The Publications Service of the University of La Laguna has recently published issue number 33 of Cuadernos del CEMYR, a journal from the institution's Institute of Medieval and Renaissance Studies. This extensive volume contains around thirty articles divided into a miscellaneous section, a bibliographic reviews section, and a special issue focused on the participation of small and medium-sized managers in fiscal business within the Hispanic kingdoms in the late Middle Ages. The volume opens with an obituary note honoring the French medievalist Denis Menjot (1948-2024), signed by emeritus professor Eduardo Aznar.
The special issue on medieval fiscal managers in Hispanic kingdoms was coordinated by Pablo Ortego Rico from the University of Málaga, and Juan Manuel Bello León, a professor of Medieval History at the University of La Laguna. The research highlights the importance of medium and small fiscal agents, who have often received less attention than major financiers. For instance, documentation indicates that around 150,000 individuals held responsibilities in the administration of royal revenues in Castile during the reign of Ferdinand the Catholic.
The dossier includes studies on the municipal treasury of Seville in the early 15th century, the fiscal map of the Archdiocese of Seville, and the implementation of the fiscal regime in the Canary Islands, stemming from Castilian developments since the 13th century. Another study examines the management of royal and municipal revenues in the Crown of Castile during over 130 epidemic outbreaks between 1467 and 1508. Finally, it analyzes the role of royal gatekeepers in the royal treasury of the Crown of Aragon during the 14th century.
The miscellaneous articles section features a dozen works by researchers from Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Mexico on diverse topics such as the impact of the Mughal empire on the development of Latin geographical imagination, the reception of Thomas More's work Utopia, and the pictorial works of Santa María de la Oliva in Lebrija.
The most extensive part of the journal is dedicated to fourteen recent bibliographic reviews, covering both current editions of medieval and Renaissance works and research essays on various aspects of these periods.
