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Map of Lleida Township

Date
1150
Archive
Municipal Archive of Lleida
Document type
Textual
Reference code
CAT-AML-001-PER001
Link to the online document
Description

In 1150, after the conquest of Muslim Lleida, the Settlement Charter was drawn up, the first document preserved in the city’s Municipal Archive. This founding text marks the beginning of Christian and feudal Lleida, and establishes the legal, social and economic bases for its repopulation. With this letter, the new inhabitants received land, rights and duties, and a new urban and institutional structure was created. The document reflects the desire to integrate Lleida into the political and territorial structure of medieval Catalonia, and is a clear example of how written documentation was key in the construction of a Europe of cities, laws and citizenship. It is a living witness to the transformation of a space and a society, and to the power of law as a tool for European cohesion and projection.