Acceso usuarios
Zaragoza, España
The incorporation of cities into the Aragonese Cortes finally completed the representative character of the assembly by including all sections of corporate society. The presence of the fourth estate contributed to the enriching of debates, bringing forth a new set of issues connected with the concerns of the people and the difficulties that the ‘local communities’ had to endure. Their intervention generated other requirements and new solutions. This study analyses this estate's performance in the Cortes during a long period of seven centuries up to the abolition of the Aragonese ordinances in 1711. The purpose of this article is to outline the role played by the cities in the political evolution of the kingdom and their dealings with the monarchy; to observe the mechanisms of representation used in the Cortes by the cities in order to defend their interests; and finally, to put forward some considerations by way of conclusion.
