Feudal Law in the Texts about El Cid: on the Issue of the Concept of Naturaleza

The article is devoted to the study of the concept of naturaleza, which denoted one of the forms of personal dependence in the conceptual system of feudal law in Castile and Leon in the 13th — mid-14th centuries. The object of the study is literary texts associated with the epic tradition of El Cid, the legendary knight and Castilian magnate Rodrigo (Ruy) Diaz de Vivar (c. 1048 — 1099) (aka Campeador (Warrior)). We are talking about the “Poem of El Cid” (early 13th century), its prose versions in the Critical and Extended Versions of the Old Castilian Chronicle Estoria de Espanna (1280—1290s), as well as the prequel to the poem, the work “The Young Years of Rodrigo” (1360s). It is proved that naturaleza and the legal concepts related to it (sennor natural, natural, vasallo natural) were not invented by the legalists from the circle of Alfonso X the Wise (1252—1284), but reflected the real legal practice of their time. The key among these genetically related concepts is the expression “lord by birth” (sennor natural), reflecting an important feature of the institution of seigneurial power of the kings of Castile and Leon, the origins of which go back to the history of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages and require separate study.