The Old Law of Bizkaia (1452)

Center for Basque Studies Basque Classics Series, No. 1 The Old Law of Bizkaia (1452) Introductory Study and Critical Edition by Gregorio Monreal Zia Translated by William A. Douglass and Linda White Preface by William A. Douglass Center for Basque Studies University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada This book was published with generous ﬁnancial support from the Provincial Government of Bizkaia. Center for Basque Studies Basque Classics Series, No. 1 Series Editors: William A. Douglass, Gregorio Monreal and Pello Salaburu Center for Basque Studies University of Nevada, Reno Reno, Nevada 89557 http://basque.unr.edu Copyright © 2005 by the Center for Basque Studies All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Cover and series design © 2005 by Jose Luis Agote. Cover illustration: Fragment of the painting La jura de los Fueros de Vizcaya por Fernando el Católico (1476). The work was painted by Francisco de Mendieta at the end of the sixteenth century. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Old Law of Bizkaia (1452) : a critical edition / compiled, edited, and annotated by Gregorio Monreal Zia ; translated by William A. Douglass and Linda White. p. cm. -- (Basque classics series ; no. 1) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-877802-52-2 (pbk.) -- ISBN 1-877802-53-0 (hardcover) 1. Law--Spain--Vizcaya--Sources. I. Monreal Zia, Gregorio. II. Douglass, William A. III. White, Linda, 1949- IV. Vizcaya (Spain). Fuero Viejo. English. V. Title. VI. Series. KKT9001.A17O426 2005 349.46'63--dc22 2005008119 Bixenti Zarraonandia eta Begoña Garetxanari, Natxitxun, Bizkaiko itsaso zabalaren baztertxo horretan, betirako atseden hartzen duten baserritar umil eta duinei. Bihotz-bihotzetik esker onez. Contents Acknowledgments . 11 Preface . 13 The Old Law and Its Contexts: An Introductory Study . 19 Part One I. A Geopolitical Overview . 21 1.Vasconia in Antiquity . 21 2.Bizkaia between Asturias and Navarra: The Creation of a Seigniorial Dynasty . 22 3.The Seigniory under the Sway of the Castillian Monarchs and the Institutional Integration of the Countdom’s Component Territories: The Bizkaian Core or Tierra Llana, the Duranguesado, the Encartaciones and the Villas . 23 II. Juridical Romanization, Castillian Royal Law and Bizkaian Law . 26 1.Medieval Custom . 28 2.The Reception of Roman Law in the Late Middle Ages 29 3.Castillian Royal Law, Common Law and the Disappearance of Local Law . 30 4.The Subsistence of Bizkaian Law . 32 III. Antecedents of the Old Law (FueroViejo) . 34 1.The Emergence of the Concept “Fuero of Bizkaia” . 34 2.The Juan Núñez de Lara Text (1342) . 35 3.The Gonzalo Moro Text (1394) . 36 IV. Fundamental Reasons for Elaborating the Old Law (1452) 38 V. Writing the Old Law . 40 VI. Transcriptions of Old Law Texts . 44 8 The Old Law of Bizkaia 1.Genealogy of the Texts: Stemma Foris Veteris . 44 2.Toward the Joan Ruiz de Anguiz Manuscript (1600) . 46 3.The Copies in the Chancellery of Valladolid Proceeding the Fano Text . 47 a. The Mendieta and Garay Text (1746) . 47 b. The Rodríguez Rojo Text (1787) . 47 VII. Editions of the Old Law . 48 1.The Labayru Edition (1899) . 49 2.The Astuy Edition (1909) . 49 3.The Edition of the Institute of Basque Studies (Instituto de Estudios Vascos) of the University of Deusto (1991) . 50 4.The Edition of the Old Law in the Fuentes Documentales Medievales del País Vasco Published by Eusko Ikaskuntza (1994) . 50 VIII. The Need for a Critical Edition of the Old Law . 51 Part Two IX. The Language of the Old Law . 55 X. An Old Law of Albedrío . 57 XI. The Personal Scope of the Old Law: Hidalgos and Labradores . 61 XII. The Territorial Scope of the Old Law: The Singular Problem of the Villas . 65 XIII. The Seigniory of Bizkaia’s Foundational Pact . 70 XIV. The Community . 75 1.The Concept of “Bizkaia” As Synonymous with the Bizkaian Community . 76 2.The Legislative Faculty of the General Assembly . 77 3.The Rights of Bizkaians: Exemptions and Privileges . 79 XV. The Lord and His Oath . 83 XVI. The Relationship between the Community and Its Lord: The Pase Foral . 