Kings, lords, subjects and vassals: The ecclesiastical pastoral on the ideal political relationships in Castile (14th to 17th centuries)

Abstract

This paper will approach the ethos (i.e., the moral background) taught by the Church through pastoral works (handbooks for confessors and books of moral theology) on relationships between political rulers and their subjects. For this purpose, we will work with a selection of works written (or widely read) in the Crown of Castile and Leon between the 14th and 17th centuries. The first part is about the casuistry on the legitimacy of the authority, the power, and the control of the wealth and resources by the rulers (king, princes, lords). In the second part, we will focus on the question about the community leader's responsibility for their subjects' behavior. In the third part, we can see the moral issue of taxes (what levies are lawful and what others are not, and the fair goals of these incomes…). The last part concerns the subjects' duties regarding their lords and sovereigns, when they should obey them, and when they should not.