in fact rarely appeared in the period. Circ.u.mstances fought better than the kings, and nowhere does this show forth more clearly than in a review of the political inst.i.tutions of the era.

[Sidenote: Internal decline in the power of the n.o.bles.]

The external vicissitudes of the strife between the n.o.bles and the kings have already been traced, and it would appear from them that the former gained the upper hand. In fact, however, their cause was already internally dead. One symptom of their approaching dissolution was the change in the practices of the n.o.bles whereby they became more and more a court n.o.bility, plotting in the shadow of the king (like the chancellor Lopez de Ayala) instead of being semi-independent potentates on their own estates as formerly. Despite their cla.s.s consciousness, parties arose within their ranks with distinct ideals, apart from personal ambition, dividing them against one another. Thus in Seville the Guzman faction represented conservatism, while the Ponces were radical. Most important of all were the blows resulting from the social and economic changes which deprived the n.o.bles of their serfs and created a new form of wealth in the hands of the middle cla.s.s, an element better fitted than the old n.o.bility to acquire and develop the new resources. The eagerness with which the n.o.bles took up the practice of primogeniture, leaving their estates nearly intact to their eldest sons so that their house and their name might not be lost, showed that they realized the force of the new order of things and were taking thought for the future. In earlier times, when wealth was territorial and serfs were numerous, the land-rich n.o.bility had been secure, but that day had pa.s.sed.

[Sidenote: The absolutist ideal of Alfonso X.]

The great representative of absolutism was Alfonso X, not that he invented the idea or was the first to attempt its achievement, but because he formulated the program more clearly than any of his predecessors, embodying it in his legislation, and because he received the first shock in defence of these principles. He enacted that the legislative, judicial, and military powers and the right to coin money were fundamental, inalienable rights of the king, who could not give them away for a period longer than his own life, and declared that the lords could not exercise any judicial or other sovereign powers on their estates except those which had been granted to them by the king, or which they had enjoyed by immemorial custom. His laws also prescribed certain forms of etiquette which should be employed in treating with the king, establis.h.i.+ng the ceremonial which has always served as such a prop for monarchy. The divine origin of royal power was a.s.serted.

Independence of the Holy Roman Emperors was specifically proclaimed, but a measure of subjection to the pope was admitted. The absolutism of Alfonso X did not pretend, even in principle, that the king might exercise arbitrary or tyrannical authority; Alfonso declared that the king was bound to observe the law and deal justly with the people, acting as their guardian and administrator, and granting them certain rights to inspect his conduct. Those who wrongly possessed themselves of the royal power, or made bad use of it, were declared to be tyrants and not legitimate kings. The people, on the other hand, owed respect, obedience, and loyalty to the legitimate king, and even a species of guardians.h.i.+p to prevent his non-fulfilment of obligations. Alfonso X was not able to sustain his principles in open conflict, but they remained as the ideal of future kings, even though some of them were modified by the legislation of later reigns; thus Alfonso XI declared that sovereign rights might be acquired from the crown by prescription, except the taxing power and high justice (or the hearing of cases on appeal), and that the kings could alienate any of their sovereign powers except those of high justice, coinage, and war.

[Sidenote: Establishment of hereditary succession and development of court officialdom.]

Two fundamental results of the centralizing, absolutist policy of the kings were the final establishment of hereditary succession and the development of consultive and other bodies about the king, the forerunners of modern bureaucracy. The former has already been referred to. Alfonso himself was the first to break his own law in this respect, but after his reign the principle was definitely recognized. The pomp and ceremonial of royalty increased the number of officials whose princ.i.p.al functions were those of adding splendor to the court,--such, for example, as the king's cup-bearer, butler, and chamberlain. Great n.o.bles also sent their sons to court to be educated under the protection and with the favor of the king, and these young men formed a special royal guard. In addition there began to be an infinity of servants, notaries, doctors, and others occupying posts of a less ornamental character. The most important novelty of the period was the development of the _Consejo Real_.

