The power and control of information in municipal representation in the Catalan courts

When studying the royal arm of Catalan Parliaments in the fifteenth century, it is interesting to take into account, beyond the sources of a parliamentary nature, municipal documentation relating to those parliaments. The royal arm includes the representatives of the cities directly owned by the sovereign who enjoyed the privilege of being able to participate in these assemblies This type of municipal documentation provides an insight into the management process of how information went to and from the courts. The city of Lleida represents a good case study as it offers a relatively comprehensive picture of the information relating to the courts that administrated the royal cities in this period, especially during the reign of Alfonso the Magnanimous (1416–58), as well as how this was managed. In this way, it is interesting to delve into the analysis of the Consell de Prohoms, a commission created to advise procurators in the courts on the topics to be discussed. The importance of these commissions is reflected in the type of people that made up the commission membership. Most of the members belonged to the urban oligarchy and they had considerable experience in the management of the municipality.11 With regard to the composition of these commissions, 1435–54, the mà major represents approximately 75 per cent. E. Martí, ‘Procuradores y consejos asesores de las ciudades reales en las Cortes catalanas y en los parlamentos sardos del siglo XV’, in M.B. Castella and E. Martí (eds), RiMe. ¿Órganos técnicos o instrumentos políticos? Las comisiones de trabajo de las instituciones parlamentarias y representativas 2, (2014), p. 74

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