La figura legal de la mujer en el fuero de Estella

Abstract

The code of laws of Estella of circa 1076 is one of the first written example of Pyrenean law, encompassing many of the liberties and privileges that will characterize the legal status of women for centuries in Basque historical law. The woman, with the legal title of «echandra» or «etxeko andre» in the code of laws of Navarre of 1234, was a legal subject and possessed, according to the code of Estella, «legal capacity» (sui juris) as a «subject of law» (mulier legalis). This article explores these liberties as articulated within the context of the socio-political and economic organization of the city and its surroundings. Only from this perspective is it possible to understand the legal logic and rationale behind the presence of women in the legal texts of the Pyrenean tradition.