Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies· 2026Q1
From immunity to jurisdictional territories: the evolution of cotos in the Kingdom of Galicia
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- 2026year
Short summary
Medieval immunity privileges for 'cotos' in the Kingdom of Galicia were used to alienate royal jurisdiction, fundamentally reshaping administrative and judicial landscapes into the 16th century.
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Key points
- Cotos in the Kingdom of León were royal grants of immunity.
- These cotos played a major role in Galicia's territorial division during the Early Modern period.
- Medieval immunity privileges were used to alienate royal jurisdiction into the 16th century.
- This alienation led to significant changes in administrative, judicial, and municipal structures.
- The medieval administrative space was dynamic, with local agents actively shaping its construction.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
In the Kingdom of León, cotos were spaces endowed with immunity by royal privilege. The Early Modern jurisdictional map reveals the major importance that cotos held in the territorial division of Galicia. Nevertheless, the surviving privileges of immunity are scarce, and many of them are either spurious or preserved only through indirect copies. This article seeks to assess the mechanisms and constraints that allowed medieval immunity privileges to serve, throughout the Late Middle Ages and even into the sixteenth century, as instruments for the alienation of ordinary royal jurisdiction, thereby reshaping the administrative, judicial, and municipal landscape as a result of the extensive powers conferred by civil and criminal jurisdiction with mero et mixto imperio. This study aims to demonstrate that the medieval administrative space of the northwest, far from being a static and immutable reality, underwent a continuous process of contestation and that, rather than being an order imposed from above, local agents played an essential role in its construction and reconstruction.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: History
HistoryArts and Humanities