Reciprocidades, intercambio y jerarquía en las comunidades medievales

Abstract

Reciprocity, gift and counter gift are concepts which have been widely used by medievalists in the last decades. However, these concepts have generated new problems regarding their chronology, evolution and social meaning. This article analyses the social relations of a Cistercian monastery through its exchanges with the local dominant groups and the peasant communities of its hinterland in the 12th and 13 th centuries. The authors argue that reciprocity can be a valid means of analysis for the explanation of how new social positions are defined, how hierarchies are established and how social movility and differentiation arise when systems of power are organized.