51, 'De religiosis,' 1279 :
" Nos super hoc pro utilitate regni
congruum remedium provideri volentes,
de concilio prelatorum, comitum, et
aliorum fidelium regni niostro, de con-
silio nestro existentium, providimus,
statuimus et ordinavimus etc.
" Nos super hoc pro utilitate regni
congruum remedium provideri volentes,
de concilio prelatorum, comitum, et
aliorum fidelium regni niostro, de con-
silio nestro existentium, providimus,
statuimus et ordinavimus etc.
Thomas Carlyle
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl.
handle.
net/2027/uc1.
b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www.
hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-us-google
? 52
[PAKT I.
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES.
promulgates laws. What was, then, the nature of this
authority ? We have in the third volume set out our con-
clusion that the feudal and national jurists of the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries clearly held that the legislative
authority resided not in any one person, but belonged to the
whole community, acting through all its parts, the King, the
great men, and the whole body of the people;1 and in the
first volume we have endeavoured to show that this principle
was already firmly established in the ninth century. 2
The words of Bracton which we have just quoted are only
one expression of a general principle. Lest, however, it
should be thought that this was only an abstract or specu-
lative principle of the jurists, we will briefly examine the
legislative forms of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in
the various European countries, and we shall see that nowhere
in the constitutional methods of the great European countries
is there any sign that the legislative power belonged to the
king alone, but always that the king acted with the advice
and consent of the great men, and behind them we see from
time to time the whole community. We must bear in mind
that it is impossible in the Middle Ages to draw a sharp line
between what we should call legislative and administrative
action.
If we go through the constitutions of the Empire, we shall
find that they are issued not by the emperors alone, but
with the advice and consent of the princes. This is obvious
even of the great Frederick II. He renewed in 1213 the
promises made by Otho IV. to Innocent HI. with respect
to the territories claimed by the Papacy, and did this with
the counsel and consent of the princes of the Empire. 3 It
is with the same counsel that in 1226 he annulled the com-
munal privileges of the citizens of Cambrai. * He proclaimed
the ban against various Lombard towns in the same year
with the deliberation and judgment of the princes and other
chief men of the Eoman Empire. 8
1 Ci. vol. iii. part i. chap. 3.
>> Cf. vol. i. chap. 19.
? M. G. H. . ' Const. ,' vol. ii. 48.
<< Id. id. , 106.
1 Id. id. , 107.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? CHAP. V. ] SOUECE OF THE LAW OF THE STATE--I. 53
The most noticeable phrase is, however, that which is
prefixed to the constitution of 1235, which created an im-
portant new official, the " Justitiarius," who was to act in
judicial matters during the absence of the emperor. Frederick
begins by saying that ancient custom and unwritten law had
not provided for some important matters which concerned
the tranquillity of the empire, and therefore it was that
with the counsel and assent of the princes and other
faithful men of the empire assembled in a solemn council
(curia) held at Maintz he had promulgated certain con-
stitutions. 1
It would seem that there is implied a contrast between
the tradition and the custom of the empire, and the new
constitution, which is issued by the emperor not alone, but
with the authority of the Council of the Empire.
If we turn from the Empire to the kingdom of France, we
find that the same principle is illustrated in the " Ordon-
nances " of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It is im-
portant to observe this, because there has been a tendency
in some works on French history to speak of the mediseval
French king as exercising some isolated legislative authority.
This view is not consistent with the fact that the formulas
of legislation which we find in the ordinances are of almost
exactly the same nature as those which we find in the other
European countries at that time, and which, as we have
shown in our first volume, were already used in the ninth
century. 2
Louis the Fat in 1118 issued a regulation about the privi-
leges of the serfs of St Maur des Fosses with the common
1 M. G. H. , ' Const. ,' vol. ii. 190 :
" Licet per totam Germani&m consti-
tuti vivant in causis et negociis priva-
torum consuetudinibus antiquitua tra-
ditis et jure non scripto, quia tamen
ardua quedam, quse generalem statum
et tranquillitatem imperii reformabant
nondum fuerant specialiter introducta,
quorum partem aliquam, si quando
casus trahebat in causam, Beta magis
opinio quam statuti juris aut optente
contradictorio judicio consuetudinis
sentencia terminabat--De consilio et
assensu dilectorum principum eccle-
siasticorum et socularium in sollempni
curia celebrata Moguncio constitu-
ciones quasdam certis capitulis com-
prehensas, presentibus eisdem princi-
pibus, nobilibus plurimis, et aliis
ndelibus imperii fecimus promul-
gari. "
* Vol. i. chap. 19.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? 54
[PABT I,
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES.
counsel and assent of the bishops and great men. 1 Philip
Augustus in 1209 issued an ordinance concerning feudal
tenures, but the formula of legislation is one which hardly
distinguishes between the royal authority and that of the
great princes and barons. 2 In one ordinance of St Louis of
1246 we have a careful statement of procedure. He first
called together at Orleans the barons and magnates of that
province, and learned from them the custom of the province,
and then, with their counsel and assent, commanded it to be
firmly observed in the future. 3
It is true that in the reign of Philip III. we find in a number
of cases, in place of the formula of the counsel and assent of
the barons, the phrase "in Parliamento " or "in pleno Par-
liamento," 4 while in other cases we find such phrases as
" ordinatum fuit per Dominum regem et ejus consilium. " s
In the reign of Philip IV. we find an ordinance issued " par
la cour de nostre seigneur le Eey," 6 and another " in Parlia-
mento. " 7 In the first case these formulas are apparently
taken to be equivalent. 8
In other cases, however, in the reign of Philip 17. , we have
the traditional form, including the reference to the barons
and the prelates. This is especially noticeable in the demand
1 * Ordonnances des rois de France
de la troisieme Race,' 1118 a. d. :
" Ludovicus Dei clementia Francorum
rex, communi quidem episcoporum et
procerum nostrum consilio et assensu,
regis e auctoritatis dccreto, instituo et
decerno ut servi etc. "
2 Id. , 1209 : " Philippus Dei gratia
Francorum Rex, O. Dux Burgundiss ;
Her. Comes Nivernensis, R. Comes
Bolonuc, G. Comes Sancti Pauli, G.
Damma Petra, et plures alii magnates
de regno Francise unanimiter con-
venerunt, et assensu publico firmave-
runt ut a primo die maii in posterum
ita sit de feodibus tenementis. "
3 Id. , 1246: "Nos volentes super
hoc cognoscere veritatem et quod erat
dubium declarare, vocatis ad nos apud
Aurel. baronibus et magnatibus earun-
dem terrarum, habito cum cis tractatu
et consilio diligenti, communi asser-
tione eorum, didicimus de consuetudine
terrarum illarum, quse tabs est. . . .
Haec autem omnia, prout superius
continentur, de communi consilio et
assensu dictorum baronum et militum
volumus et prsecipimus de ccetero in
perpetuum firmiter obser\rari. "
* E. g. , 'Ordonnances,' 1272, 1274,
1275.
