"A servicio de Dios y por comunal de todos hacemos este libro"análisis y contexto de la iluminación de los manuscritos de las Siete Partidas

Abstract

The Siete Partidas constitute one of the most important contributions to universal knowledge by King Alfonso X and his collaborators. This legal (or rather, legal, and doctrinal) text formed the foundation for late mediaeval legislation, whether or not it was applied as a whole. Moreover, its influence was not limited to the Crown of Castile, but in fact crossed borders into the rest of the kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula. Not only were they key to creating a legal framework for the people living in these kingdoms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but their regulatory ‘life’ continued for the whole Modern Age. Only with the introduction of the civil codes influenced by Napoleon in the territories inheriting the Spanish Monarchy did the Partidas begin to disappear gradually from legal praxis, though their use in some cases continued until the end of the 19th century and even into the 20th century in some territories.Regardless of whether the original goals of the king were fulfilled or not, the success of the text is demonstrated by the fact that there are over a hundred mediaeval copies of the Partidas, including fragments and codices. Between the 15th and 19th centuries as many as three different printed editions were published, with numerous reprints. The success of the Partidas was not limited only to a specific social group, such as judges, lawyers, or jurists; because of their importance and the regulation of the subjects they included, it was also considered an essential work, to be found in noble and ecclesiastical libraries. Thus, the market of the Partidas was not only focused on a single type of principal or client; manuscript copies proliferated which were very diverse in their material and morphology, depending on the target public. The less luxurious copies with a larger number of marginal notes suggest a hands-on and thus more professional use of the book by its owners (lawyers, jurists, etc.)...