Orígenes del archivo de la Corona de Aragón, (en tiempos, Archivo Real de Barcelona)

Abstract

The Archive of the Crown of Aragon is probably the most ancient institution of its kind still alive in Europe. Its origins have been traced back by some historians to the hypothetical existence of an archive created by the counts of Barcelona in 10th century. However, there is no documental evidence of its existence until 1318, in the framework of the political and bureaucratic transformations introduced by king James II of the Crown of Aragon, which enforced the political confederation born as a loose dynastic union. Previously, James I had kept records in several monasteries, such as Sijena, also a royal pantheon, but in a very limited way from the organisational and legal point of view. It is only after the reception of Roman law, in the middle of 13th century, when archives begin to be thought of as privileged places to keep records that bear witness, as a royal prerogative and as a sign of authority.
Only at the beginning of the 14th century were the concepts of recordkeeping, information management and documents as a source of evidence brought together within the Crown of Aragon and led to a transformation of the medieval archival institutions into useful instruments of power for the Monarchy.