Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

Research on the site of Mazmullar was paralyzed in the nineties after completing the last archaeological dig, leaving several questions unresolved. This article, which arises from a chapter of our doctoral thesis, through the analysis of archaeological materials, advances a chronological reinterpretation of the stratigraphic sequences and presents a series of debates on the origin of Mazmullar, its phases of construction, destruction and abandonment. In addition, the problem of its toponym is studied, so that the whole set of results yields a historical hypothesis on the life of this site, one which is very different from the traditional hypothesis: An initial phase from the ninth to tenth centuries, followed by another Caliphal phase with a destruction between the end of the eleventh and the beginning of the twelfth century, and a second occupation throughout the twelfth century with its corresponding abandonment in the thirteenth century.

The twelfth century was an important period in the political and territorial definition of the Portuguese Kingdom. Coimbra was chosen by Afonso Henriques – the prince who would become the first Portuguese king – as his seat at that time and saw the foundation of the Augustinian monastery of Santa Cruz outside the city walls. During the establishment of this monastery, multiple documents were written that allow us to demarcate the parish of São João, under the monastery’s jurisdiction. Drawing on the study of this and other documents produced in Coimbra during the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, this paper will examine the process of territorialisation of the parish of São João and the contemporary definition of a parochial network in Coimbra. Besides studying the boundaries of the city’s nine parishes, as far as the sources allow, an examination of the feeling of ‘belonging’ shown by lay parishioners will be undertaken.

The conquest of Lisbon, in October 1147, marked a new period for the territories of Islamic al-Ušbūna. The now Christian rulers oversaw the changes within the social fabric of the city through the arrival of new elites and the exodus of part of the previous inhabitants, now perceived as ethnic and religious minorities, alongside the transfer of property and appropriation of space. In these urban processes, as with others, the rare information available underlines the role of the new ecclesiastical authorities in the forefront of a necessary institutionalization. The creation of a parish network was part of the latter, with a cadence and comprehensiveness that are still poorly known. This paper intends to re-evaluate the historical treatment of this question, drawing from existing research and new source material. It argues that the process of parochialization in the Lisbon diocese took root very quickly in urban and suburban nuclei, while extending only later to newly-cleared land areas, mostly under the dependence of urban churches. From the middle of the thirteenth century, this process runs in parallel with the necessity to better define their boundaries, which left a document trail spanning until at least the end of the Middle Ages.

This article deals with the career of Juan Martínez de Astudillo, episcopal secretary in the court of Luis de Acuña, bishop of Burgos during the second half of the fifteenth century. This study is based on a solid documentary foundation, most of which comes from the collections found in the Burgos Cathedral Archive. The results obtained are rife not only in very detailed knowledge of the work of the secretaries at the service of late medieval elites, but also in a greater understanding of the exercise of power in Castile at the time.

In the twelfth century, the church of Ardmore, in the south of Ireland, made a unilateral bid for diocesan independence. It met with short-lived success, despite opposition from reformers and synods that sought to formalise and reduce the number of dioceses. This paper examines the career of Eugenius, the only named bishop of Ardmore, through a study of the documentary sources to demonstrate the extent to which the achievements of a marginal church could be shaped by individual actors and their personal relationships.

The aim of the study is to highlight the central role of the notarial institution within the medieval diocese, using as a case study the Catalan region of Baix Empordà (Girona), in the fourteenth century. It focusses on the importance of the notary, not only as a guarantor of the fides publica, but also as a key element of the administrative machinery in the territorial domains of the bishopric. Through the analysis of the episcopal and notarial records available, emphasis is placed on the notary as a key figure in the exercise of the lordship over the population, in particular, through the phenomenon of writing.

The work carried out by the high clergy in the construction of the Cathedral of Seville, which began in the fifteenth century, has not been, to date, fully appreciated. Although scholarship has examined the role of the cathedral chapter as a promoter of the new cathedral, the fact is that this focus on the chapter institution has obscured the decisive role and leadership played by certain archbishops during the construction of the largest cathedral in Europe. In this paper, we will analyse the artistic interventions of the archbishops who ruled the see between 1369 and 1432, namely, Pedro Barroso, Gonzalo de Mena, Alonso de Ejea, Diego de Anaya, and fray Lope de Olmedo.

This study analyses the territorial conflicts among the bishops of León and Castile in the eleventh and twelfth centuries in order to better understand the process involved in the construction of the diocesan territories. It offers a comprehensive picture that highlights the role of conflict as an inherent part of the configuration of the diocese. This perspective also allows to identify three types of conflicts corresponding to different instances of the formation of diocesan territoriality: disputes over diocesan borders, over the control of bordering villages and over extra-diocesan enclaves.

We analyse the medieval trajectory of the old episcopal see of Oca, abandoned after the Islamic invasion of 711. Our source materials are charters, mainly from the cathedral and the San Millán de la Cogolla archives, but also from the unpublished cartulary of Froncea. Oca never regained a significant role in the diocesan organization, marginalized by the creation of the great Castilian diocese established in Burgos and by the transfer to San Millán of the monastery of San Felices de Oca where it had originally been based. It ended up as a small and inconsequential church subordinate to the Abbey of Froncea.

This paper examines the biography of Severus of Málaga, bishop of this city during the second half of the sixth century, a moment in which this see was under Byzantine rule. Isidore of Seville’s De uiris illustribus provides the only known information about this person, but despite the documentary scarcity, one may reconstruct the main milestones of Severus’s biography through other indirect sources. In addition, his literary production –both the works that have survived and those disappeared– will be examined along with his possible building activity.