Sale, price and valuation in Galicia and Castile–León in the tenth century

Abstract

The number of sale transactions recorded by northern Spanish charters of the tenth century is very striking, especially in the 930s to 960s. A record of price paid was a consistent element of such documents, although words used to express price varied from silver solidi to goats, shirts and grain. Valuations, in solidi and in other units of account such as cattle, were often stated when objects were used as payment. While it looks as if some silver was really used in deals in urban León and its hinterland, using pieces of silver called argenzos, argenteos etc., elsewhere this was rare. Comparing the transactions in the three very different monastic collections of Celanova in the north–west, Sahagún in the central meseta and Cardeña in the foothills of the sierras in the north–east, regional difference is also striking. Sahagún is notable for the volume and early date of its sales and for increasing use of silver–based expressions of price and value. Round Celanova, by contrast, although there were also many sales, people used several modes of valuation simultaneously, but metal–based notions very rarely. Round Cardeña, close to urban Burgos, far fewer sales are recorded, and they come later in the century, but silver–based notions of value were the only ones used. This latter sub–urban context seems to have been much less commercially active than that of León and Sahagún, with exchange by gift and countergift a more prominent characteristic.