De cadí a alcalde mayor. La élite judicial mudéjar en el siglo XV (II)

Abstract

This article focuses on the evolution of the major authority of the aljamas in Castile as heir to the Islamic qāḍī al-quḍāt, head judge of the community. This institution was modified along the centuries and due to the intervention of Christian authorities. First, the families who undertook this office are analysed. All of them were members of the Mudejar military, commercial or juridical elites in Castile. The alcaldía mayor de las aljamas, an institution studied by Torres Fontes as exceptional, is more common than it was thought, and matches perfectly the structure and organization of the aljamas, while it causes some bitter struggles for power inside them. The last part is devoted to the continuities and disruptions which took place during the transition from the Islamic qudāt to the later alcalde.