Usatici Barchinonae-Usatges de Barcelona-BMSLE-Ms-Z

The Usages of Barcelona (, ; {{langx, la, Usatici Barchinonae) were the customs that form the basis for the

Catalan Constitutions The Catalan constitutions (, ) were the laws of the Principality of Catalonia promulgated by the Count of Barcelona and approved by the Catalan Courts. The ''Corts'' in Catalan have the same origin as ''courts'' in English (the sovereign's cou ...

. They are the fundamental laws and basic rights of

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, dating back to their codification in the twelfth century. The Usages combined fragments of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and Visigothic law with the resolutions of the comital court of Barcelona and the religious

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

s of ecclesiastic synods. The first Usages were compiled and codified by

Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona Ramon Berenguer I ( 1023 – 26 May 1076), called the Old (, ), was Count of Barcelona in 1035–1076. He promulgated the earliest versions of a written code of Catalan law, the Usages of Barcelona. Born in about 1023, he succeeded his fath ...

(1035–1076), to repair the deficiencies of Gothic law. However, the evidence for Ramon's work dates from the codes of

James the Conqueror James I the Conqueror ( Catalan/Valencian: ''Jaume I or Jaume el Conqueridor''; Aragonese: ''Chaime I'' ''o Conqueridor''; ; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 127 ...

of a later date (reigned 1213–1276). James, seeing that some judges ruled by Gothic law and some by Roman law, according to a tradition of ''usus terrae'' (local custom), approached the

Catalan Courts The Catalan Courts or General Court of Catalonia ( or ) were the policymaking and parliamentary body of the Principality of Catalonia from the 13th to the 18th century. Composed by the king and the three estates of the realm, the Catalan Court ...

in 1251 to establish the primacy of the Usages. Though the Usages applied legally only to the

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

n county, in practice they were applied to the entire

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 Usages incorporated several other competing codes of the same era: *Usages of

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

*Customs of

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

*Customs of

Tortosa Tortosa (, ) is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa is located at above sea level, by the Ebro river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buinaca, one of the hi ...

* ''Furs'' of Valencia *''Franquesas'' of

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

*Chapter of

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and

Neopatria The Duchy of Neopatras (; ; ; ) was a principality in southern Thessaly, established in 1319. Officially part of the Kingdom of Sicily, itself part of the Crown of Aragon, the duchy was governed in conjunction with the neighbouring Duchy of Athe ...

The oldest manuscript containing the Usages dates from the end of the 12th century. Between the 15th and 18th centuries, they were copied frequently. The

Nueva Planta decrees The Nueva Planta decrees (, , ) were a number of decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V of Spain, Philip V, the first House of Bourbon, Bourbon Monarchy of Spain, King of Spain, during and shortly after the end of the War of the Spani ...

superseded them with the central legislation of the

Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a dynasty that originated in the Kingdom of France as a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. A branch descended from ...

, though continued to have some force.

Edition

* Bastardas, Joan (ed.): ''Usatges de Barcelona. El codi a mitjan segle XII''. Barcelona: Fundació Noguera, 1984

External links

The Usatges of Barcelona: The Fundamental Law of Catalonia.
Medieval legal codes County of Barcelona Principality of Catalonia Legal history of Spain Legal codes Customary legal systems Politics of Catalonia Politics of Barcelona History of Barcelona Catalan symbols