[Sidenote: _The Consejo Real._]

The kings had long been surrounded by a body of n.o.bles and prelates called the _Consejo Real_, or Royal Council, which advised them in matters of government, or sat as the _Cort_, or supreme court, in appeals from lower jurisdictions, but its members.h.i.+p and functions had not been very clearly established, for it dealt indiscriminately with any subject upon which the king might want advice. One important reform was the introduction of representatives of the popular element in this body. Different kings, from Sancho IV on, decreed that a certain number of the council should be "good men,"--or members of the unt.i.tled, secular cla.s.s,--although the practice did not become fixed. A law of Juan I in 1385 provided that the council should be composed of twelve men, of whom four should be plebeians. Two years later it was required that the last-named should be _letrados_,--that is, men learned in the law,--and shortly afterward they began to be called _oidores_ (hearers of cases). Juan II divided the council into two bodies, one of government, the other of justice. It was not until the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, however, that the _Consejo Real_ acquired real stability.

[Sidenote: The hierarchy of officialdom.]

There were important developments, too, in the general administrative and judicial hierarchy, although with a mixture of the two functions.

The hierarchy of officialdom, from the lowest grade to the highest, with especial regard to comparative judicial authority, ran from the _alcaldes_ of the towns through _merinos mayores_ or the _adelantados_, the _alcalde del rey_ (royal _alcalde_) of the court, and the _adelantado mayor_ (or chief justice of Castile) to the king himself. In some jurisdictions cases in first instance came before _alcaldes del rey_ (different from the above-named) with an appeal to _merinos menores_[43] and _merinos mayores_, or directly to the latter, and thence upward. The _merinos menores_ limited themselves to jurisdiction in certain criminal cases. The _merinos mayores_ were, like the _adelantados_, governors of large districts as well as judges in cases of appeal, for which latter purpose they were a.s.sisted by men acquainted with the law. They took the place of many of the former _adelantados_.

The _adelantado mayor_ also had administrative functions, as the superior of the _merinos_ and other officials below him. Alfonso X employed the old term, _cort_, in the new and more restricted sense of a royal judicial tribunal which acted for the king. In later reigns this came to be known as the _chancilleria_ (chancery), or _audiencia_,[44]--which latter name was eventually transmitted to the Americas for bodies exercising similar functions.

[Sidenote: Diversity of jurisdictions and tendencies toward centralization.]

Despite appearances, uniformity and order in the administrative and judicial organization were far from being completely established. Not only was there a great variety of jurisdictions, but there was also a great diversity in the law, for one region would differ radically from another. The towns, n.o.bles, clergy, universities, and the great corporation of stock-raisers (the _Mesta_) all had officials of their own and exemption from royal jurisdiction. At the same time, great _hermandades_, or leagues of cities, were formed for the maintenance of public security against highwaymen or other disturbing elements, since royal activity in this regard left much to be desired, and these also had their separate jurisdictions.[45] The current toward centralization was very strong, however, being aided by the education in the Roman law of the _letrados_, whom the king employed as his officials (for these men were p.r.o.nouncedly monarchical in sentiment), and by the increase in powers to which the _adelantados_ and _merinos mayores_ were attaining at the expense of the semi-independent elements. The successors of Alfonso X, especially Alfonso XI, furthered this policy of centralization. Royal judges began to appear in the towns, either taking the place of the formerly elected officials, or acting concurrently with them, for the kings took advantage of one pretext or another to make an opening for their own appointees. Another important reform was the division of the _audiencia_ into two sections, one of which remained in Segovia, while the other went on circuit for brief periods in Andalusia.

Under Juan II there appeared in the _audiencia_ the official known as the _fiscal_, who at this time was a royal prosecuting attorney, but who later was to become one of the most important all-round administrative officials in Spanish and Spanish colonial government. As an example, too, of the extension of royal jurisdiction may be mentioned the so-called recourse of _fuerza_ in cases of usurpation (by force,--hence _fuerza_) of lands or jurisdiction by the clergy. The trial of these cases was ordered to be held in the royal courts.

[Sidenote: Judicial procedure.]

