This article deals with the claims on “vacant successions” (bona vacantia) and on “property of none” (res nullius) in early modern Europe, with a focus on the case of the Spanish monarchy between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries (both in the old and in the new world). After briefly reconstructing the legal debate on the matter, the essay tries to demonstrate how the control over successions was at the centre of competing and conflicting claims, among which that of the “king heir”. In the end, what the analysis of this problem shows is that the discontinuity created by the inability of human beings to manage family and community goods and resources was a constant threat to the corporate membership-based societies of those times. Therefore, a number of corporate bodies and institutions (such as the Spanish Juzgado de bienes de difuntos) were encouraged to mobilize in order to ensure that no patrimony were left without an owner, and that there was always someone responsible for responding to the obligations deriving from the ownership of goods.
Autori interni: | ||
Autori: | Buono, Alessandro | |
Titolo: | The King Heir. Claiming vacant estate succession in Europe and in the Spanish World (13th-18th centuries) | |
Anno del prodotto: | 2020 | |
Abstract: | This article deals with the claims on “vacant successions” (bona vacantia) and on “property of none” (res nullius) in early modern Europe, with a focus on the case of the Spanish monarchy between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries (both in the old and in the new world). After briefly reconstructing the legal debate on the matter, the essay tries to demonstrate how the control over successions was at the centre of competing and conflicting claims, among which that of the “king heir”. In the end, what the analysis of this problem shows is that the discontinuity created by the inability of human beings to manage family and community goods and resources was a constant threat to the corporate membership-based societies of those times. Therefore, a number of corporate bodies and institutions (such as the Spanish Juzgado de bienes de difuntos) were encouraged to mobilize in order to ensure that no patrimony were left without an owner, and that there was always someone responsible for responding to the obligations deriving from the ownership of goods. | |
Abstract: | Cet article porte sur les revendications relatives aux « successions vacantes » (bona vacantia) et aux « biens sans maître » (res nullius) dans l’Europe moderne, avec une attention particulière portée au cas de la monarchie espagnole entre les XIII e et XVIII e siècles (aussi bien dans l’Ancien que dans le Nouveau Monde). Après avoir brièvement reconstitué le débat juridique en la matière, cette contribution s’efforce de démontrer comment le contrôle des successions était au centre de prétentions multiples et conflictuelles, parmi lesquelles figurait celle du « roi héritier ». En dernière analyse, l’article témoigne de ce que la discontinuité créée par l’incapacité des êtres humains à gérer les biens et les ressources de la famille et de la communauté était une menace constante pour les sociétés corporatives de l’époque. Par conséquent, toute une série de corporations et d’institutions (comme le Juzgado de bienes de difuntos espagnol) furent poussées à se mobiliser pour éviter que les biens ne soient laissés sans propriétaires et qu’il y ait toujours un responsable pour s’acquitter des obligations découlant de la propriété sur les choses. | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): | 10.4000/acrh.10917 | |
Appare nelle tipologie: | 1.1 Articolo in rivista |
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