Enterramientos regios en Castilla y León (c. 842-1504). La dispersión de los espacios funerarios y el fracaso de la memoria dinástica

Abstract

La ausencia de un mausoleo regio en Castilla similar a Saint-Denis o Westminster se ha considerado, de manera tradicional, fruto del desinterés de los monarcas castellanos en las ceremonias funerarias y de las fronteras movedizas de un reino siempre en expansión. En el presente artículo se pretende analizar los espacios funerarios de la monarquía castellanoleonesa durante toda la Edad Media y plantear las causas que impidieron la consolidación de un único panteón dinástico. A lo largo de estas líneas se reexaminará el papel de la Reconquista en este proceso y se mostrará que la dispersión de espacios funerarios y la no consolidación de un único mausoleo regio fue resultado de las circunstancias concretas que se dieron entre mediados del siglo XIII y finales del XIV, período en el que el resto de reinos occidentales sí crearon sus propios panteones dinásticos.

The absence of a royal mausoleum in Castile similar to Saint-Denis or Westminster has been traditionally considered a result of the kings’ disinterest in funerary ceremonials and a consequence the changing boundaries of an expanding kingdom. The current article aims to analyse the funerary spaces of the Castilian- Leonese monarchy during the Middle Ages and to suggest the main obstacles to the consolidation of a dynastic royal mausoleum. This paper will re-examine the role of the Reconquista in this process and will try to show how the spread of funerary spaces and the non-consolidation of a centralized royal mausoleum was the consequence of specific circumstances between the second half of the thirteenth and the end of the fourteenth century, the period when the rest of Western monarchies created their own mausoleums.

The absence of a royal mauso-leum in Castile similar to Saint-Denis or Westminster has been traditionally con-sidered a result of the kings’ disinterest in funerary ceremonials and a consequence the changing boundaries of an expanding kingdom. The current article aims to ana-lyse the funerary spaces of the Castilian-Leonese monarchy during the Middle Ages and to suggest the main obstacles to the consolidation of a dynastic royal mausoleum. This paper will re-examine the role of the Reconquisrta in this pro-cess and will try to show how the spread of funerary spaces and the non-consolida-tion of a centralized royal mausoleum was the consequence of specifi c circumstances between the second half of the thirteenth and the end of the fourteenth century, the period when the rest of Western monar-chies created their own mausoleums