La frontera aragonesa en los siglos XI y XII. Pro defensionem christianorum et confusionem sarracenorum
PDF

Cómo citar

Sénac, P. (2012). La frontera aragonesa en los siglos XI y XII. Pro defensionem christianorum et confusionem sarracenorum. Territorio, Sociedad Y Poder, (4). Recuperado a partir de https://reunido.uniovi.es/index.php/TSP/article/view/9446

Resumen

Resumen: Este artículo analiza los distintos usos del término frontera durante los siglos xi y xii en el reino aragonés. La palabra hace su primera aparición en Aragón a mediados del siglo XI sustituyendo al vocablo limes. Frontera es un término novedoso y de uso limitado ligado a la guerra que se emplea para designar lugares muy diferentes a los del propio reino. Contradiciendo la idea según la cual la frontera sería una línea de fortificaciones que serviría de límite entre dos Estados o un frente militar jalonado de castillos, el análisis del vocablo en la documentación analizada aboga por un significado de espacio. Por otro lado, el término no se emplea jamás con respecto a Castilla, los condados catalanes o Navarra, lo que significa que la diferencia religiosa fue decisiva en la emergencia del concepto. En último lugar, parece que si bien la frontera fue un frente militar, sobre todo fue un espacio dinámico destinado a avanzar hacia el sur.

Abstract: This paper discusses the different uses of the term frontera (border) during the eleventh and twelfth centuries in the kingdom of Aragón. The word makes its first appearance in Aragon in the mid eleventh century replacing the term limes. The word is never subject which led to suppose that the boundary can not carry out any action and, by contrast is a space where the action takes place. The geography of the references reveals that is used to denote different places of the kingdom of Aragón. Frontera is therefore an unstable word, mobile, and the mapping of its employment shows that it moves to the south-eastern, as it progresses the Aragonese reconquest. The term frontera is novel, has a limited use and is linked to the war. The term belongs to the military register and, according to its Latin origin, remains associated with the idea of front. However, reducing the term frontera to the scene where the confrontations took place it would be a mistake and a thorough study of the documentary allow extend the idea of a front. Contrary to the idea that frontera would be a line that served as a boundary between two states or a military front dotted with castles, the word means an area: is the land that separates Christians from Muslims, the area closest to the enemy, a sector of precarious balance where the danger is omnipresent. Inside this area are the castles (castellos, castros, castra), which must be conquered or constructed, and is an attractive land intended to be occupied by the populatores. It also seems that the word frontera is used exclusively by the sovereign in documents that come from his chancery. The birth of the term took place in the context of the sovereign’s reflection on the future of their domains, and we think that this first use also marks the birth of the State of Aragon. The kingdom is defined in relation to other, perceived as different. The monarch, who has his kingdom from God («in baiulia of Deo»), to serve God («in service Deo»), only can keep it fighting with the enemies of Christ. Other documents containing the word regnum confirm this impression: the border is therefore ambivalent. It is both the product and the foundation of the State: legitimizes the realm and the sovereign; funds and strengthens the state. But this State is not defined in relation to other Christian principalities in northern Spain. It is, therefore, the war, but war against the enemies of Christianity, which leads kings to use the term frontera. The boundary was only conceivable in relation to the Muslim religion and the religious difference was certainly decisive in the emergence of the concept. In other words, in medieval Spain, the word frontera emerged against Islam. Accordingly, in Aragon in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, frontera was the negation of the idea of limit. Unlike the concept of border demarcation which would seem appear in the repeated allusion to castles, the king did not ever use frontera in this sense, because the Christian expansion could not have limits.

PDF

Descargas

Los datos de descargas todavía no están disponibles.