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Liber Feudorum Maior

Date
1196
Archive
Archive of the Crown of Aragon
Document type
Textual
Reference code
ES.08019.ACA//ACA,CANCILLERÍA,Registros,NÚM.1
Link to the online document
Description

The Liber Feudorum Maior, drawn up at the behest of King Alfonso the Chaste around the year 1196, is a monumental work that includes 954 documents dated between the 9th and 12th centuries. This cartulary, decorated with miniatures of extraordinary historical and artistic value, constitutes one of the most important sources for understanding the feudal relations between the counts of Barcelona – and later kings of Aragon – and their vassals. More than a legal compilation, it is a tool of government and of memory, which served to legitimize rights, lands and loyalties at a time of consolidation of county power and territorial expansion. The Liber Feudorum Maior reflects the administrative sophistication of medieval Catalonia and its connection with European documentary practices. It is a living testimony of how writing and art were put at the service of power and the construction of a political and territorial identity that would project Catalonia towards the Mediterranean and Europe.