THE SOCIAL ROLE OF THE RULING ELITE'S URBAN PROPERTY IN THE LATE MIDDLE AGES: THOUGHTS CONCERNING A CASE STUDY (JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, SPAIN)

European scholarship has found that urban buildings were a sound source of investment. Moreover, in the case of medieval elites, it allowed them to build a thorough network of solidarity and to strengthen their social status. To examine these tendencies in the case of the kingdom of Castile, and especially in the region of Andalusia, we have chosen the city of Jerez de la. Frontera as a case study. This city, one of the most important in southern Castile, has one of the richest medieval archives. From its notary records, we have examined the property of 45 knights who were part of the municipal government during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs (1474-1504). This study has allowed us to confirm the social role of this type of building, as demonstrated by the extension of its palaces, the construction of chapels or the financing of religious buildings or hospitals.