May I pick your brain? Local minds as living cadastres in a Portuguese eleventh‐century lawsuit

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: In the context of a dispute with the monastery of Lorvão, in the late eleventh century, the monks of Vacariça, near Coimbra (modern Portugal), carried out a field enquiry in the village of Recardães. This was part of a failed attempt to repossess a number of land plots that they claimed were theirs, but had lost control of. This case is a suitable starting point for a discussion of the fundamental, but often neglected role of Dense Local Knowledge (DLK) in the structuration of aristocratic estates and power relations, in contexts where centralized records of landownership were absent.

Source: Early Medieval Europe

DOI: 10.1111/emed.70021

Author: Julio Escalona

Institutions: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto de Historia

Language: English

Topic: Medieval Architecture and Archaeology

Subfield: Archeology

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,900

Funders: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Agencia Estatal de Investigación

OpenAlex ID: W7128540994