he present study offers a comparative analysis of the specific nature of documents as represented by a particular genre of the same, the testament, in the Crown of Castile during both the later centuries of the Middle Ages and the beginnings of the Early Modern period. In order to do so, different examples of wills issued by permanent members of the elite, particularly by lay and/or ecclesiastical lords, have been consulted. Due to the transcendental spiritual function of a testament, dying intestate became an undesirable turn of events, since a valid will was the necessary means to leave intact the foundations of earthly power and to gain peace in the spiritual realm. Thus, as were important kings (who are better studied), lords – whether counts, dukes, marquises, or archbishops, bishops, cardinals – were always concerned with the issuance of documents in which they could clearly present their final dispositions. With this in mind, the present article undertakes a detailed study of the legal forms and phrasings which individuals of these social levels used, and provides an analysis of a wide range of the types of testament, of the professionals (the public or apostolic notaries) to whom the redaction of the document was entrusted, the style adopted in each example, and the concrete results of the same. The ensuing analysis should enable a reconstruction of the social panorama of an age, while at the same time showing clearly the formal strategies used by members of both groups, clerical and lay, to preserve their last testaments in writing. T Abstract diego belmonte fernández 493
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