Church, Law and Society in Catalonia, 900-1500 (Collected Studies)

This work concerns Catalonia, the northeastern part of the Iberian peninsula, during the Middle Ages. Centred on the great port city of Barcelona, Catalonia formed the richest and most culturally advanced part of what became the kingdom of Aragon, and extended its commercial and political power throughout the Mediterranean. It emphasizes two themes in particular: the role of the Catalan church in its society, and the condition of the peasantry, especially with respect to serfdom. The first eight articles discuss questions of episcopal power in relation to monasteries, urban society and the state. The remaining articles consider the reasons for peasant servitude in a region which had previously enjoyed a free system of land tenure. The essays aim to compare the experience of Catalonia with the more widely-studied realms of northern Europe and with the other Spanish kingdoms.