Gent nova. La colonització feudal de la Catalunya Nova (segles XII-XIII)

Abstract

This article is a synthesis of the research that in recent years has been dedicated to the processes of feudal colonisation of New Catalonia between the 12th and 13th centuries. The most visible phenomenon of this is, without doubt, the scope of the movement of families who abandoned their homes in their respective regions of origin to emigrate towards the recently occupied regions. The written sources that the conquest produced reveal the presence of thousands of people and one can thus assume that they represent just a fraction of those who in fact relocated there. Indeed, the phenomenon is one of the outcomes of the Christian conquest that entailed the eviction of indigenous populations from territories they had occupied for generations. The valleys of the Ebre and the Segre required the application of complex military strategies Tortosa and Lleida fell after six months of siege and despite signing surrender treaties, in virtue of which the defeated would be offered the option of staying, there are indications that population numbers fell significantly. Moreover, evidence of this mudèjar society is highly localised in specific places as a result of a relocation imposed by the conquerors. It is this eviction process the details of which remain largely unknown, despite being clearly evident in the subsequent redistribution amongst the victors that forced a colonisation process immediately after the military operations. The study looks into migratory routes, the hierarchical levels of its main figures and how the settlement of these people took place. This was not a mass or spontaneous movement, as historiography often interprets, but an ordered movement led by specialists, the result of which is an agrarian landscape adapted to the needs of the new feudal order established in the conquered regions.