La Casa y Corte del obispo abulense Sancho Blázquez Dávila: un modelo curial episcopal castellano a mediados del siglo XIV = The Household of the Bishop of Ávila Sancho Blázquez Dávila: a Mid- Fourteenth-Century Castilian Episcopal Curial Model

Abstract

A study of the episcopal household of bishop Blazquez Sancho Davila using the prelate’s testament and a large selection of political, religious, legal and literary texts of the time as the main source for a structural and prosopographical analysis. In the formation, development and consolidation of the court household, the domestic, bureaucratic-administrative and ceremonial structures in different Castilian curial areas were inspired by the effective royal model. In the late Middle Ages, and particularly during the fourteenth century, first in the context of court reforms promoted by Alfonso X and later, after the Trastamaras under Enrique II and Juan I rose to the throne, a considerable flourishing of the court took place closely linked to the introduction of new means of expressing political power. The case we analyse is particularly interesting because of the manifest evidence of models of curial introduction in Castilian episcopal circles.