The Triumph of an Accursed Lineage analyses kingship in Castile between 1252 and 1350, with a particular focus on the pivotal reign of Alfonso XI (r. 1312–1350).
This century witnessed significant changes in the ways in which the Castilian monarchy constructed and represented its power in this period. The ideas and motifs used to extoll royal authority, the territorial conceptualisation of the kingdom, the role queens and the royal family played, and the interpersonal relationship between the kings and the nobility were all integral to this process. Ultimately, this book addresses how Alfonso XI, a member of an accursed lineage who rose to the throne when he was an infant, was able to end the internal turmoil which plagued Castile since the 1270s and become a paradigm of successful kingship.
This book will appeal to scholars and students of medieval Spain, as well as those interested in the history of kingship.
Author(s): Fernando Arias Guillén
Series: Studies in Medieval History and Culture
Edition: 1
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 248
Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
List of figures
List of images
List of maps
List of tables
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Notes on names, places, and terms
Introduction
1. The representation of kingship in Castile (1252–1350): Sacred monarchy, the ethos of the Reconquista, and the legitimacy troubles of an accursed lineage
Appropriating the past: Royal chronicles and historical writing in
Castile (1252–1350)
The accursed lineage of Alfonso X
Knighthood and the ethos of the Reconquista in the representation of
kingship in Castile
Coronations and law codes: Sacred kingship in Castile (1252–1350)
2. A kingdom comprising several realms
Castile and Toledo: The core of the kingdom
León and Galicia: The relegation of the historic kingdom of León
Seville, Cordova, Jaén, Murcia, and Algeciras: An ever-expanding
kingdom
Algarve: Claiming overlordship on Portugal
Molina and Biscay: The incorporation of frontier lordships into the royal
demesne
‘Corona de sus regnos’: The kingdom as a united and indissoluble
entity
3. Royal itineration and kingship in Castile (1252–1350): The kingdom’s capitals and the absence of a dynastic mausoleum
‘Itinerant kingship’ and royal government in Castile (1252–1350)
Royal itineraries between 1252 and 1350
Royal itineraries and capitals: A geography of kingship
From the Douro to the Tagus: The centre of the kingdom
Andalusia and Murcia: A ‘central periphery’
The north-eastern frontier and the ‘islands’ of realengo: Stop-offs and
rendezvous places
The northern coast: The peripheral regions of the kingdom
A controversial royal memory: The absence of a dynastic mausoleum in
Castile
4. A plural monarchy (I): Queenship and royal power in Castile (1252–1350)
An Iberian model of queenship?
Exalting the royal dynasty: Pious foundations and royal memory
Queenship and diplomacy: Castilian queens as royal ambassadors
Advice, intercession, and mediation: Castilian queens as councillors and
powerbrokers
Queens as lords: The management of the royal demesne
Queen mother or queen regent? María de Molina and the royal
minorities of Fernando IV and Alfonso XI
5. A plural monarchy (II): Defining the royal family in Castile
(1252–1350)
Alfonso X’s family conflicts: The infantes and the realengo
‘Good’ and ‘bad’ infantes: Royal minorities and the participation of the
infantes in the ruling of the kingdom
Juan Manuel: The dissatisfaction of the royal relatives and the writing of
a dissident history
Alfonso XI and Leonor de Guzmán: The creation of a ‘new’ royal
family
6. Nobles and kingship (I): The ‘conflictual cooperation’ between the ricoshombres and the king in Castile (1252–1350)
Revenues, offices, and lordships: The nobles’ dependence on royal
patronage in Castile (1252–1350)
Royal revenues: The dependence of the Castilian nobles on royal
taxation
Alférez, mayordomo mayor, merinos, and adelantados: The coveted
royal offices
Lordship and seigneurial jurisdictions in Castile (1252–1350)
Desavenidos and desnaturados: The nobles’ ways of challenging royal
authority and the kings’ responses between 1252 and 1350
Desavenirse, deservir, and desnaturarse: Expressing dissent in three
steps
Royal justice and the nobles’ fear of the king
Negotiated surrenders: Returning to the king’s service
Rebellions, factionalism, privados, and Alfonso XI’s successful
kingship
The rebellion of 1272 and Castile’s factionalism
Kings and factionalism: Rise and fall of privados and the creation of a
‘royal’ faction
7. Nobles and kingship (II): The representation of the Castilian nobility in the privilegios rodados (1252–1350)
The more the merrier? The increasing number of confirmers in the
privilegios rodados
Lineage and personal status: The position of confirmer as the
‘patrimony’ of the most powerful families
The list of confirmers in 1252 and 1348: The Castilian monarchy and the
fortunes of the Lara family
Conclusion
Appendices 1: Kings, queens, and male members of the Castilian royal family (1252–1350)
2. Kings, queens, and female members of the Castilian royal family (1252–1350)
3. Mayordomo mayor del rey (1252–1350)
4. Alférez (1252–1350)
5. List of privilegios rodados (Appendices 3 and 4, Figures 7.1–7.5, and Tables 7.1 and 7.2)
Sources and bibliography
Index