Punishments for crime continued to be atrocious, and torture was still employed, but only in the case of persons of bad reputation or when the accused bore the evidences of crime. Privilege still obtained to modify the punishment of the upper cla.s.ses. A very notable reform was the introduction of the _pesquisa_, or inquisitorial investigation, for the bringing of an indictment, or accusation, of crime. Formerly the state had intervened when one individual charged another with crime, a process which resulted to the detriment of the weak, who would not dare to accuse the more powerful. The _pesquisa_ not only introduced the grand jury function of an accusation by the state, without necessarily involving any individual accusers, but it also made crime partake more of the nature of a public offence than of a mere infringement of individual rights. The vulgar proofs, with one exception, were abolished, and the importance of written doc.u.ments and the testimony of witnesses became more generally recognized. This also caused the rise of the lawyers, who, after a lapse of centuries, began again to be a noteworthy element in judicial affairs. The _riepto_, or duel, a special form of the wager of battle, was the only one of the vulgar proofs to remain in existence. This was a special privilege enjoyed only by those of n.o.ble blood. The duel was hedged in by a number of rules, one of which was that it must take place in the presence of the king. If the challenger were killed, the innocence of his opponent was proclaimed, but if the latter were killed, still protesting innocence, he was in this case, too, declared guiltless. The challenger could win by defeating his opponent without killing him, in which event the latter was banished, and half of his goods were granted to the king.

[Sidenote: The new system of taxation.]

Although the expenses of the state were greater than formerly, the income was also greater. Many new forms of taxation were introduced: the royal monopolies on salt and mines; the _alcabala_, or tax on sales, which first became general in the reign of Alfonso XI; stamp taxes; and the _consumo_, or tax on all merchandise entering the city. These taxes fell upon goods or upon acts of individuals in connection with the state (as distinguished from the king) differing radically from the services of a feudal character, with a mult.i.tude of exceptions and privileges, which had formerly been the basis of the public income. Owing to the turbulence of the era and the excessive alienation of public wealth by grants of the kings to the n.o.bles, receipts did not equal the royal needs, and resort was had frequently to loans, debas.e.m.e.nt of the coinage, and arbitrary confiscations of property. Even under the new system of taxation the n.o.bles and clergy very rarely had to pay any of the numerous taxes, and privileges and exemptions were granted, much as before. Nevertheless, the methods employed contained the germ of a sound financial system, which was to develop in succeeding centuries. The collection of taxes was rented out as formerly, being given in charge usually of Mudejares, Jews, or Marranos. Complaints against these collectors were so insistent that at one time churchmen were subst.i.tuted for them,--without diminis.h.i.+ng the complaints, for the fault lay in the system. There were royal financial officials for receiving the funds and examining accounts, but no organized treasury department was as yet developed.

[Sidenote: The army and navy.]

The princ.i.p.al military fact of the era was the increase in the number of troops sustained by the king, but in other respects there was no fundamental difference from the preceding period. Technically there were advances in the art of war,--such as the development of a greater variety in the branches of the service and the introduction of powder,--but except for cannon of not very great utility the use of firearms did not become general. Complete armor came in with the white companies. The royal navy, initiated by Ferdinand III, was continued throughout the era, and this was a period of brilliant victories against the Moslems in the Mediterranean and the English in the north; on one occasion the Castilian admiral, Pero Nino, ravaged the English coast. No results of note seem to have proceeded from these victories, however.

[Sidenote: Greatness and decline of the towns in political authority.]

[Sidenote: Advance of the seigniorial towns.]

This was the most flouris.h.i.+ng epoch in the history of the free Castilian towns: their numbers and political importance increased; they received new privileges; and they made their presence felt in national affairs through their representatives in the _Cortes_. The most extreme example of munic.i.p.al independence was provided by the towns of the north coast, which recognized the sovereignty of the Castilian king, but in fact governed themselves, even intervening in foreign affairs through the agency of their league. In the interior the towns were less independent politically and administratively, and in the fourteenth century their authority began to wane. The entry of royal judges into the towns has already been mentioned. In administration the kings were also able at length to exercise influence. This came about as a result of a number of political changes, such as the subst.i.tution of a life term in office for one of a period of years, the usurpation by the _ayuntamiento_ (or body of munic.i.p.al officials) of powers formerly exercised by the general a.s.sembly, the limitation of the right to hold office to the _caballeros_ or to specified families, the disturbances at times of election, and the corruption which occasionally manifested itself in munic.i.p.al administration. In the interests of internal peace the towns themselves often sought intervention by the kings, who did not fail to profit by the situation. Under Alfonso XI some towns began to be ruled by officials appointed by the king, and that monarch also created the post of _corregidor_,[46] a royal agent placed in many towns to watch the course of local affairs and represent the king, acting with the local _alcaldes_. The _corregidores_ gradually acquired considerable influence, thereby reducing the power of the popularly elected officials. Internal munic.i.p.al strife continued, but now the great families fought, not for the favor of the electorate, but for that of the king, since this had become the surer route to public office. The greater towns or cities suffered through the breaking away of the villages and rural districts which had formerly been subordinate to them. These villages were desirous of local autonomy, because the munic.i.p.alities on which they depended were wont to exploit them or to exclude them from a share in government. The kings granted their pet.i.tions, thus weakening the greater towns, even if they did extend the inst.i.tution of chartered munic.i.p.alities. It should be said, however, that this decline of the towns, with the incidents accompanying it, was not uniform, for a number of them still retained their earlier liberties, including popular election, at the end of the period. In the seigniorial towns, especially those under ecclesiastical domination, there were frequent struggles with a view to reducing the lord's intervention in local affairs, and these ended almost everywhere in a victory for the towns, which won a right to name their own officers and to possess much the same degree of liberty enjoyed by the royal towns.

