Influencia de las redes nobiliarias en la expansión cristiana del siglo XII. El caso de Soria

The great territorial expansion carried out by Alfonso I of Aragon and Pamplona attracted many nobles, who tried to benefit from it by obtaining booty or land grants for them or their relatives. Offering land tenure was a way for kings to deal with the endemic problems derived from the need to populate a given territory, which was in turn aggravated by weak demographic numbers and a high cost of defence. Hence, the kings of Aragon and Pamplona used the concession of land grants to nobles so that they would guarantee establishing a settlement and defending it: this is what is known as tenure (tenencias), an institution that stipulates a series of rights and obligations for those who received them, while the king maintained the property of the domain and allowed for the increased influence of a certain family or lineage. Virtually since the origin of the kingdom of Aragon, the barons of Pamplona formed a circle of great influence around the kings and tried to extend it through marriages and increasing certain land holdings. This phenomenon will be examined through the specific case studies of the Lehet family of Navarre and their relationship with the first two lords of Soria, Íñigo López and Fortún López.La gran expansión territorial protagonizada por Alfonso I de Aragón y Pamplona atrajo a muchos nobles, que trataron de beneficiarse mediante la obtención de botín o la concesión de tenencias para ellos o sus familiares. Entregar en tenencia un territorio permitía a los reyes afrontar los problemas endémicos que suponía poblar un término, lo que se veía agravado por la escasa demografía y el gran coste económico de la defensa. Por ello, los reyes de Aragón y Pamplona acudieron a la entrega de territorios a nobles para que éstos se encargaran de poblarlos y defenderlos; es lo que se conoce como «tenencias», una institución que suponía una serie de derechos y obligaciones para quien las recibía, reservándose la propiedad del territorio el rey, y que permitía la extensión de la influencia de una determinada familia o linaje. Casi desde la aparición del reino de Aragón los barones pamploneses constituyeron un foco de gran influencia cerca de los reyes y trataron de expandirla mediante matrimonios y la obtención de determinadas tenencias. Esta investigación tiene como objetivo estudiar el fenómeno a través del caso concreto de la familia navarra Lehet y su relación con los dos primeros señores de Soria, Íñigo López y Fortún López.Abstract The great territorial expansion carried out by Alfonso I of Aragon and Pamplona attracted many nobles, who tried to benefit from it by obtaining booty or land grants for them or their relatives. Offering land tenure was a way for kings to deal with the endemic problems derived from the need to populate a given territory, which was in turn aggravated by weak demographic numbers and a high cost of defence. Hence, the kings of Aragon and Pamplona used the concession of land grants to nobles so that they would guarantee establishing a settlement and defending it: this is what is known as tenure (tenencias), an institution that stipulates a series of rights and obligations for those who received them, while the king maintained the property of the domain and allowed for the increased influence of a certain family or lineage. Virtually since the origin of the kingdom of Aragon, the barons of Pamplona formed a circle of great influence around the kings and tried to extend it through marriages and increasing certain land holdings. This phenomenon will be examined through the specific case studies of the Lehet family of Navarre and their relationship with the first two lords of Soria, Íñigo López and Fortún López