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Mayorazgo is a conditional property tenure that arose in the central Iberian kingdom of Castile during the later Middle Ages and by 1500 had come to dominate property holding within that kingdom’s aristocracy. An estate held in mayorazgo could not be alienated from the family’s possession or divided among heirs. Instead, it had to be passed down intact to the next in line. Mayorazgo continued as a significant economic force in Iberia until its disestablishment in 1836. While primarily utilized for holding landed wealth, a family mayorazgo could also incorporate rents and material items, such as money, arms and armor, artwork and books, documents—in short, anything the family wished to maintain possession of over time. Although the origins of mayorazgo date at least as far back as the mid-thirteenth century, this form of tenure underwent a great expansion during and because of warfare that dominated the peninsula during the second half of the fourteenth century—warfare that brought the Trastámaran dynasty to the throne when Enrique II “the Bastard” assassinated his legitimate half brother, Pedro I “the Cruel,” and seized the throne. This article examines mayorazgo and how the wars of the period promoted its growth.

In To Win and Lose a Medieval Battle, Andrew Villalon and Donald Kagay provide a full treatment of one of the major battles of the Hundred Years War. The authors have investigated the background to Najera, traced its immediate events, and laid out its effects on Iberia and the principal adversaries in the Hundred Years War.

In To Win and Lose a Medieval Battle, Andrew Villalon and Donald Kagay provide a full treatment of one of the major battles of the Hundred Years War. The authors have investigated the background to Najera, traced its immediate events, and laid out its effects on Iberia and the principal adversaries in the Hundred Years War.

In To Win and Lose a Medieval Battle, Andrew Villalon and Donald Kagay provide a full treatment of one of the major battles of the Hundred Years War. The authors have investigated the background to Najera, traced its immediate events, and laid out its effects on Iberia and the principal adversaries in the Hundred Years War.

Warfare on the periphery of Europe and across cultural boundaries is a particular focus of this volume. One article, on Castilian seapower, treats the melding of northern and southern naval traditions; another clarifies the military roles of the Ayyubid and Mamluk miners and stoneworkers in siege warfare; a third emphasizes cultural considerations in an Icelandic conflict; a fourth looks at how an Iberian prelate navigated the line between ecclesiastical and military responsibilities; and a fifth analyzes the different roles of early gunpowder weapons in Europe and China, linking technological history with the significance of human geography. Further contributions also consider technology, two dealing with fifteenth-century English artillery and the third with prefabricated mechanical artillery during the Crusades. Another theme of the volume is source criticism, with re-examinations of the sources for Owain Glyndwr's (possible) victory at Hyddgen in 1401, a (possible) Danish attack on England in 1128, and the role of non-milites in Salian warfare.Contributors: Nicolas Agrait, Tonio Andrade, David Bachrach, Oren Falk, Devin Fields, Michael S. Fulton, Thomas K. Heeboll-Holm, Rabei G. Khamisy, Michael Livingstone, Dan Spencer, L.J. Andrew Villalon

Le 2 juillet 1588, le Pape Sixte V introduisit Diego de Alcala (plus connu sous le nom de Diego de San Nicolas des Puerto) dans cette compagnie exclusive d'hommes et de femmes que l'Eglise catholique romaine considere comme des saints. Prenant l'exemple de cette canonisation qui fut la premiere dans l'Europe de la Contre Reforme, l'A. s'interroge sur les interets de l'Eglise a fabriquer des saints dans ce contexte historique si particulier. Pour ce faire, il reconstruit le processus evenementiel qui a mene saint Diego de la mort vers sa canonisation

As the dominant conflict in the west during the last two centuries of the Middle Ages, the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) deservedly ranks among the most widely studied topics in medieval history. By focusing on three eventful years in the opening phases of the Hundred Years War, this chapter will examine royal use of the power to pardon as a means of recruiting, retaining, and rewarding Englishmen who served in England’s armies. Since the pardons under consideration in the chapter all come from its initial stages, a very brief summary of the events of that period would seem to be in order. In the chapter, the author divides pardon along different lines—military and non-military pardons. Study of military pardons supplies insight into both the violent nature of medieval English society and several military benefits the crown regularly drew from that endemic violence. Keywords:England’s army; Hundred Years War; medieval English society; military pardon