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La Policía Nacional recovered a 1313 Teruel codex, written in Old Spanish and Latin, which includes the origins of the community in the mentioned province. In collaboration with the government of Murcia, this manuscript will be delivered to the provincial archive of Teruel, belonging to King Don Jaime from Aragon in the 14th century.
It is a small piece that allows us to understand «how communities, rural elites, city relationships, and rural areas functioned in the Middle Ages,» explained Juan José Morales, head of the archives and museums of the government of Aragon.
The investigation was initiated by the Judicial Police Unit assigned to the Murcia region headquarters. The Chief of the National Police in Murcia, Ignacio del Olmo, specified in a press conference, also attended by the Director General of Cultural Heritage of the Murcia region, Patricio Sánchez, that this operation did not lead to any arrests by default and was not related to any criminal organization.
Specifically, he mentioned that in Elche, there was knowledge of the existence of two historically significant manuscripts, from the 14th and 18th centuries, which were recovered in contact with the Murcia region archive and the regional government, «dated, studied, and found to be related to Aragon,»
This Codex was in the possession of an individual, a collector, who gave it «in good faith» when it was required. It is a handwritten manuscript from the 14th century of King Don Jaime of Aragon, which would include (1208-1276), Pedro III (1240-1285), and Jaime II of Aragon (1267-1327).
It is a book in Hispanic-Arabic paper format with 195 pages sewn in 19 booklets or packets, in good condition, and handwritten in a Gothic Aragonese script, executed with great clarity and care in Latin and Castilian.
Original and authentic, it is a publicly-owned codex, as established by the expert report issued by the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage in the Murcia region and is part of Spanish historical heritage.
The second document, from the 18th century, is private, belonging to a family from Andalusia and contains «a series of provisions, but no longer holds the historical significance that the Teruel document does.» It is a compilation of documents dated between 1611 and 1800, generated by a family from the province of Malaga and contains various agreements, procedures, and transfers related to land ownership.
In this case, it is a document of historical and private ownership, part of the documentary heritage of Andalusia, and held by the original owner, with the obligations and responsibilities corresponding to them in laws and regulations regarding historical and documentary heritage.
The investigation has spanned approximately a year, as in the first phase, information was provided with materials of interest at this level, due to the contact that the national police maintains with professionals in the field of antiquities and historical heritage. The second phase involved dating the document, overseen by the Murcia regional archive.
The National Police is now trying to trace the document’s provenance, where it was purchased, as it is unknown if it was in an Antiquarium or auction, among other places. The police chief warned, «There are many people who possess documents without realizing their importance.»
The next step is to hand over this codex to the Government of Aragon, at which point the executive will «take appropriate measures, restore the work, and scan it so that it can be used by researchers and historians.»
Codex Manuscript on Indestructible Paper
Fernando Sarria, head of archives, museums, and libraries for the government of Aragon, has celebrated the recovery of this document because it is «of great importance, which will undoubtedly reach the provincial archive of Teruel.»
This documentation, of medieval and administrative nature from the Aldeas de Teruel community, contains over a hundred texts written on an «indestructible» paper, as highlighted by Juan José Morales, archivist and head of archives and museums for the government of Aragon.
A «very well-written» codex with various inks and «representations.» That is, «There are the most important texts, which they wanted to maintain for posterity.»
In his view, «it is a vademecum,» since at that time, institutions were «composed» according to privileges granted by the king and arbitration agreements, agreements made with neighbors when enjoying pastures or water rights, among other topics. «These documents were collected and preserved precisely for use in legal proceedings,» he says.
The document is preserved on an «extraordinarily powerful» paper, the traditional one used at that time, and although it requires restoration, the paper «is perfect and can withstand several hundred years under the appropriate conditions of humidity and temperature.»
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AUDIO: La Policía Nacional recupera el Codex de Teruel de 1313 que recolecta el origen de la comunidad de las aldeas
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AUDIO: La Policía Nacional recupera el Codex de Teruel de 1313 que recolecta el origen de la comunidad de las aldeas
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AUDIO: La Policía Nacional recupera el Codex de Teruel de 1313 que recolecta el origen de la comunidad de las aldeas
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AUDIO: La Policía Nacional recupera el Codex de Teruel de 1313 que recolecta el origen de la comunidad de las aldeas
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