La Cruzada et l’administration des biens vacants en Espagne (xve - xviiie siècles)
Abstract
In early modern Castile, the administration of inheritances in abeyance (abintestatos) and goods of uncertain property (mostrencos) has been the subject of intense conflicts between competing institutions. Cities, convents, lords, corporations have, in different degrees, claimed rights over these properties, by custom or ancient privileges. Despite early statements, the royal treasury did not easily impose itself against these local actors. The Crown acted mainly by delegation, favouring the patronage of lay institutions (the Concejo de la Mesta) or ecclesiastical institutions (the Crusade or the redemptive orders of the Mercy and the Trinity). This article focuses on the most important of these operators: the administration of the Crusade, a pontifical institution under royal patronage, through which the Crown sought to establish a monopoly on vacant property. Following its evolution from the 15th to the 18th century, the aim is to highlight the external and internal resistance that prevented the Crusade from becoming an instrument in the King’s hands for the taxation of spiritual goods. On the contrary, as a court, the Crusade contributed to the registration and certification of local rights on vacant properties, thus allowing them to be perpetuated until the end of the Ancien Régime.
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