Symbols of Royal Power in Medieval Spainas a tool of political identification

. The paper is devoted to describing methodological foundations for studying medieval political symbolism in the context of researching legal consciousness. To achieve this purpose, the author acknowledges the subjectivity of political rituals and texts (in a broader sense) where they are represented and the subjectivity of the researcher’s perception. This leads to the identification of irrational and affective aspects of symbolism as a way of thinking and understanding political and legal reality in the process of transmitting values and meanings. The author aims, using tools provided by hermeneutics, imagology, semiotics, and other methods that constitute the cultural-anthropological approach in jurisprudence, to identify the features of medieval legal consciousness in both the representation of royal power in political communication and its perception by different social groups. The author examines the processes under consideration within the framework of medieval Spain, taking into account that from the 9th to the 15th centuries, significant changes occurred with regard to the evolution of early medieval statehood and law and their transformation into the typological political and legal model of the modern state and law. This makes it possible to identify in the development of royal power symbolism diverse civilizational influences that became the basis for the formation of Spain’s state and law system, namely, Roman, Byzantine, Arab, and European. Each of these civilizational models significantly altered the interpretation of the symbols, introducing something new. In this sense, the author justifies that the symbols of royal power in Spain visually were the same as the symbols of power in other European countries (crown, throne, scepter, etc.), but their content could differ significantly, shaping the corresponding national identity.

1. Aurell J. The self-coronations of Iberian kings a crooked line. Imago temporis. Medium Aevum. 2014;8:151-175

2. Boytsov MA. Velichie i smirenie. Ocherki politicheskogo simvolizma v srednevekovoy Evrope [Grandeur and Humility: Essays on Political Symbolism in Medieval Europe]. Moscow: Russian Political Encyclopedia (Rosspen); 2009. (In Russ.).

3. Fernández De Córdova Miralles Á. Los símbolos del poder real. En Bartolomé, Alberto y Hernando, Carlos José. Los Reyes Católicos y Granada. Granada: Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales, 2005.

4. Isaev I. A. Gospodstvo: Ocherki politicheskoy filosofii [Dominion: Essays in Political Philosophy]. Moscow: Norma Publ.; 2008. (In Russ.).

5. Kantarovich EH. Dva tela korolya: issledovanie po srednevekovoy politicheskoy teologii [The King’s Two Bodies: A Study in Medieval Political Theology]. Moscow: Gaidar Institute Press; 2015. (In Russ.).

6. Nieto Soria J. M. Imágenes religiosas del rey y del poder real en la Castilla del siglo XIII. España Medieval. 1986,V(9):709-730.

7. Riker P. Konflikt interpretatsiy. Ocherki o germenevtike [The Conflict of Interpretations: Essays on Hermeneutics]. Moscow: Akademicheskiy Proekt; 2008. (In Russ.).

8. Togoeva O. The Crown as a Heavenly Gift: Joan, the Dauphin, and the Angel. In: Althof G. and Boytsov MA (eds.). In the Language of Gifts: Rules of Symbolic Communication in Europe, 1000–1700. Moscow: Politicheskaya entsiklopediya Publ., 2016. P. 113-13. (In Russ.).

9. Valverde Castro M. del R. Simbología del poder en la monarquía visigoda. Studia historica. Historia antigua. 1991;9:139-148.