Los apeos de la Real Audiencia de Galicia como fuente histórica: documentos de San Miguel de Bóveda (1295-1580)

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract. Judicial land surveys (apeos) were legal instruments that acquired particular significance during the Early Modern period. Their development and dissemination in Galicia were closely linked to the consolidation of the Royal Audiencia of Galicia as a territorial court, although their function transcended the strictly judicial sphere, becoming standardized as an ordinary mechanism for clarifying property rights in a territory undergoing constant transformation, in terms of ownership, jurisdiction, lordship and usufruct. The apeos therefore constitute valuable documentary evidence of landholding, as they tend to incorporate other documents that substantiate ownership or usufruct of the land in question. Consequently, apeos are not only a rich source of information but also of documents incorporated into the proceedings, which in turn allowed the preservation of materials whose originals have been lost. This article examines an apeo carried out by the monastery of San Clodio concerning the territories of its dependent monastery of San Miguel de Bóveda, and offers an edition of the documents it contains,highlighting the richness of this source.