6 Id. , 1277, 1278.
s Id. , 1287.
7 Id. , 1291.
8 Id. , 1287 : " C'est l'ordonnance
faite par la cour de nostre Seigneur le
Roi, et de son commandement, seur
la maniere de faire et tenir les bour-
geoisies de son reaume . . . cette orde-
nance fut faite au Parlement de la
? ? Pentecoste 1'an 1287. "
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? CHAP. V. ] SOURCE OF THE LAW OF THE STATE--I. 55
for the surrender of at least half of the silver plate belonging
to the clergy and laity of the kingdom in August 1302,1 and
in the general ordinance for the levy of money for the war
in Flanders in the same year. 2 The most significant of all
these phrases, however, are those of the letter of 1303 to the
Bishop of Paris, which communicates the ordinance made for
the levy of soldiers for the war in Flanders. The ordinance
was made with the deliberation and counsel of those prelates
and barons who could be got together ; but Philip obviously
is aware that all the prelates and barons of the kingdom
ought to have been summoned to consider this, and makes
the excuse that time had not permitted it. 3
It would seem clear that, while it may be right to make
some distinction between the authority of the king in the
royal domain and that which he exercised in France as a
whole, the formulas of legislation show that there was no
substantial distinction between the constitutional principles
of legislation as they obtained in France and in other countries.
The counsel and consent of the great men of the kingdom
is no doubt what Beaumanoir meant when he said that the
king had the right and authority to make " establissemens "
for the whole kingdom for a reasonable cause, for the common
good, and " par grant conseil. " *
It is hardly necessary to argue that the same principles
1 Id. , August 1302 : " Pour la
ne? cessite? apparissant, et pour le profit
commun de notre royaume, il soit
accorde? assembliement de plusieurs de
nos amez et feaux prelaz et barons,
avec notre conseil, que il et toute
autre personne d'e? glise, re? ligion, ou
de siecle queles que elles soient, baillent
et delivre en present, la moitie? de tout
leur vesselement blanc. **
2 Id. , March 1302(3) : " De fidelium
prelatorum baronum et aliorum con-
siliariorum nostrorum ad hoc presen-
tium concilio et assensu duximus
ordinandum. **
' Id. , October 1303 : " Euz sur ce
deliberation et consueil, avuecques nos
prelaz et nos barons, que nous poons
avoir eu presentement, pourceque nous
ne poons pas avoir a` cette deliberation
tous nos prelaz et barons du royaume,
sitost comme la necessite? du royaume
le requiert. . . . Nous avecques nos diz
prelaz, barons, e autres feaux presenz,
avons accorde? et ordene? la voie qui
s'ensuit, pour la plus profitable et
convenable a` la besoigne et qui peut
estre au moins du grief des soujies
et du peuple. **
4 Beaumanoir, ' Les Contumes du
Beauvoisis,* 49, 6 : " Tout soit il ainsi
que li rois puist fere nouveaus cstab-
lissemens, il doit mout prendre garde
qu'il les face par resnable cause, et
pour le commun pourfit, et par grant
conseil. "
Cf. vol. iii. pp. 48-51.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? 56
[PAST L
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES.
were recognised in England. The question has been handled
with characteristic caution and detail by Stubbs,1 and we
cite, merely as illustrations of the principle, the formulas of
legislation used by Edward I. in the Statutes of Westminster
of 1275 and the Statute De Eeligiosis of 1279. 2 The truth
is that the process of legislation, as we see it in England,
corresponds precisely with the description of it by Bracton
which we have cited. 3
It is important, however, to observe that the same con-
ceptions of the nature of law and legislation are represented
in the Spanish law-books and constitutional documents of
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. We have not hitherto
dealt with these, but their evidence as to mediseval political
principles is abundant and significant. We have thought it
well to discuss them in some detail, both on account of their
intrinsic importance, and also because there has been some
tendency, even in recent and accomplished historians, to
speak as though the Spanish kings at least in Castile claimed
and exercised a legislative authority of a kind different from
that which, as we have seen, obtained in the other countries
of Western Europe.
The cause of this misundertanding, as far as it exists, may
possibly be found partly at least in the fact that Alfonso X. of
Castile sometimes uses language which might seem to imply
that he claimed to be a sole and absolute legislator. In one
significant passage of the 'Especulo' he sets out the grounds on
which he claims to possess the legislative authority. These are:
first, that if other emperors and kings who are elected to their
office possess this power, much more should he, who held his
1 Cf. Stubb's ' Constit. Hist, of Eng-
land,' chaps. 13 and 15 (especially pars.
160 and 224).
! ' Statute of Westminster,' 1275
(Statutes of the Realm, vol. i. p. 26) :
" Ces sunt les establissemens le Rey
Edward, le fiuz le rey Henry, fes a
Weymoster a son primer Parlement
general apres son corounement apres
la cluse Paske, lan de son regne tierz,
par son conseil e par le assentement
des ereeveskes, eveskes, abbes, priurs,
contes, barons, e la Communaute de
la tere ileckes somons. "
Id. , Vol. i. p.
51, 'De religiosis,' 1279 :
" Nos super hoc pro utilitate regni
congruum remedium provideri volentes,
de concilio prelatorum, comitum, et
aliorum fidelium regni niostro, de con-
silio nestro existentium, providimus,
statuimus et ordinavimus etc. "
>> Cf. p. 50.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? CHAP. V. ]
57
SOURCE OF THE LAW OP THE STATIC--I.
kingdom by hereditary right; second, because thekings of Spain
had this authority before him; and third, because he could
prove his right by the Eoman law, by Church law, and by
the ancient Gothic laws of Spain. 1
That this does not mean that Alfonso claimed that he
had an absolute or sole power in making laws will appear
if we look a little further. In the ' Siete Partidas ' he states
very emphatically that laws must not be abrogated without
the great deliberation of all the good men of the country,2
and in the following chapter he explains that if there should
arise occasion for further legislation, the king is to be advised
by wise and understanding men. 3 These principles corre-
spond with the words which Alfonso used in the introduction
to the ' Especulo. ' He says that this collection of laws was
made with the counsel and consent of the archbishops and
1 ' El Especulo o Espejo de Todos
les Derechos,' i. 1, 13: " Por fazer
entender a los omes desendudos que
nos el sobredicho rey Don Alfonso,
avemos poder de facer estas leyes,
tambien como los otros que las fezieron
ante de nos, oy mas, queremos por
todas estas maneras, por razon, e por
fazana e por derecho. E por razon,
que si los emperadores et los reys, que
los imperios et los regnos o vieren, por
eleccion, pudieron fazer leys en aquello
que to vieron, como en comienda,
quanto mas nos que avemos el regno
por derecho heredamiento. Por fazana
que non tam solamiente los reyes de
Espan? a que fueron antigamiente las
fezieron, mas condes, e jueces, et ade-
lantados que eran de menor guisa, et
fueron guardadas fasta en este tiempo.
