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The Aristocracy and the Monarchy in Northwest Iberia Between the Eighth and the Eleventh Century*

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The Aristocracy and the Monarchy in Northwest Iberia Between the Eighth and the Eleventh Century* chapter 6 The Aristocracy and the Monarchy in Northwest Iberia between the Eighth and the Eleventh Century* Amancio Isla Historians commonly cite the power of the lay and ecclesiastical aristocracy as one of the distinctive features of Galicia in the central Middle Ages. This study proposes to trace the origins of these elites in the early Middle Ages, investigat- ing developments that reach back as far as the Visigothic period. It will exam- ine the foundations of aristocratic power; their acquisition of offices, titles, and wealth; and their enrichment and aggrandizement through their ties with the monarchy and their occupation and settlement of newly conquered lands. On the Origins of the Kingdom of the Asturs The most recent historiography has tended to downplay the impact of the Muslim conquest of Iberia during the century following the invasion of 711.1 If the recent arrivals took command of what may be termed—with some exag- geration—the central power, local activity and society were hardly altered for several decades. The conquest had even less impact in the extreme north and northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. The Muslim presence in these northern territories was greatly affected by the Berber revolt against the Arabs, a struggle that took place in the Maghreb as well as in the Iberian Peninsula. Arab sources indicate that the Arabs had to withdraw to the central mountain ranges of the peninsula as a result of the rebellion of 740–741. As a result, they effectively lost control of the northern Meseta and the extreme north and northwest of the peninsula.2 The new cir- cumstances favored the growth of the kingdom of the Asturs, a political entity * This article is part of a wider study funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación: hum2005-03819/hist) 1 Studying the history of al-Andalus, Manzano (2000) and Acién (2000) both minimize the impact of the conquest throughout the peninsula in the first decades after 711. 2 Ajbār Maŷmū’a, 48–49; al-Bayān, vol. 2, pp. 56–57. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2015 | doi 10.1163/9789004288607_009 252 Isla that began its development in the limited space between the Cantabrian Mountains and the sea.3 Historians’ views of this Christian kingdom of the north have been heavily influenced by the claims advanced in the early medieval sources themselves that the newly emerging polity was the heir of the Visigothic kingdom.4 Of course, this assertion was a purposeful one, aimed at legitimizing the authority of the new rulers and, more specifically, justifying their conquest of territories to the south. After all, it would have been difficult to justify such expansion, if the conquering power were the kingdom of the Asturs, and not the heir of the kingdom of the Goths. At the same time, this appropriation of the Gothic past also expressed the hopes of many Christians, the so-called Mozarabs, who were emigrating northwards from territories held by the Muslims. For them, the goal of the new kingdom had to be the restoration of the state of affairs that prevailed before 711. Despite the intentions of the authors of the late ninth-century Asturian chronicles, sufficient material surfaces to demonstrate that these claims on the Gothic past did not exist in the earliest years of the kingdom. In fact, when these claims were finally developed, they would be combined with other efforts to elevate the protagonism of the Asturs and their kingdom, without making them the heirs of anyone.5 The official neo-Gothic account, formulated in the chronicles and reaf- firmed in the traditional Spanish historiography, presented the kingdom’s ear- liest expansion to the east and, particularly, to Galicia in the west as the suppression of a continual series of uprisings against a legitimate authority. Thus, Fruela, the king of the Asturs (757–768), is said to have battled rebels, 3 I use the term ‘kingdom of the Asturs’ rather than ‘kingdom of Asturias’, because this is what appears (Astororum regnum) in the earliest sources, e.g., Albeldense 12, p. 173. 4 On the underlying premises of the Asturian chronicles, one may consult, among other works, the now classic studies of Díaz y Díaz (1970), 313–343, and of Barbero and Vigil (1978), 232– 278, with references to earlier works, particularly those of Sánchez Albornoz. 5 The most thoroughly neo-Gothic vision of the kingdom of the Asturs was developed by Sánchez Albornoz in various studies, gathered together in his collected works on the king- dom of Asturias (Orígenes de la nación española, vols. 2 and 3, 1974 and 1975). It has been vehemently defended by Besga (2000). The critical view of the neo-Gothic vision is largely indebted to the work of Barbero and Vigil (1978), 262–278, who underscored the importance of indigenous elements and the role of the Mozarabs in redefining the kingdom as the heir of the kingdom of the Goths. Divergent and sometimes conflicting views were expressed in the conference La época de la monarquía asturiana (2002). For my part, I have emphasized the originality of the kingdom and even its relationship to developments in the Carolingian realm (1995), (1998b)..
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