The ''Sentencia Arbitral de Guadalupe'' (Arbitral Decision of Guadalupe) was a legal decree delivered by King
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand II, also known as Ferdinand I, Ferdinand III, and Ferdinand V (10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), called Ferdinand the Catholic, was King of Aragon from 1479 until his death in 1516. As the husband and co-ruler of Queen Isabella I of ...
at the
Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe in
Extremadura
Extremadura ( ; ; ; ; Fala language, Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is a landlocked autonomous communities in Spain, autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, Spain, Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central- ...
, Spain on 21 April 1486 to free the Catalan
remensa peasants who were subjects of the lord of the manor and tied to his lands and subject to numerous onerous fees and maltreatment under the so-called
evil customs
Evil customs (Catalan: ''mals usos'', lit. "bad uses") were specific medieval feudal customs, generally levies, which peasants were subjected to by their feudal lords in the Crown of Aragon and other European countries. These obligations are relate ...
(''mals usos'').
Objective
The objective of the decree was to solve the conflicts between the
remensa peasants and their lords, conflicts that had motivated the two
wars of the Remences. Negotiations for drafting the decree were very difficult. The king himself became directly involved and was an effective negotiator, at least in the economic sphere.
Finally, King Ferdinand dictated the ''Sentencia Arbitral'' that allowed the end of the evil customs in exchange for a payment (not only for the "mal ús" remença),
and postponed the conflict that had lasted more than four centuries between lords and peasants.
In exchange for a payment of 60 sous per
farmstead
A farmstead refers to the buildings and service areas associated with a farm. It consists of a house belonging to a farm along with the surrounding buildings. The characteristics of a specific farmstead reflect the local landscape, which provides ...
, the right to mistreat peasants and many other minor statutory abuses were abolished. Peasants retained the usufruct of the farm, but had to pay homage to the lord and pay
emphyteutic and feudal fees, albeit with irrational amounts, more to mark who was really in charge than for economic benefit. The upshot was that the abolition of the feudal system for which the peasants were fighting, was converted only into the possibility of freeing themselves from the evil customs, or "malae consuetudines", as people called it at that time.
Signing on behalf of the peasants was
Francesc de Verntallat along with 18 syndicates, including Llorenç Espígol of
Sant Feliu de Pallerols
Sant Feliu de Pallerols () is a village in the province of Girona and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The municipality covers an area of and the population in 2014 was 1,353.
From 1902, Sant Feliu de Pallerols was linked to Girona by th ...
.
Repression
Even so, there was still repression: peasants were obliged to return all the castles that they had won from the lords, and pay 6,000 pounds compensation to the lords. While it is true that King Ferdinand freed some detainees, he also confiscated property or sterilized the land of others, or executed them.
The decree meant the beginning of a new phase in the
Principality of Catalonia
The Principality of Catalonia (; ; ; ) was a Middle Ages, medieval and early modern state (polity), state in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. During most of its history it was in dynastic union with the Kingdom of Aragon, constituting together ...
: the right to freely contract
emphyteutic agreements, which led to general prosperity in the Catalonian countryside. By the 15th century, Catalan peasants already had a level of personal freedom that the rest of the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
and Europe was not to know before the 18th or 19th century.
See also
*
War of the Remences
The Rebellion of the Remences or War of the Remences was a popular revolt in late medieval Europe against seignorial pressures that began in the Principality of Catalonia in 1462 and ended a decade later without definitive result.
Ferdinand II ...
*
Catalan Civil War
The Catalan Civil War, also called the Catalonian Civil War or the War against John II, was a civil war in the Principality of Catalonia, then part of the Crown of Aragon, between 1462 and 1472. The two factions, the royalists who supported John ...
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Peace treaties of Spain
Crown of Aragon
Principality of Catalonia
Feudalism
Medieval history of Spain
Military history of Catalonia
Feudal duties