Here, too, the kings intervened, not only through the practice of judicial appeals to the royal courts, but also in other ways, even with armed forces, in order to reduce the power of the lords. The victory of the seigniorial towns lessened the power of the lords to an appreciable extent; the struggles of the lords with the kings were thenceforth maintained only through combinations of n.o.bles, often with Mudejar levies, joined at times by some of the towns.

[Sidenote: Great age of the Castilian _Cortes_.]

The inst.i.tution which most clearly represented the different factors of Castilian political life, but especially that of the munic.i.p.alities, was the _Cortes_, which grew in importance until the fifteenth century, when it began to show signs of decline. The _Cortes_ was hardly mentioned in the legislation of Alfonso X, for it did not comport well with his theories of absolutism, but the later kings paid it great consideration, seeking the aid of the popular branch against seigniorial anarchy. Its princ.i.p.al function continued to be economic, rather than legislative, through the grants of subsidies by the representatives of the towns.

While these were not the only source of royal revenue they were so urgently needed that the _Cortes_ was able to procure legislation from the kings in response to its pet.i.tions. The fourteenth century was particularly rich in ordinances of the _Cortes_, especially those arising from the meetings of 1329 (Madrid), 1348 (Alcala), 1351 (Valladolid), 1366 (Burgos), 1371 (Toro), 1373 (Toro), 1377 (Burgos), 1379 (Burgos), and 1380 (Soria). In most cases the kings did not put the ordinances (which should rather be considered pet.i.tions) into effect, wherefore many of them were repeated time and again,--such, for example, as the legislation requested against the Jews, against the granting of Castilian benefices by the pope, against the abuses of royal officials and renters of taxes, and against the royal donations to the lords. In a number of instances the _Cortes_ got what it asked for, even in cases affecting the king's personal authority, such as a law in 1329 which prohibited the issuing of royal letters, or orders, in blank (whereby the possessor of the letter might insert anybody's name he chose,--a practice which usually served to promote unjust ends, just as in the case of the _lettres de cachet_ in France prior to the French Revolution), and another of 1348 extending the prohibition to letters which the kings were in the habit of granting to individuals empowering them to marry designated persons, with or without the latter's consent.

The kings also accepted pet.i.tions of a more general character, such as those asking that steps be taken for the suppression of banditry, the specification of the powers of royal officers, the correction of various abuses, the lowering of certain taxes, the regulation of disputes between the stockmen and the farmers, and the reform of judicial procedure. It was also affirmed several times,--in 1348, for example,--that there could be no new tax without a grant of the _Cortes_. The laws of Alfonso X insisted upon the king's sole right to legislate, however, and this principle was maintained by the later kings, for despite the fact that a law of 1387 declared that the ordinances of the _Cortes_ were irrevocable, unless by the act of a _Cortes_ itself, the kings proceeded according to their own pleasure, apparently regarding the concession of 1387 as purely theoretical. The ordinances of the various _Cortes_ appeared without method or plan, and lacked the full force of law, but they demonstrated the enormous activity of this body, and were in fact a basis for much legislation, both at the time and in later years. In organization the _Cortes_ followed the general practices of the preceding era. Among the comparatively few novelties may be mentioned a law of Juan II, fixing the number of representatives from a town as two, and a law of 1351 granting immunity from arrest to members of the _Cortes_ while that body was in session. Up to 1301 Castile and Leon had a separate _Cortes_, although there were a number of joint meetings before that date. After 1301 there was but a single _Cortes_ for the entire kingdom.

