In institutions, Aragon proper must be distinguished, throughout this period, from the Catalonian region of the greater kingdom of Aragon. Social differences were much more marked than in León and Castile, for there was an excessively privileged feudal nobility, which had a despotic power over the servile classes; the movement for emancipation from slavery and serfdom belongs to a much later time. Lords had a right even to kill their serfs. Slavery (confined usually to Moslems) was not personal, for the slaves were attached legally to the land. What has been said for Castile as regards the church, the Jews, Mozárabes, and Mudéjares applies generally for Aragon. There were more Mudéjares than in Castile, but, although they enjoyed equality with Christians before the law, they were on a lower plane socially, and were more heavily taxed. The practice of living in communal family groups was the rule in Aragon.
Political life and administration in Aragon.
The nobles had privileges of a political, as well as of a social character, being virtually sovereigns on their own estates. One noteworthy official to develop was the Justicia (Justice, or Justiciar), charged with hearing cases of violation of privilege and complaints generally against the authorities. The nobles tried to take the appointment of this official to themselves, but failing in this were, nevertheless, able to compel Jaime I to recognize that the functions of the Justicia were to be exercised in his own right, and not by delegation of the king,—for example, in cases in which the Justicia acted as judge, or mediator, between the nobles and the king. The free towns usually sided with the crown, as in Castile, but they were not nearly so numerous, and not equally an agency for the liberation of the servile classes. According to some writers they were represented in the Cortes as early as 1163 (which was earlier than in León), but others make 1274 the date of their entry. There were four estates in the Aragonese Cortes,—the higher nobility, the caballeros, the clergy, and the representatives of the towns. Aragon and Catalonia continued to have a separate Cortes after the union of the two states, and Valencia also received one of its own, but there were times when a general Cortes of the entire kingdom was held. The principal form of legislation was that of the royal charters. The same diversity of law existed as in Castile, but Jaime I did something to bring about unification by having a code drawn up. This code, called the Compilación de Canellas (Compilation of Canellas), for one Canellas was the compiler, embodied the traditional law of Aragon, supplemented by principles of equity. It did not do away with the charters, applying only to matters which they did not cover. The Roman law of Justinian and the canon law, both of which greatly favored the king, were beginning to be studied, but the nobility opposed the assertion of these legal principles in courts of law. Taxes fell more heavily and more vexatiously on the common people than they did in Castile, but a greater proportion went to the lords and less to the king; Jaime I had to give his note for the royal dinners, at times, and he paid his tailor by an exemption from taxation. The king was not always able to persuade his nobles to join him in war, though in other respects the military customs resembled those of Castile. The principal difference in the religious history of the two regions was that the influence of the monks of Cluny in favor of ecclesiastical dependence on the pope was much earlier accepted in Aragon; the Visigothic, or Mozarabic, rite was abolished as early as 1071. Pedro II’s submission of the kingdom to the pope was not well received, however, by either the nobility or the people of both Aragon and Catalonia.
Catalonia
Social institutions in Catalonia.
Different as Catalonia was from Aragon, the two regions had many features in common because of the existence of feudalism. The feudal hierarchy was composed of counts, viscounts, valvasores (barons), and free vassals, of whom the first three grades were noble. Underneath was the institution of serfdom, equally harsh as in Aragon, and almost equally late in advancing toward emancipation. Personal slavery (of Moslem prisoners of war, as a rule) also existed. There were not many Mozárabes or Mudéjares, but the Jews were fairly numerous. All enjoyed the same lenient treatment as that accorded in Castile and Aragon,—with a beginning of restrictive measures at the end of the period. The middle class of the cities was more important than in Aragon, especially in the coast cities or towns, where the citizens engaged in commerce. Although the communal family group was the general rule in Catalonia, this institution was considerably modified by the existence of the law of primogeniture, causing the entailment of landed properties to each successive eldest son,—a variation from the Fuero Juzgo. This aided in economic prosperity, because it kept estates intact, and influenced younger brothers to go forth in order to build up estates of their own. In other respects, social customs did not vary materially from those of Aragon and Castile.[26]
Political life and administration in Catalonia.
Importance of Barcelona.
The only new factor of interest in general political and administrative organization was the increase in the actual authority of the counts of Barcelona (and, similarly, after they became kings of Aragon), although on the same legal basis of feudalism as before. This came about through the uniting of most of the counties in the single family of the counts of Barcelona, who therefore were able to exercise a decisive influence in Catalonian affairs. The rise in importance of Barcelona was the most notable event in municipal history. Its commerce and wealth were so great, and its prestige as capital of the county so influential, that it exercised a veritable hegemony over the other towns. Each year the general assembly elected five councillors, who in turn appointed a council of one hundred, or Consell de Cent, which was the principal governing body of the city. The city was allowed to coin money and to appoint consuls charged with looking after the business interests of Barcelona in foreign lands. The Consell also had mercantile jurisdiction. The Catalan commercial customs were to pass over in a developed form into Castile, and from there to the Americas. The Catalonian Cortes had but three estates, and was in other respects similar to that of Castile. The representatives of the towns were admitted in 1218, but their right to appear was not definitely affirmed until 1282. Barcelona had unusual weight in that body, for it possessed five votes. The Usatges (the code adopted in the reign of Ramón Berenguer I) merely expressed in writing the feudal customs which were already in vogue, and therefore it was generally observed. It did not supersede the charters, the Fuero Juzgo, and local customs, all of which continued in effect. The Roman and canon law, despite the resistance of the nobility, came to be regarded as supplementary to other legal sources, although not as of right until centuries later. In naval affairs Catalonia was far ahead of the rest of Spain. Both a merchant and a naval marine had existed since the ninth century, and the former was encouraged by the suppression of taxes and by favorable treaties with the Italian states. The navy had become a permanent state institution by the middle of the twelfth century (in the reign of Ramón Berenguer IV). Individual lords and towns had naval vessels of their own, however. The history of the church followed the same course as in Aragon; the Roman rite was adopted in the time of Ramón Berenguer I (1035-1076).