E pues que estos las fezieron que
avien mayores sobra si, mucho mas las
podemos nes fazer que por la merced
de Dios non avemos mayor sobre nos
en el temporal.
Por derecho, ca lo puedemos probar
por las leyes Romanas, e por el derecho
de santa eglesia, et por las leys d'Es-
pana que fezieron los Godos, en que
dize en cada una destas que los empera-
dores et los reyes an poder de fazer
leyes, et de anader en ellas, et de
minguar en ellas et de camiar cada que
mester sea. Onde por todas estas
razones avemos poder complidamiente
de facer leyes. "
* ' Siete Partidas,' i. 1, 18 : " Et
porque el facer es muy gran cosa, et
el desfacer muy ligera, por ende el
desatar de las leyes et tollerlas del
todo que non valan, non se debe facer
sinon con grant consejo de todos los
homes buenos de la tierra, los mas
buenos et honrados et mas sabidores,
razonando primeramente mucho los
males que hi fallaren, por que se deben
toller. "
* Id. , i. 1, 19 : " Acaesciendo cosa de
que non haya ley en este libro porque
sea menester de se facer de nuevo,
debe ayuntar el rey homes sabidores
? ? et entendudos, para escoger el derecho,
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? 68
[PART I.
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES.
bishops, the " Eicos Omes," the meD most learned in the law,
and others of the court and the kingdom. 1 When, therefore,
we find Alfonso maintaining that no one can make laws
except the emperor or the king, or other persons by his com-
mand, and that all laws made without his command are not
laws at all,2 we must not understand this as meaning that
the king was the sole legislator, but only that he was an
indispensable party to legislation, and that no laws could
be made without his consent.
The truth is that, when we carry our examination a little
further, we shall recognise that the general principles of legis-
lation and of the nature of law were substantially the same
in Castile as those which obtained in other Western countries
in the Middle Ages.
As we have seen, the first and fundamental medise val
principle of law was the authority of custom. The ' Siete
Partidas ' belongs to that time when the conception of a
deliberate legislative process was becoming important, at
least in theory; but it is evident that the conception of the
legal effects of custom was still strong in the mind of the
author. In an early passage he asserts that " uso," " cos-
tumbre," and "fuero " have naturally the character of law
(derecho), and that they can hinder the law (i. e. , the written
law). 3
The author distinguishes these terms with some care.
" Uso," he says, arises from those things which men do or
1 * Especulo,' Introduction : " E por
esto damos ende libro . . . por que se
acaesciere dubda sobre los entende-
mientos de las leyes e se alzasen a
nos que se libre la dubda en nuestra
corte por este libro que feziemos con
conseio e con acuerdo de los arzobispos
e de los obispos de Dios e de los ricos
omes e de los mas onrados sabidores
de derecho que podiemos aver e fallar,
e otrosi de otros que avie en nuestra
corte e in nuestro regno. "
2 ' Especulo,' i. 1, 3 : " Ninguno
non puede facer leyes si non emperador
o rey o otro por su mondamiento
dellos. E si otros las fezieren sin su
mandado non deben aver nombre
leyes, nin deben seer obedecidas nin
guardadas por leyos, nin deben valer
en ningun tienpo. "
* ' Siete Partidas,' i. 2, Introduction:
" Embargar non puede ninguna cosa
las leyes que non hayan la fuerza et
el poder que habemos dicho si non
tres cosas; la primera, uso, et la
segunda, costumbre, et la tercera fuero;
et estas nacen unas do otras, et han
derecho natural en ai, segunt que en
esto libro se muestra. "
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? CHAP, v. ] SOURCE OF THE LAW OF THE STATE--I. 59
say for a long time and ? without any hindrance. 1 " Cos-
tumbre " is described as that which a people does for ten or
twenty years, with the knowledge and consent of the lord
of the land, and the judgments of men competent to judge. 2
" Fuero " arises from " uso " and " costumbre," but it differs
from them, for it is related to all matters which belong to
law and justice,3 and it is to be made with the counsel of good
and prudent men, with the will of the lord, and the approval
of those who are subject to it. *
It is after Alfonso has thus dealt with law as custom that
he goes on to deal with written law (ley), and he deals with
this as a thing which arises out of customary law. The
1 Id. , i. 2, 1 : " Uso es cosa que
nace de aquellas cosas que home dice
o face, et que siguen continuadamente
por grant tiempo et sin embargo
ninguno. "
* Id. , i. 2, 5: " Pueblo quiere decir
ayuntamiento de gentes de muchas
maneras de aquella tierra do se alle-
gan : et desto non salle home, nin
muger, nin clerigo, nin lego. Et tal
pueblo come este 6 la mayor parte
del, si usaren diez o? veinte an? os a
facer alguna cosa como en manera de
costumbre, sabiendolo el sen? or de la
tierra, et non lo contradiciendo et
teniendolo por bien, pue? denlo facer et
debe ser tenido et guardado por cos-
tumbre, si en este tiempo mesmo
fueren dados concejeramente de tre-
inta iuicios arriba por ella de homes
sabidores et entendudos de judgar, et
non habiendo quien gelos contralle. "
>> Id. , i. 2, 8 : " Fuero es cosa que
se encierran estas dos maneras que
habemas dicho, uso et costumbre, que
cada una dellas ha de entrar en el
fuero para ser firme : el uso porque
los homes se fagan a? e? l et lo amen ;
et la costumbre que los sea asi como
en manera de heredamiento para
razonarlo et guardarlo. Ca si el fuero
es fecho como convien de buen uso
et de buena costumbre, ha tan grant
fuerza que se torna a tiempo asi como
ley, porque se mantienen los homes et
viven los unos con los otros, en paz
et en justicia; pero ha entre e? l et
estos otro departimiento; ca el uso
et la costumbre fucense sobre cosas
sen? aladas, maguer sean sobre muchas
tierras o? pocas, o? sobre algunas lugares
sabidos ; mas el fuero ha de ser en
todo et sobre toda cosa que pertinesca
sen? aladamente a? derecho et a? justicia.
Et por esto es mas paladino que la
costumbre ni el uso, et mas concejero ;
ca en todo lugar se puede decir et
facer entender. Et por ende ha este
nombre fuero, porque se non debe
decir nin mostrar ascondidamente,
mas por los plazas et por los otros
lugares a? quien quier, que lo quiera
oir. Et los sabios antiquos posie? ron
nombro fuero en latin por el mercado
do se ayuntan los homes a? comprar
et a? vender sus cosas ; et desto lugar
? ? tomo? esto nombre fuero quanto en
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? 60 POLITICAL PRINCIPLES. [PAST L
written law is, indeed, in his judgment more honourable and
better than the customary law. It can only be made by
wise and understanding men, and only by the greatest and
most honourable lords, like emperors and kings, and the fact
that it is written prevents it from being forgotten. Even
here, however, it must be observed that Alfonso admits that
custom can annul the "laws. "1 It is clear that in Castile,
as in the other European countries, even when the conception
of the deliberate and conscious process of legislation became
important, and when the written law was thought of as
superior in some respects to custom, law was still conceived
of as arising from custom, and it was still recognised that
custom might modify and abrogate law.
