La Iglesia de Mallorca y la redención de cautivos en la Baja Edad Media

AbstractThis paper analyses the role of the Church in the ransom of Christian captives who fell under Muslim control. The role of the ransoming orders—Trinitarians and Mercedarians—in the ransoming process was highly significant. Less known is the intervention of the cathedral chapter, often working side by side with the municipal authorities. In both cases, alms were the most important source of income; the charity of their neighbors made a captive’s ransom possible. This paper focuses on the example of the Diocese of Majorca, a territory exposed to the sea, whose inhabitants were frequently captured. Based on some mid-fifteenth century registers of subsidies it is possible to know some of the individual characteristics of the captives, the vulnerability of their families, and the behavior of the responsible persons who distributed the charitable money among the captives and their families.El presente artículo es un primer estudio del rol de la Iglesia en la redención de los cautivos cristianos que se hallaban bajo el yugo de los infieles. La tarea de las órdenes redentoristas —trinitarios y mercedarios— en este ámbito fue muy significativa. Menos conocida es la intervención de la catedral, a veces junto a las autoridades municipales. En ambos casos, las limosnas constituían la principal fuente de ingresos, de modo que el rescate era posible gracias a la caridad de los vecinos. El artículo se centra en el ejemplo de la diócesis de Mallorca, un territorio abocado al mar, cuyos habitantes eran frecuentemente capturados. A partir de una serie de registros de subsidios de mediados del siglo xv, se pueden conocer algunos rasgos de los cautivos, la vulnerabilidad en la que quedaban sus familias y el comportamiento de los responsables de la distribución de las limosnas entre las personas a rescatar.AbstractThis paper analyses the role of the Church in the ransom of Christian captives who fell under Muslim control. The role of the ransoming orders—Trinitarians and Mercedarians—in the ransoming process was highly significant. Less known is the intervention of the cathedral chapter, often working side by side with the municipal authorities. In both cases, alms were the most important source of income; the charity of their neighbors made a captive’s ransom possible. This paper focuses on the example of the Diocese of Majorca, a territory exposed to the sea, whose inhabitants were frequently captured. Based on some mid-fifteenth century registers of subsidies it is possible to know some of the individual characteristics of the captives, the vulnerability of their families, and the behavior of the responsible persons who distributed the charitable money among the captives and their families