The King and His Kingdom: a Notion of the Tierra in the Second Partida of Alfonso X

Abstract

The article analyzes the use of the concept “land” (tierra) in several texts from the era of Alfonso X the Wise (1252—1284). The focus is on two chapters of the “Second Partida”, which contains detailed regulation of the social and political structure of the kingdom. In addition to the “Second Partida”, the author examines this concept in the acts of Cortes of Alfonso’s reign, in other legal codes of the Wise King (“Fuero Real” and “Especulo”), as well as in the “Chronicle of Alfonso X”. The use of the latter source is because, although it was compiled later (c. 1348), it contains texts written under Alfonso X. According to the study results, the author identifies several central registers of the use of the concept of tierra in the texts he selected. In the texts of the acts of the Cortes, “Fuero Real” and “Especulo”, this word most often means either land, as a territory covered by the jurisdiction of the king or judges, or as an object of private property rights. In the “Second Partida” appears one meaning more — the earth as the embodiment of the nutritive soul of the people, a link between the king and the people, an integral part of the mystical-political body of the kingdom. In contrast to the previous, more traditional connotations, based on the texts of the Roman and canonical legal traditions, in this case, the source of inspiration for Alfonso X’s collaborators is most likely the Arabic commentaries on Plato’s political dialogues.