We must, however, examine a little further the principles
of legislation in Castile and Leon. Alfonso, as we have just seen,
recognises that laws are to be made with the advice of wise
1 Id. , i. 2, 11 : "Honrar deben los
homes las leyes en dos maneras ; la
una por la honra que es en aquellos
que la han, la otra por e? l bien quel
puede ende venir al que honra aquella
cosa de que puede ser honrado. Et
porque estas dos cosas son en las
leyes, por eso las deben mucho honrar ;
ca maguer que el uso et la costumbre
pueden menguar dellas o? tollerlas del
todo, segunt que deximos de suso, et
otrosi como quier que estos derechos
se tornen unos en otros, asi como
saliendo del uso costumbre, et de la
costumbre fuero, et del fuero ley, et
en decendiendo de la ley fuero, et del
fuero costumbre, et de la costumbre
uso ; todavia la ley ha estas honras
sen? aladas, demas de aquestas otras,
ca despues que la ley es fecha, ha de
ser fuero consejero et publicado : et
otrosi recibe en si costumbre para ser
costumbrado por ella : et otrosi debe
ser usada, porque en otra maniera non
se podri? an dolia aprovechar las gentes.
Et por ende como quier que se torne
en estas otras, non es la sua tornada
si non en ganando et en recebiendo
poder et honra dellas. Et aun ha
otra manera, ca las leyes non las
pueden facer si non los mayores sen? ores
et los mas honrados, asi como empera-
dores o? reyes ; porque se entiende que
per quanto son mas nobles et de mayor
lugar los que los facen, tanto mayor
honra reciben ellas. Et sin esta han
otra muy grande, que son ciertas et
escriptas, et non se deben judgar por
entendemiento de homes de mal seso,
nin por fazanas nin por albedri? o, sinon
quando menguase la ley en lugares, o?
la hobiesen de emendar o? a? facer de
nuevo ; ca estonce es de catar homes
entendudos et sabidores para albedriar
et veer toda cosa porque se major
puede facer o? emendar, et mas con
razon. . . . . . .
Onde por todas estas razones han honra
las leyes que son fechas, et ordenadas
et puestas en escripto, asi como de sus
deximos, sobre todos los fueros, et
usos et costumbres que los homes
? ? ponen et pueden poner ; ca lo al se
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? CHAP. V. ] SOURCE OF THE LAW OF THE STATE--I. 61
and understanding men ; it might be suggested that this is not
quite the same thing as the normal legislative method of
other Western countries in the Middle Ages. We must, there-
fore, examine the proceedings of the Cortes of Leon and
Castile, and of those less completely organised assemblies
which preceded them. It will then become evident that
these Assemblies, as far as they can be traced back, exercised
a legislative or quan-legislative authority.
The Bishops, Aboots, and Optimates of what they term
the kingdom of Spain met at Leon in 1020 A. D. , and in the
presence and at the command of the king, Alfonso and his
wife made certain decrees which, as they said, were to be
firmly established for future times. 1 King Ferdinand held a
council at Coyanza in 1050 with the Bishops and Abbots
and Optimates of his kingdom, and there issued his decrees. 2
We have an explicit declaration of the legislative authority
of these councils in a clause of the proceedings of that Council
of Leon, probably of the year 1188, in which there is a
reference to the presence of elected representatives of the
cities. (We shall return to this matter in a later chapter. )
The king, Alfonso IX. , promised that he would not make
war or peace or issue a decree (placitum) without the counsel
of the bishops, nobles, and good men by whose counsel he
recognised that he ought to be ruled. 3
We find the same King Alfonso IX. at a council held at
1 ' Collecion de Cortes De los Reinos
de Leon et de Castilla,' 1 : " Era M. L.
viii. sub Kalend. Augusti, in presentia
Domini Adefonsi et uxoris ejus Geloire,
convenimus apud Legionem in ipsa
sede beats Marie omnos pontifioes,
abba tes et obtimates regni Hyspanise,
et jussu ipsius regis talia decreta decro-
vimus, qus? firmiter teneantur futuris
temporibus. "
* Id. , 3 : " Ego Fredenandus rex et
Sanctia regina ad restorationem nostrse
Christianitatis, fecimus concilium in
castro Cojanca, in diocesi scilicet
Ovetensi cum episcopis et abbatibus,
et totius nostri regni optimatibus. "
* Id. , 7 : " Ego dominus Aldefonsus
Rex Legionis et Gallicise, cum cele-
brarem curiam apud Legionem cum
archiepiscopis ot episcopis et magna-
tibus regni mei, et cum electis civibus
ex singulis civitatibus, constitui et
juramento firmavi, quod omnibus de
regno meo, tam clericia quam laicia
servarem mores bonos, quos a prede-
cessoribus meis habent constitutos. . . .
(3) Promisi etiam, quod nec faciam
guerram vel pacem, vel placitum, nisi
cum concilio episcoporum, nobilium,
et bonorum hominum per quorum
consilium debeo regi. "
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? (32
[PABT L
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES.
Leon in 1208, which was attended by the bishops, the chief
men, and the barons of the whole kingdom, and the repre-
sentatives of the cities, issuing a law, after much deliberation
and with the consent of all. 1
Finally, we find the same principles of legislation expressed
by Alfonso X. himself, in issuing the decrees of a council
held at Valladolid in 1258 for Castile as well as Leon. He
relates how he had taken counsel with the archbishops, the
bishops, the " rricos ommes," and the good men of the cities
of Castile, Estremadura, and Leon about many things which
had been done to the hurt of himself and all his country,
and that they had agreed to put an end to these. To that
which they had established he gave his authority, that it
should be received and kept throughout all his kingdoms. 2
It is not necessary to carry the matter further, for it is evident
that we have here the normal procedure in legislative or
quasi-legislative action. The same or similar formulas are
used and the same principles expressed in the proceedings
of the Cortez of Valladolid of 1295 and 1299, of Burgos in
1301, of Palencia in 1313, and of Burgos in 1315. 3
It appears to us to be evident that the Spanish conception
of the nature and source of law was in its most important
aspects the same as that of the other countries of Western
Europe. *
1 Id. , 10 : " Sub era mccxlvi mense
Februario convenientibus apud Legio-
nem regiam civitatem, una nobiscum
venerabilium episcoporum cetu reve-
rendo, et totius regni primatum et
baronum glorioso cologio, civium multi-
tudine destinatorum a singulis civi-
tatibus considente. Ego Alfonsus,
illustrimus rex Legionis Galecie et
Asturiarum et Extre mature, multa
deliberations prehabita, de universorum
consensu hanc legem edidi mihi et a
meis posteris omnibus observandam. "
?
