De la parroquia como prestimonio. Concesiones beneficiarias en la diócesis de Lugo en el primer tercio del siglo xii

Abstract

This article deals with the question of a strengthening of episcopal control over parish churches in the Iberian Northwest in the early 12th century. The imposition of that authority over rural churches was one of the crucial issues of ecclesiastical reform in dioceses where private control of places of worship was common. In this context, some documents show how, thanks to new documentary practices, Bishop Pedro III of Lugo formalised in writing the conditions of submission of certain parish churches. The practice of oathtaking and consideration the parish to be a beneficiary concession are examined here in the context of the extension of feudal customs in the Northwestern Iberian Peninsula.