War and Taxation. The Soldadas from the Reign of Alfonso VIII of Castile to the 13th Century

This paper examines the issue of the soldadas (salaries or stipends) from the kingdom of Alfonso VIII onwards, focusing on the testimonies from chronicles, mainly the Cronica Latina de los Reyes de Castilla and De rebus Hispaniae by Rodrigo Jimenez de Rada. The soldadas (stipendia) as cash payments for the knights (milites) are the key element to notice the narrow link between war and taxation. The matter should be framed in the wider question of the growth of royal taxation, which is very important yet in the kingdom of Alfonso VIII. One century later, the Rents from Sancho IV (1290-1292) allow us to deduce the large expanse of the soldadas, for instance in Andalusian cities, as well as the large amounts given to the main nobles (ricos hombres) to be shared among their men.