[Sidenote: Diversity in the laws and tendencies toward unification.]

Not only in the ordinances of the _Cortes_, but also in the general laws of the king without intervention of the _Cortes_, in grants of munic.i.p.al charters, and in the innumerable private grants (often modifying the general law) this period was exceedingly rich in legislation. The fame of the laws of Alfonso X and of Alfonso XI has obscured the legislation of other reigns, but the output of the other kings was great in quant.i.ty, if less in importance than that of the two Alfonsos. Diversity was still a leading characteristic of the legislation. For example, from Alfonso X to 1299 at least 127 local charters were granted; in the fourteenth century at least 94; and in the fifteenth, at least 5, although many were reproductions or slight modifications of certain typical charters. The _Fuero Juzgo_ continued to be the general law, but there was very little of it which was not contradicted or changed by other legislation. A tendency toward unification of the laws manifested itself in many ways, however. Alfonso X issued a munic.i.p.al charter in 1254, variously named, but usually called the _Fuero Real_ (Royal Charter), which was a new model, more complete and systematic than those which had preceded it, but based on those already in existence and on the _Fuero Juzgo_, preserving the Visigothic and early Leonese and Castilian principles of law. The _Fuero Real_ was adopted as supplementary law for use in cases of appeal to the royal courts, but was also granted as the local charter of a great many towns, being the most extensively used of the typical charters, although by no means in a majority of the munic.i.p.alities. To bring about unification at one stroke it is believed that Ferdinand III and Alfonso X projected a code to apply in all the land. Ferdinand is said to have begun the drawing up of the _Setenario_ (or Septenary, so-called because it was to be in seven parts), which was completed by Alfonso after the former's death. This code, if such it may be called, was never promulgated, and may rather have been intended as an encyclopedia of law. A similar compilation of the reign of Alfonso X was the _Especulo_ (or _Espejo_) _de todos los derechos_ (mirror of all the laws), but it, too, never became law, although used as a reference book by jurisconsults. Yet another such compilation appeared in this reign, the famous _Leyes de las siete partidas_ (laws of the seven parts), or simply the _Partidas_, and this was to attain to a very different lot from the others just named.

[Sidenote: The code of the _Siete Partidas_ and the revival of Roman principles.]

The _Partidas_ was the work of a number of jurisconsults under the inspection, and with more or less intervention, of Alfonso himself; these men began work in 1256 and finished it in 1265. Some of the laws and customs of Castile,--for example, the _Fuero Juzgo_ and the _Fuero Real_,--were used as sources, but the preponderant influences were those of the canon law and the codes of the Roman emperor Justinian,--so much so that the _Partidas_ amounted to an encyclopedia of these two sources of law, both of which were Roman in origin and very different from the customs, Visigothic and otherwise, at that time prevailing in Castile.

Whether Alfonso intended that the _Partidas_ should become the general law, or merely that it should serve as an encyclopedia, it was not promulgated in his day, and there were many later laws directly contradicting it. Nevertheless, it constantly gained ground, favored especially by lawyers and university men (both of which elements were strong partisans of the Roman law), being used as a book of reference and as a text-book. Finally the current in its favor became so strong that so far as it was not inconsistent with certain specified compilations it was declared to be law in the reign of Alfonso XI by the important ordinance of the _Cortes_ of Alcala (1348). This set forth that the decisions of that _Cortes_ should be the princ.i.p.al fountain of Castilian law, followed in order of precedence by the _Fuero Real_, the other munic.i.p.al charters, and finally by way of supplement by the _Partidas_, which was not to be enforced in such parts as it contradicted the privileges of the n.o.bility, for these also were confirmed. Despite this lowly position of the _Partidas_ and despite the vast quant.i.ty of later laws which took precedence of the above-mentioned hierarchy of sources, the ultimate victory of Alfonso's code was a.s.sured from the time of its official promulgation. Without any statute to that effect it gradually became recognized, not as a mere supplementary source, but as the princ.i.p.al law of the land. Reformations of its text were undertaken to make it conform with the necessities of later times, but in substance the ideas of the original remained.

[Sidenote: Leading factors in ecclesiastical history.]

[Sidenote: Papal intervention in the Castilian church.]

[Sidenote: Wealth of the church.]