? 52
[PAKT I.
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES.
promulgates laws. What was, then, the nature of this
authority ? We have in the third volume set out our con-
clusion that the feudal and national jurists of the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries clearly held that the legislative
authority resided not in any one person, but belonged to the
whole community, acting through all its parts, the King, the
great men, and the whole body of the people;1 and in the
first volume we have endeavoured to show that this principle
was already firmly established in the ninth century. 2
The words of Bracton which we have just quoted are only
one expression of a general principle. Lest, however, it
should be thought that this was only an abstract or specu-
lative principle of the jurists, we will briefly examine the
legislative forms of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in
the various European countries, and we shall see that nowhere
in the constitutional methods of the great European countries
is there any sign that the legislative power belonged to the
king alone, but always that the king acted with the advice
and consent of the great men, and behind them we see from
time to time the whole community. We must bear in mind
that it is impossible in the Middle Ages to draw a sharp line
between what we should call legislative and administrative
action.
If we go through the constitutions of the Empire, we shall
find that they are issued not by the emperors alone, but
with the advice and consent of the princes. This is obvious
even of the great Frederick II. He renewed in 1213 the
promises made by Otho IV. to Innocent HI. with respect
to the territories claimed by the Papacy, and did this with
the counsel and consent of the princes of the Empire. 3 It
is with the same counsel that in 1226 he annulled the com-
munal privileges of the citizens of Cambrai. * He proclaimed
the ban against various Lombard towns in the same year
with the deliberation and judgment of the princes and other
chief men of the Eoman Empire. 8
1 Ci. vol. iii. part i. chap. 3.
>> Cf. vol. i. chap. 19.
? M. G. H. . ' Const. ,' vol. ii. 48.
<< Id. id. , 106.
1 Id. id. , 107.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? CHAP. V. ] SOUECE OF THE LAW OF THE STATE--I. 53
The most noticeable phrase is, however, that which is
prefixed to the constitution of 1235, which created an im-
portant new official, the " Justitiarius," who was to act in
judicial matters during the absence of the emperor. Frederick
begins by saying that ancient custom and unwritten law had
not provided for some important matters which concerned
the tranquillity of the empire, and therefore it was that
with the counsel and assent of the princes and other
faithful men of the empire assembled in a solemn council
(curia) held at Maintz he had promulgated certain con-
stitutions. 1
It would seem that there is implied a contrast between
the tradition and the custom of the empire, and the new
constitution, which is issued by the emperor not alone, but
with the authority of the Council of the Empire.
If we turn from the Empire to the kingdom of France, we
find that the same principle is illustrated in the " Ordon-
nances " of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It is im-
portant to observe this, because there has been a tendency
in some works on French history to speak of the mediseval
French king as exercising some isolated legislative authority.
This view is not consistent with the fact that the formulas
of legislation which we find in the ordinances are of almost
exactly the same nature as those which we find in the other
European countries at that time, and which, as we have
shown in our first volume, were already used in the ninth
century. 2
Louis the Fat in 1118 issued a regulation about the privi-
leges of the serfs of St Maur des Fosses with the common
1 M. G. H. , ' Const. ,' vol. ii. 190 :
" Licet per totam Germani&m consti-
tuti vivant in causis et negociis priva-
torum consuetudinibus antiquitua tra-
ditis et jure non scripto, quia tamen
ardua quedam, quse generalem statum
et tranquillitatem imperii reformabant
nondum fuerant specialiter introducta,
quorum partem aliquam, si quando
casus trahebat in causam, Beta magis
opinio quam statuti juris aut optente
contradictorio judicio consuetudinis
sentencia terminabat--De consilio et
assensu dilectorum principum eccle-
siasticorum et socularium in sollempni
curia celebrata Moguncio constitu-
ciones quasdam certis capitulis com-
prehensas, presentibus eisdem princi-
pibus, nobilibus plurimis, et aliis
ndelibus imperii fecimus promul-
gari. "
* Vol. i. chap. 19.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? 54
[PABT I,
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES.
counsel and assent of the bishops and great men. 1 Philip
Augustus in 1209 issued an ordinance concerning feudal
tenures, but the formula of legislation is one which hardly
distinguishes between the royal authority and that of the
great princes and barons. 2 In one ordinance of St Louis of
1246 we have a careful statement of procedure. He first
called together at Orleans the barons and magnates of that
province, and learned from them the custom of the province,
and then, with their counsel and assent, commanded it to be
firmly observed in the future. 3
It is true that in the reign of Philip III. we find in a number
of cases, in place of the formula of the counsel and assent of
the barons, the phrase "in Parliamento " or "in pleno Par-
liamento," 4 while in other cases we find such phrases as
" ordinatum fuit per Dominum regem et ejus consilium. " s
In the reign of Philip IV. we find an ordinance issued " par
la cour de nostre seigneur le Eey," 6 and another " in Parlia-
mento. " 7 In the first case these formulas are apparently
taken to be equivalent. 8
In other cases, however, in the reign of Philip 17. , we have
the traditional form, including the reference to the barons
and the prelates. This is especially noticeable in the demand
1 * Ordonnances des rois de France
de la troisieme Race,' 1118 a. d. :
" Ludovicus Dei clementia Francorum
rex, communi quidem episcoporum et
procerum nostrum consilio et assensu,
regis e auctoritatis dccreto, instituo et
decerno ut servi etc. "
2 Id. , 1209 : " Philippus Dei gratia
Francorum Rex, O. Dux Burgundiss ;
Her. Comes Nivernensis, R. Comes
Bolonuc, G. Comes Sancti Pauli, G.
Damma Petra, et plures alii magnates
de regno Francise unanimiter con-
venerunt, et assensu publico firmave-
runt ut a primo die maii in posterum
ita sit de feodibus tenementis. "
3 Id. , 1246: "Nos volentes super
hoc cognoscere veritatem et quod erat
dubium declarare, vocatis ad nos apud
Aurel. baronibus et magnatibus earun-
dem terrarum, habito cum cis tractatu
et consilio diligenti, communi asser-
tione eorum, didicimus de consuetudine
terrarum illarum, quse tabs est. . . .
Haec autem omnia, prout superius
continentur, de communi consilio et
assensu dictorum baronum et militum
volumus et prsecipimus de ccetero in
perpetuum firmiter obser\rari. "
* E. g. , 'Ordonnances,' 1272, 1274,
1275.
6 Id. , 1277, 1278.
s Id. , 1287.
