Árbitros y mediadores en el mundo rural valenciano durante la Baja Edad Media: Els Ports y El Maestrat (s. XIII-XIV)

AbstractThis article analyses the identity of the arbiters in conflicts that took place in the rural country of the kingdom of Valencia during the late Middle Ages. After the conquest of the thirteenth century, the implementation of a new rural society led to the emergence of numerous conflicts between the social actors present in the regions of Els Ports and El Maestrat, both located in the northern part of the kingdom of Valencia. Many of these conflicts were resolved through arbitration, so the arbiters are responsible for managing any changes in social structure. Consequently, our aim is to analyse the identity of the arbiters and to determine the diverse criteria that lords, bourgeois and peasants followed to choose mediators during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, as these individuals played an essential role in the forging of relationships in rural society.Este artículo analiza la identidad de los árbitros que median en los conflictos suscitados en el campo valenciano en la Baja Edad Media. Tras la conquista del siglo XIII, la implantación de la nueva sociedad rural provoca el surgimiento de numerosos conflictos entre los actores sociales presentes en las comarcas de Els Ports y El Maestrat, situadas al norte del reino de Valencia. Muchos de estos litigios se solucionan a través de la institución arbitral, de modo que los mediadores tienen la responsabilidad de gestionar los cambios de la estructura social. En consecuencia, se pretende analizar la identidad de los árbitros y averiguar los criterios que siguen señores, burgueses y campesinos para elegir a los mediadores durante los siglos XIII y XIV, porque estos personajes tienen un papel esencial en la articulación de las relaciones sociales en el mundo rural.AbstractThis article analyses the identity of the arbiters in conflicts that took place in the rural country of the kingdom of Valencia during the late Middle Ages. After the conquest of the thirteenth century, the implementation of a new rural society led to the emergence of numerous conflicts between the social actors present in the regions of Els Ports and El Maestrat, both located in the northern part of the kingdom of Valencia. Many of these conflicts were resolved through arbitration, so the arbiters are responsible for managing any changes in social structure. Consequently, our aim is to analyse the identity of the arbiters and to determine the diverse criteria that lords, bourgeois and peasants followed to choose mediators during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, as these individuals played an essential role in the forging of relationships in rural society