Marriage and friendship in medieval Spain : social relations according to the fourth partida of Alfonso X

191 Pages·1990·31.053 MB·English

by  Marilyn Stone

Marilyn Stone
Marriage and Friendship in
Medieval Spain
Social Relations According to
the Fourth Partida of Alfonso X
Co gle
Marriagea nd Friendshipi n
MedievalS pain
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American University Studies
Series II
RomanceL anguagesa nd Literature
Vol. 131
PETER LANG
New York • Bern • Frankfurt am Main • Paris
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Marilyn Stone
~
Marriage and Friendshipi n
MedievalS pain
Social Relations According to
the Fourth Partida of Alfonso X
PETER LANG
New York • Bern • Frankfurt am Main • Paris
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Llbnry ~ Colllfflll Catalopla-ln-PublicatlonD ata
Stone, Marilyn
£76/
Marriagea ndf riendship in medieval Spain : social
' relations according to the fourth partida of Alfonso X /
Marilyn Stone.
p. cm. - (American university studies. Series II,
Romancel anguagesa ndl iterature; vol. 131)
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Marriage law- Spain. 2. Kinship (Law)-Spain.
3. Siete partidas (Spanish law code). 4a. partida.
4. Spain-Social life and customs. I. Tide. II. Series.
KKT542.S76 1990 346.4601'6'0902-dc20 89-39647
[344.606160902) CIP
ISBN0 -8204-077-9
ISSN0 740-9257
CIP-Titelaufnahmdee r Deutsdten Bibliothek
Stone, Marilyn: •
Marriage and friendship in medieval Spain :
social relations according to the 4. partida of
Alfonso X / Marilyn Stone. - New York; Bern;
Frankfurt am Main; Paris: Lang, 1990.
(American University Studies: Ser. 2, Romance
Languages and Literature; Vol. 131)
ISBN 0-8204-1177-9
NE: American University Studies/ 02
© Peter LangP ublishingI, nc., New York 1990
All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction,e ven partially,i n all forms such as microfilm,
xerography,m icrofiche, microcard, offset strictly prohibited.
Printedb y" "ibert-DnlckG mbH,D armstadtW, estG ermany
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Table of Contents
Preface....................................................................................v..i.i. .......
Acknowledgments...................................................................i.x.. ......
Introduction. ..............................................................................1.. .....
Chapter One Toe Historyo f Las SieteP artidas. ...................... S
Printed Editionso f the Las SieteP artidas
Current Status of ManuscriptS tudyo f
Las SieteP artidas
Las SieteP artidasa nd Other LegislativeW orks
Chapter Two Marriagea nd Dowries.......................................3..3.
Betrothal
Marriage
Dowries
Chapter Three Kinshipa nd Godparentage. ...............................6. 9
Chapter Four Children. ..........................................................8..9.. ..
Chapter Fwe Friendship.......................................................1.1..5.. ..
Chapter Six The Languageo f the Fourth Partida. ................1 31
Conclusion. ............................................................................1..4..7. ......
Appendix Definitionsf rom the QuartaP artida. .................1 51
Bibliography..........................................................................1.6..9.. .......
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Preface
Modem scholarship in Alfonsine legislative studies may be said to
have come about in two stages. The first stage began with the pub
lication by the Spanish Royal Academy of History of an edition, in
several cases for the first time, of general codes and special works:
the Siete Partidasi n 181J7,t he Esplculo, the Fuero Real, and leuer
works in 1836, and royal documents in 1851. While the editions
are considered faulty by philologists of our own day, they nev
ertheless offered a point of departure for further study as, ever
since, they have evoked questions about original titles, the precise
nature of a work, its true extent, its sources, and promulgation.
The second stage in modem studies may be said to date from the
reexamination of relations between the Esplculo, the Fuero Real,
and the Siete Partidasb y Alfonso Garcfa Gallo in 1951, together
with the simultaneous publication of Evelyn Procter's monograph
on Alfonso as patron of literature and learning and the post
humous publication (1963) of the history of Alfonso and his reign
by Antonio Ballesteros-Beretta. Since then scholars have been
locating manuscripts and preparing new editions that seek to satisfy
criteria stricter than those used by the Academy's editors even
while their task remains complicated by the lack of known original
Alfonsine manuscripts containing any of the codes mentioned.
Meanwhile, studies based on the editions available continue to
be needed, and their contents may offer suggestions or inspire in
sights that prove valuable in the preparation of new editions. The
effort by Marilyn Stone constitutes one such study. Dr. Stone's
data, observation, and comments on social relations as these are re
flected in the QuartaP artidac an prove very useful to scholars who
wish to go deeper into aspects of the subject that she introduces
and surveys here.
Robert A Macdonald
University of Richmond
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Partida IV folio 287r ms. Vit. 4~ Reproducedw ith permissiono f Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid.
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Acknowledgments
I wish to expreu my appreciation to the many people who took
part in the creation of this book. The inter-hbrary loan department
of the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library at New York University cheer
fully and asiduously helped me to obtain materials from reposito
ries near and far. I am grateful to Professor Jerry R. Craddock of
the University of California at Berkeley for providing me with
copies of microfilms of Partidam anuscripts. Father Adolfo Robles
of the Convento de Predicadores in Valencia graciously made
available to me a copy of Manuscript 88 of Partidas III and W.
Professor John Nitti of the Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies
at the University of Wisconsin at Madison allowed me to make use
of an unpublished version of the Dictionaryo f the Old Spanish
Language. I am indebted to Professor Robert A MacDonald of
the University of Richmond for his cautious advice and encour
agement. I am thankful to Maria Teresa Simarro Martinez of the
Biblioteca Nacional for the permission to reproduce the first folio
of PartidaW from the manuscript version of the Siete Partidass aid
to have belonged to the kings Fernando and Isabel.
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Introduction
Love, marriage, and friendship are universal themes which appear
in the poetry and prose of all ages. Yet, it is surprising to find that
these topics form the core of Book Four of Las Siete Partidas,a
work generally known as a medieval legal treatise and called "the
1
first extensive compilation of western secular law since Justinian."
The Partidash ave been the most famous Spanish law code for gen
erations, but, that code has moral and philosophical dimensions
which have not been analyzed in depth. The Partidash ave served
as precedents for legal decisions and have been quoted in literary
works. They are a significant example of the absorption of Roman
law and the presentation of canonical ideas in Medieval Europe.
They are considered the foundation of the law in Spain and Span
ish America and they were influential in the formation of the first
Portuguese legal code. Even the state of Louisiana appropriated
money in 18262t o translate the the Siete Partidasi nto English be
cause the work was deemed to be a notable contribution to the civil
code of that state.
However, there are problems surrounding the appearance of the
Seven Books of Law which have been troublesome for centuries
and which are unresolved today: Who was the author? Where and
when were they presented? What was their legal validity? and
3
What was the nature of the original text? These questions are not
only of interest to legal scholars; they are important to students of
Spanish linguistic and belletristic history because the manuscripts
and the early printed editions of the work offer fertile ground for
the study of the primitive vernacular. In addition, the method of
translating foreign legal ideas is often done in a "literary" style with
many allusions to oral traditions and philosophical works. Legal,
historical, semantic and literary motives for exploring this text at
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