7 Id. , 1291.
8 Id. , 1287 : " C'est l'ordonnance
faite par la cour de nostre Seigneur le
Roi, et de son commandement, seur
la maniere de faire et tenir les bour-
geoisies de son reaume . . . cette orde-
nance fut faite au Parlement de la
? ? Pentecoste 1'an 1287. "
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? CHAP. V. ] SOURCE OF THE LAW OF THE STATE--I. 55
for the surrender of at least half of the silver plate belonging
to the clergy and laity of the kingdom in August 1302,1 and
in the general ordinance for the levy of money for the war
in Flanders in the same year. 2 The most significant of all
these phrases, however, are those of the letter of 1303 to the
Bishop of Paris, which communicates the ordinance made for
the levy of soldiers for the war in Flanders. The ordinance
was made with the deliberation and counsel of those prelates
and barons who could be got together ; but Philip obviously
is aware that all the prelates and barons of the kingdom
ought to have been summoned to consider this, and makes
the excuse that time had not permitted it. 3
It would seem clear that, while it may be right to make
some distinction between the authority of the king in the
royal domain and that which he exercised in France as a
whole, the formulas of legislation show that there was no
substantial distinction between the constitutional principles
of legislation as they obtained in France and in other countries.
The counsel and consent of the great men of the kingdom
is no doubt what Beaumanoir meant when he said that the
king had the right and authority to make " establissemens "
for the whole kingdom for a reasonable cause, for the common
good, and " par grant conseil. " *
It is hardly necessary to argue that the same principles
1 Id. , August 1302 : " Pour la
ne? cessite? apparissant, et pour le profit
commun de notre royaume, il soit
accorde? assembliement de plusieurs de
nos amez et feaux prelaz et barons,
avec notre conseil, que il et toute
autre personne d'e? glise, re? ligion, ou
de siecle queles que elles soient, baillent
et delivre en present, la moitie? de tout
leur vesselement blanc. **
2 Id. , March 1302(3) : " De fidelium
prelatorum baronum et aliorum con-
siliariorum nostrorum ad hoc presen-
tium concilio et assensu duximus
ordinandum. **
' Id. , October 1303 : " Euz sur ce
deliberation et consueil, avuecques nos
prelaz et nos barons, que nous poons
avoir eu presentement, pourceque nous
ne poons pas avoir a` cette deliberation
tous nos prelaz et barons du royaume,
sitost comme la necessite? du royaume
le requiert. . . . Nous avecques nos diz
prelaz, barons, e autres feaux presenz,
avons accorde? et ordene? la voie qui
s'ensuit, pour la plus profitable et
convenable a` la besoigne et qui peut
estre au moins du grief des soujies
et du peuple. **
4 Beaumanoir, ' Les Contumes du
Beauvoisis,* 49, 6 : " Tout soit il ainsi
que li rois puist fere nouveaus cstab-
lissemens, il doit mout prendre garde
qu'il les face par resnable cause, et
pour le commun pourfit, et par grant
conseil. "
Cf. vol. iii. pp. 48-51.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? 56
[PAST L
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES.
were recognised in England. The question has been handled
with characteristic caution and detail by Stubbs,1 and we
cite, merely as illustrations of the principle, the formulas of
legislation used by Edward I. in the Statutes of Westminster
of 1275 and the Statute De Eeligiosis of 1279. 2 The truth
is that the process of legislation, as we see it in England,
corresponds precisely with the description of it by Bracton
which we have cited. 3
It is important, however, to observe that the same con-
ceptions of the nature of law and legislation are represented
in the Spanish law-books and constitutional documents of
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. We have not hitherto
dealt with these, but their evidence as to mediseval political
principles is abundant and significant. We have thought it
well to discuss them in some detail, both on account of their
intrinsic importance, and also because there has been some
tendency, even in recent and accomplished historians, to
speak as though the Spanish kings at least in Castile claimed
and exercised a legislative authority of a kind different from
that which, as we have seen, obtained in the other countries
of Western Europe.
The cause of this misundertanding, as far as it exists, may
possibly be found partly at least in the fact that Alfonso X. of
Castile sometimes uses language which might seem to imply
that he claimed to be a sole and absolute legislator. In one
significant passage of the 'Especulo' he sets out the grounds on
which he claims to possess the legislative authority. These are:
first, that if other emperors and kings who are elected to their
office possess this power, much more should he, who held his
1 Cf. Stubb's ' Constit. Hist, of Eng-
land,' chaps. 13 and 15 (especially pars.
160 and 224).
! ' Statute of Westminster,' 1275
(Statutes of the Realm, vol. i. p. 26) :
" Ces sunt les establissemens le Rey
Edward, le fiuz le rey Henry, fes a
Weymoster a son primer Parlement
general apres son corounement apres
la cluse Paske, lan de son regne tierz,
par son conseil e par le assentement
des ereeveskes, eveskes, abbes, priurs,
contes, barons, e la Communaute de
la tere ileckes somons. "
Id. , Vol. i. p.
51, 'De religiosis,' 1279 :
" Nos super hoc pro utilitate regni
congruum remedium provideri volentes,
de concilio prelatorum, comitum, et
aliorum fidelium regni niostro, de con-
silio nestro existentium, providimus,
statuimus et ordinavimus etc. "
>> Cf. p. 50.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? CHAP. V. ]
57
SOURCE OF THE LAW OP THE STATIC--I.
kingdom by hereditary right; second, because thekings of Spain
had this authority before him; and third, because he could
prove his right by the Eoman law, by Church law, and by
the ancient Gothic laws of Spain. 1
That this does not mean that Alfonso claimed that he
had an absolute or sole power in making laws will appear
if we look a little further. In the ' Siete Partidas ' he states
very emphatically that laws must not be abrogated without
the great deliberation of all the good men of the country,2
and in the following chapter he explains that if there should
arise occasion for further legislation, the king is to be advised
by wise and understanding men. 3 These principles corre-
spond with the words which Alfonso used in the introduction
to the ' Especulo. ' He says that this collection of laws was
made with the counsel and consent of the archbishops and
1 ' El Especulo o Espejo de Todos
les Derechos,' i. 1, 13: " Por fazer
entender a los omes desendudos que
nos el sobredicho rey Don Alfonso,
avemos poder de facer estas leyes,
tambien como los otros que las fezieron
ante de nos, oy mas, queremos por
todas estas maneras, por razon, e por
fazana e por derecho. E por razon,
que si los emperadores et los reys, que
los imperios et los regnos o vieren, por
eleccion, pudieron fazer leys en aquello
que to vieron, como en comienda,
quanto mas nos que avemos el regno
por derecho heredamiento. Por fazana
que non tam solamiente los reyes de
Espan? a que fueron antigamiente las
fezieron, mas condes, e jueces, et ade-
lantados que eran de menor guisa, et
fueron guardadas fasta en este tiempo.
E pues que estos las fezieron que
avien mayores sobra si, mucho mas las
podemos nes fazer que por la merced
de Dios non avemos mayor sobre nos
en el temporal.
