The Great Castilian Wildfire of 949. Diplomatic Traces and Historical Memory of a Natural Disaster

• Main Author: David PETERSON
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca 2019-06-01
• Series: Studia Historica. Historia Medieval
• Subjects: incendio; anales; diplomática; buezo; valpuesta; campesinado; donaciones
• Online Access: https://revistas.usal.es/index.php/Studia_H_Historia_Medieval/article/view/20977

In the mid-tenth Century a wildfire ravaged the northern Meseta, and particularly Castile, leaving its mark not only in the narrative records of the moment and of successive generations, but also, rather exceptionally, in the diplomatic register where, in the months following the disaster, there would be a marked increase in activity. This is most keenly observed in an until now misunderstood dossier of twelve documents dating from the first half of 950 and referring to the monastery of Buezo which has been preserved in the Becerro Gótico of Valpuesta. This unusual coincidence between the annalistic and diplomatic genres, which has gone unnoticed until now, offers a unique insight into the nature of peasant life in times of crisis, and the relationship between such events and the generation of notarial acts.