Banishment's Vanishing Act: The Inconstancy of Law in Early Modern Spain

Abstract

Banishment was probably the most frequent punishment in early modern Spanish criminal courts. It was impossible to enforce and antithetical to the interests of the state, yet it survived. This article, based on archival sources, proposes that the study of early modern law, probably in general but definitely in Spain, must account for its symbolic and rhetorical meaning beyond the language of a given statute. Looking at the practice of banishment, the long history of legal compilation in Spain, and the particularities and contradictions of legal practice there, this article calls for a deeper and more interdisciplinary approach.