Por derecho, ca lo puedemos probar
por las leyes Romanas, e por el derecho
de santa eglesia, et por las leys d'Es-
pana que fezieron los Godos, en que
dize en cada una destas que los empera-
dores et los reyes an poder de fazer
leyes, et de anader en ellas, et de
minguar en ellas et de camiar cada que
mester sea. Onde por todas estas
razones avemos poder complidamiente
de facer leyes. "
* ' Siete Partidas,' i. 1, 18 : " Et
porque el facer es muy gran cosa, et
el desfacer muy ligera, por ende el
desatar de las leyes et tollerlas del
todo que non valan, non se debe facer
sinon con grant consejo de todos los
homes buenos de la tierra, los mas
buenos et honrados et mas sabidores,
razonando primeramente mucho los
males que hi fallaren, por que se deben
toller. "
* Id. , i. 1, 19 : " Acaesciendo cosa de
que non haya ley en este libro porque
sea menester de se facer de nuevo,
debe ayuntar el rey homes sabidores
? ? et entendudos, para escoger el derecho,
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? 68
[PART I.
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES.
bishops, the " Eicos Omes," the meD most learned in the law,
and others of the court and the kingdom. 1 When, therefore,
we find Alfonso maintaining that no one can make laws
except the emperor or the king, or other persons by his com-
mand, and that all laws made without his command are not
laws at all,2 we must not understand this as meaning that
the king was the sole legislator, but only that he was an
indispensable party to legislation, and that no laws could
be made without his consent.
The truth is that, when we carry our examination a little
further, we shall recognise that the general principles of legis-
lation and of the nature of law were substantially the same
in Castile as those which obtained in other Western countries
in the Middle Ages.
As we have seen, the first and fundamental medise val
principle of law was the authority of custom. The ' Siete
Partidas ' belongs to that time when the conception of a
deliberate legislative process was becoming important, at
least in theory; but it is evident that the conception of the
legal effects of custom was still strong in the mind of the
author. In an early passage he asserts that " uso," " cos-
tumbre," and "fuero " have naturally the character of law
(derecho), and that they can hinder the law (i. e. , the written
law). 3
The author distinguishes these terms with some care.
" Uso," he says, arises from those things which men do or
1 * Especulo,' Introduction : " E por
esto damos ende libro . . . por que se
acaesciere dubda sobre los entende-
mientos de las leyes e se alzasen a
nos que se libre la dubda en nuestra
corte por este libro que feziemos con
conseio e con acuerdo de los arzobispos
e de los obispos de Dios e de los ricos
omes e de los mas onrados sabidores
de derecho que podiemos aver e fallar,
e otrosi de otros que avie en nuestra
corte e in nuestro regno. "
2 ' Especulo,' i. 1, 3 : " Ninguno
non puede facer leyes si non emperador
o rey o otro por su mondamiento
dellos. E si otros las fezieren sin su
mandado non deben aver nombre
leyes, nin deben seer obedecidas nin
guardadas por leyos, nin deben valer
en ningun tienpo. "
* ' Siete Partidas,' i. 2, Introduction:
" Embargar non puede ninguna cosa
las leyes que non hayan la fuerza et
el poder que habemos dicho si non
tres cosas; la primera, uso, et la
segunda, costumbre, et la tercera fuero;
et estas nacen unas do otras, et han
derecho natural en ai, segunt que en
esto libro se muestra. "
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? CHAP, v. ] SOURCE OF THE LAW OF THE STATE--I. 59
say for a long time and ? without any hindrance. 1 " Cos-
tumbre " is described as that which a people does for ten or
twenty years, with the knowledge and consent of the lord
of the land, and the judgments of men competent to judge. 2
" Fuero " arises from " uso " and " costumbre," but it differs
from them, for it is related to all matters which belong to
law and justice,3 and it is to be made with the counsel of good
and prudent men, with the will of the lord, and the approval
of those who are subject to it. *
It is after Alfonso has thus dealt with law as custom that
he goes on to deal with written law (ley), and he deals with
this as a thing which arises out of customary law. The
1 Id. , i. 2, 1 : " Uso es cosa que
nace de aquellas cosas que home dice
o face, et que siguen continuadamente
por grant tiempo et sin embargo
ninguno. "
* Id. , i. 2, 5: " Pueblo quiere decir
ayuntamiento de gentes de muchas
maneras de aquella tierra do se alle-
gan : et desto non salle home, nin
muger, nin clerigo, nin lego. Et tal
pueblo come este 6 la mayor parte
del, si usaren diez o? veinte an? os a
facer alguna cosa como en manera de
costumbre, sabiendolo el sen? or de la
tierra, et non lo contradiciendo et
teniendolo por bien, pue? denlo facer et
debe ser tenido et guardado por cos-
tumbre, si en este tiempo mesmo
fueren dados concejeramente de tre-
inta iuicios arriba por ella de homes
sabidores et entendudos de judgar, et
non habiendo quien gelos contralle. "
>> Id. , i. 2, 8 : " Fuero es cosa que
se encierran estas dos maneras que
habemas dicho, uso et costumbre, que
cada una dellas ha de entrar en el
fuero para ser firme : el uso porque
los homes se fagan a? e? l et lo amen ;
et la costumbre que los sea asi como
en manera de heredamiento para
razonarlo et guardarlo. Ca si el fuero
es fecho como convien de buen uso
et de buena costumbre, ha tan grant
fuerza que se torna a tiempo asi como
ley, porque se mantienen los homes et
viven los unos con los otros, en paz
et en justicia; pero ha entre e? l et
estos otro departimiento; ca el uso
et la costumbre fucense sobre cosas
sen? aladas, maguer sean sobre muchas
tierras o? pocas, o? sobre algunas lugares
sabidos ; mas el fuero ha de ser en
todo et sobre toda cosa que pertinesca
sen? aladamente a? derecho et a? justicia.
Et por esto es mas paladino que la
costumbre ni el uso, et mas concejero ;
ca en todo lugar se puede decir et
facer entender. Et por ende ha este
nombre fuero, porque se non debe
decir nin mostrar ascondidamente,
mas por los plazas et por los otros
lugares a? quien quier, que lo quiera
oir. Et los sabios antiquos posie? ron
nombro fuero en latin por el mercado
do se ayuntan los homes a? comprar
et a? vender sus cosas ; et desto lugar
? ? tomo? esto nombre fuero quanto en
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? 60 POLITICAL PRINCIPLES. [PAST L
written law is, indeed, in his judgment more honourable and
better than the customary law. It can only be made by
wise and understanding men, and only by the greatest and
most honourable lords, like emperors and kings, and the fact
that it is written prevents it from being forgotten. Even
here, however, it must be observed that Alfonso admits that
custom can annul the "laws. "1 It is clear that in Castile,
as in the other European countries, even when the conception
of the deliberate and conscious process of legislation became
important, and when the written law was thought of as
superior in some respects to custom, law was still conceived
of as arising from custom, and it was still recognised that
custom might modify and abrogate law.
