Wars in 12th Century Catalonia. Aristocracy and Political Leadership

Abstract

Feudal wars and wars of conquest were characteristic conflicts in Catalonia in the 12th century and led to a consolidation of the aristocratic military and political leaders. Among these, the highest power was the count or the king, who extended his domination and led the process of expansion through such novel formulae as pacification, the formation of armies and pacts with foreign leaders. The counts and the king used military agents from outside the regional aristocratic interests, implemented new military policies and found ideological or legislative resources to support their pre-eminence in military deployment. The rise of the cities, the towns and the defence or occupation of the conquered frontiers contributed to the reformulation of the military system, which broke the almost exclusive hold of the noble families on military activity. However, the members of the latter ruled and fought in regional settings, focussing their military activity on the defending and acquiring patrimony, as well as on establishing their jurisdiction. The concepts of heritagisation, dominating and fighting were assimilated into a single reality, and even became interchangeable. Meanwhile, conquests guided by providence placed the “inevitability” of the conquest, acquisition or “liberation” of al-Andalus on another plane.