Making Agreements in Medieval Catalonia
Power, Order, and the Written Word, 1000–1200

A local study of Catalonia with wide implications for the history of medieval Europe.

Adam J. Kosto (Author)

9780521792394, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 May 2001

392 pages, 1 map 6 tables
23.6 x 16 x 2.8 cm, 0.75 kg

'… Kosto's arguments are both water-tight and convincing. … weighty and magisterial. This is a major contribution to Catalan medieval history and to the wider issues of social and legal change in Western Europe in this period.' Oxford Academic Journals

This study examines the role of written agreements in eleventh- and twelfth-century Catalonia, and how they determined the social and political order. By tracing the fate of these agreements - or convenientiae - from their first appearance to the late twelfth century, it is possible to demonstrate the remarkable stability of the fluid structures which they engendered in what is generally thought of as 'feudal society'. The process of documentary change reveals the true nature and pace of the 'transformation of the year 1000'. Analysis of the convenientia as an instrument of power and its interaction with oral practices contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of the written word in medieval societies. Finally, a broad historiographical context establishes the significance of this study of Catalonia for a more general appreciation of the medieval Mediterranean world.

List of figures
List of tables
Acknowledgements
Notes on citations, dates and names
List of abbreviations
Map
Introduction: 1. Catalonia and its neighbours
2. Feudalism in eleventh- and twelfth-century Catalonia
3. The sources
4. Historiography of the convenientia
Part I. The First Convenientia: Social and Documentary Change Around the Year 1000: 5. The documentary context
6. Early Catalan convenientiae, c. 1021–50
7. Convenientiae and the 'crisis' of Catalan society
Part II. Making Agreements: 8. Castle tenure and military service
9. Structures of power in convenientiae
10. Treaties
11. Dispute settlement
12. Exploiting the land
13. Family settlements
14. Promises
Part III. Keeping Agreements
15. Penalty clauses
16. Sureties
17. Procedure
18. Case studies: Pallars and Empúries/Rosselló
19. Oaths
Part IV. Foundations (the Eleventh Century): 20. Counts
21. Lay aristocracy
22. Episcopal castles
23. Monastic military lordship
Part V. Fortunes (the Twelfth Century): 24. Renewal
25. Conflict
26. Change
Part VI. Writing and power: 27. Administration
28. The Usatges de Barcelona
29. The Liber feudorum maior
30. The end of the convenientia
Table of published documents
Works cited
Index of names
Subject index.

Subject Areas: Educational: Citizenship & social education [YQN], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], European history [HBJD]