We must, however, examine a little further the principles
of legislation in Castile and Leon. Alfonso, as we have just seen,
recognises that laws are to be made with the advice of wise
1 Id. , i. 2, 11 : "Honrar deben los
homes las leyes en dos maneras ; la
una por la honra que es en aquellos
que la han, la otra por e? l bien quel
puede ende venir al que honra aquella
cosa de que puede ser honrado. Et
porque estas dos cosas son en las
leyes, por eso las deben mucho honrar ;
ca maguer que el uso et la costumbre
pueden menguar dellas o? tollerlas del
todo, segunt que deximos de suso, et
otrosi como quier que estos derechos
se tornen unos en otros, asi como
saliendo del uso costumbre, et de la
costumbre fuero, et del fuero ley, et
en decendiendo de la ley fuero, et del
fuero costumbre, et de la costumbre
uso ; todavia la ley ha estas honras
sen? aladas, demas de aquestas otras,
ca despues que la ley es fecha, ha de
ser fuero consejero et publicado : et
otrosi recibe en si costumbre para ser
costumbrado por ella : et otrosi debe
ser usada, porque en otra maniera non
se podri? an dolia aprovechar las gentes.
Et por ende como quier que se torne
en estas otras, non es la sua tornada
si non en ganando et en recebiendo
poder et honra dellas. Et aun ha
otra manera, ca las leyes non las
pueden facer si non los mayores sen? ores
et los mas honrados, asi como empera-
dores o? reyes ; porque se entiende que
per quanto son mas nobles et de mayor
lugar los que los facen, tanto mayor
honra reciben ellas. Et sin esta han
otra muy grande, que son ciertas et
escriptas, et non se deben judgar por
entendemiento de homes de mal seso,
nin por fazanas nin por albedri? o, sinon
quando menguase la ley en lugares, o?
la hobiesen de emendar o? a? facer de
nuevo ; ca estonce es de catar homes
entendudos et sabidores para albedriar
et veer toda cosa porque se major
puede facer o? emendar, et mas con
razon. . . . . . .
Onde por todas estas razones han honra
las leyes que son fechas, et ordenadas
et puestas en escripto, asi como de sus
deximos, sobre todos los fueros, et
usos et costumbres que los homes
? ? ponen et pueden poner ; ca lo al se
Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? CHAP. V. ] SOURCE OF THE LAW OF THE STATE--I. 61
and understanding men ; it might be suggested that this is not
quite the same thing as the normal legislative method of
other Western countries in the Middle Ages. We must, there-
fore, examine the proceedings of the Cortes of Leon and
Castile, and of those less completely organised assemblies
which preceded them. It will then become evident that
these Assemblies, as far as they can be traced back, exercised
a legislative or quan-legislative authority.
The Bishops, Aboots, and Optimates of what they term
the kingdom of Spain met at Leon in 1020 A. D. , and in the
presence and at the command of the king, Alfonso and his
wife made certain decrees which, as they said, were to be
firmly established for future times. 1 King Ferdinand held a
council at Coyanza in 1050 with the Bishops and Abbots
and Optimates of his kingdom, and there issued his decrees. 2
We have an explicit declaration of the legislative authority
of these councils in a clause of the proceedings of that Council
of Leon, probably of the year 1188, in which there is a
reference to the presence of elected representatives of the
cities. (We shall return to this matter in a later chapter. )
The king, Alfonso IX. , promised that he would not make
war or peace or issue a decree (placitum) without the counsel
of the bishops, nobles, and good men by whose counsel he
recognised that he ought to be ruled. 3
We find the same King Alfonso IX. at a council held at
1 ' Collecion de Cortes De los Reinos
de Leon et de Castilla,' 1 : " Era M. L.
viii. sub Kalend. Augusti, in presentia
Domini Adefonsi et uxoris ejus Geloire,
convenimus apud Legionem in ipsa
sede beats Marie omnos pontifioes,
abba tes et obtimates regni Hyspanise,
et jussu ipsius regis talia decreta decro-
vimus, qus? firmiter teneantur futuris
temporibus. "
* Id. , 3 : " Ego Fredenandus rex et
Sanctia regina ad restorationem nostrse
Christianitatis, fecimus concilium in
castro Cojanca, in diocesi scilicet
Ovetensi cum episcopis et abbatibus,
et totius nostri regni optimatibus. "
* Id. , 7 : " Ego dominus Aldefonsus
Rex Legionis et Gallicise, cum cele-
brarem curiam apud Legionem cum
archiepiscopis ot episcopis et magna-
tibus regni mei, et cum electis civibus
ex singulis civitatibus, constitui et
juramento firmavi, quod omnibus de
regno meo, tam clericia quam laicia
servarem mores bonos, quos a prede-
cessoribus meis habent constitutos. . . .
(3) Promisi etiam, quod nec faciam
guerram vel pacem, vel placitum, nisi
cum concilio episcoporum, nobilium,
et bonorum hominum per quorum
consilium debeo regi. "
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-19 10:47 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/uc1. b3318617 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? (32
[PABT L
POLITICAL PRINCIPLES.
Leon in 1208, which was attended by the bishops, the chief
men, and the barons of the whole kingdom, and the repre-
sentatives of the cities, issuing a law, after much deliberation
and with the consent of all. 1
Finally, we find the same principles of legislation expressed
by Alfonso X. himself, in issuing the decrees of a council
held at Valladolid in 1258 for Castile as well as Leon. He
relates how he had taken counsel with the archbishops, the
bishops, the " rricos ommes," and the good men of the cities
of Castile, Estremadura, and Leon about many things which
had been done to the hurt of himself and all his country,
and that they had agreed to put an end to these. To that
which they had established he gave his authority, that it
should be received and kept throughout all his kingdoms. 2
It is not necessary to carry the matter further, for it is evident
that we have here the normal procedure in legislative or
quasi-legislative action. The same or similar formulas are
used and the same principles expressed in the proceedings
of the Cortez of Valladolid of 1295 and 1299, of Burgos in
1301, of Palencia in 1313, and of Burgos in 1315. 3
It appears to us to be evident that the Spanish conception
of the nature and source of law was in its most important
aspects the same as that of the other countries of Western
Europe. *
1 Id. , 10 : " Sub era mccxlvi mense
Februario convenientibus apud Legio-
nem regiam civitatem, una nobiscum
venerabilium episcoporum cetu reve-
rendo, et totius regni primatum et
baronum glorioso cologio, civium multi-
tudine destinatorum a singulis civi-
tatibus considente. Ego Alfonsus,
illustrimus rex Legionis Galecie et
Asturiarum et Extre mature, multa
deliberations prehabita, de universorum
consensu hanc legem edidi mihi et a
meis posteris omnibus observandam. "
?
