The medianedo in the local fueros: a spanish medieval institution for the resolution of the lawsuit for kidnapping with a possible germanic origin

Abstract

This article will analyse the crime of kidnapping in the Middle Ages, and in particular in certain fueros which include a procedure that was previously unknown in the Iberian Peninsula: the proceeding of medianedo. Its characteristics and the requisites for its being carried out and the manner of its regulation are examined in detail, as well as the criminal consequences for the kidnapper and for the kidnapped woman, who has the power of choice in this procedure