86 Contents 9 XVII. The Administration of Justice . 87 1.The Territory of the Tierra Llana and Its Demarcations: The Anteiglesia and Merindad . 87 2.The Merino, Prestamero, Corregidor and Alcalde de Fuero . 90 3.Judicial Instances and Recourses . 92 4.The Restraints on Judges . 95 5.The Problem of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction . 96 6.The Special Jurisdiction of the Iron Foundries . 98 7. Roadways and Rights of Way . 99 XVIII. Penal Law . 99 XIX. Legal Procedure . 104 1.Penal Procedure and Its Phases: The Summons beneath the Tree of Gernika . 106 2.Concerning Dares and Duels . 107 3.Civil Procedure . 109 i. The Demand, Guarantors and Seizures of Property . 109 ii. Appearance before the Judge . 110 iii. The Oral Nature of the Hearing . 110 iv. Concerning Proof . 110 v. The Sentence and Appeals . 111 vi. Legal Representation (Personerías, Voceros, Señores de Pleito) . 111 4.Processual Guarantees: The Oath, Guarantors and Judicial Embargoes . 112 XX. The Nature of Property . 113 1.A Typology of Ownership . 113 2.The Lack of Prescriptive Time Limits upon Property Rights . 115 3.The Sale of Immovable Property and Other Forms of Transmission . 116 XXI. The Family, Matrimony and Matrimonial Rights in Property . 118 1.The Nuclear and Extended Family . 118 2.The Establishment of Canonical Marriage . 119 3.Community Property and Dowering . 119 10 The Old Law of Bizkaia i. The General Principle of Absolute Community Property . 120 ii. Dowering and Marriage Gifts As a Subsidiary Matrimonial Property Regimen . 121 4.Consent of the Wife in the Sale of Her Property and the Regimen of Marital Debts and Obligations . 123 5.Guardianship and Wardship . 124 XXII. Inheritance . 126 1. Inter Vivos Succession: The General Donation . 126 2.Testamentary Succession: Freedom and Constraint in the Disposition of Property . 128 3.Testamentary Succession under the Old Law . 129 i. Absolute Testamentary Freedom Regarding Movable Property . 129 ii. Freedom of Election amongst the Legitimate Heirs Regarding Immovable Property . 129 iii. The Forms of Bizkaian Testaments . 129 4.Legitimate Succession . 133 Part Three XXIII. From the Old Law to the New Law (Fuero Nuevo) . 137 1.The First Reform of the Old Law in 1506: The Problem of Authenticating Custom . 137 2.Transformation of the Old Law into the New Law (1526) . 140 3.Comparing the Old Law (1452) with the New Law (1526) . 145 Notes . 149 The Old Law of Bizkaia of 1452: Critical Edition . 161 Bibliography . 295 Index . 323 Acknowledgments At the outset I wish to underscore that there was one especially relevant individual at the time of determining publication of this work, and who also contributed to its later development. I refer to William A. Douglass, who is named as a translator together with Linda White. Now and then his involvement went much beyond the already difficult task of search- ing for adequate expressions in modern English for a frequently confus- ing medieval juridical text and written in antiquated Spanish. In the spring of 1986, while on sabbatical and living with my family in Reno, Bill and I realized several excursions together through the interior of Nevada. During one of those trips, on the road from Tonopah to Fallon, I commented on the status of a possible publication of the Fuero Viejo de Bizkaia, the Old Law of Bizkaia. Ten years earli- er, I had expended considerable effort collecting manuscripts in order to critically reconstruct the composition of a customary law elaborated in the mid-XVth century by Bizkaians. I concluded the endeavor but, for various reasons, the publication of the ﬁnal text has been delayed. We discussed the historical-juridical, institutional and anthropological mer- its of the Old Law, and Bill suggested that its publication would be well- suited for the Basque Book Series that he edited for the University of Nevada Press. Linda White would be responsible for the translation. To be certain, Linda assumed and completed the undertaking with compe- tence and efficiency, however, once again the text languished due to my diverse professional responsibilities. Two years ago,.

Load more