THE DOWRY IN CASTILIAN LAW IN THE LATE MIDDLE AGES: THE NOTARY RECORDS OF THE PROVINCIAL HISTORICAL ARCHIVE OF CUENCA (1504-1507)

The aim of this article is to achieve a more thorough and detailed understanding of the concept of dowry in the late Middle Ages and at the onset of the Early Modern age. The first part of this study deals with the legal norms related to dowry in Castilian law during the fifteenth century. Roman law, Visigothic law and the legal works of king Alfonso X the Learned have significantly influenced Castilian legislation on this issue. The second part of the study focuses on the legal practice of notaries in Cuenca during the last decades of the fifteenth century and the first years of the sixteenth (before and after the Law of Toro in 1505). The records examined are dowry contracts from the Historical Provincial Archive of Cuenca (AHPC), a documental source that provides valuable information on various social, economic and human aspects of daily life in Cuenca.