The litigation maintained at the end of the 18th century between the marquises of Camarasa and the village of Pozuel de Ariza is analyzed from the planimetry preserved in the Archivo Ducal de Medinaceli (Spain). This lawsuit settled the possession of lands located in the valley of the Nágima River, a border area between Aragón and Castilla which was traditionally used as a communication pathway between the two aforementioned kingdoms. A gouache topographic map (“mapa topographico”) made on a 72x100 cm. paper using wash technique was our main source. This ancient chart is an adaptation of the one produced seven years earlier by Manuel Inchauste, an architect from Navarre who lived in Zaragoza, where he worked as Professor of Architecture in the Escuela de Dibujo of the Sociedad Económica Aragonesa de Amigos del País and in the Academia de San Luis. The map was drawn up by order of the Marquises of Camarasa and signed in Zaragoza (January 17, 1790) by the foreman Antonio Esteban.
The document is a reliable topographic map which shows elaborate lightning effects of varied and discreet colours which in turn increase the map’s aesthetic value. The picture offers precious geographical and historical information containing specifically three complementary kinds of data: planimetry, altimetry and jurisdiction. Although we do not know the procedures followed during the fieldwork prior to the topographic surveying, it is clear that angles and distances were measured with the accuracy that is proper to the methods and instruments of those times. That can be inferred from the careful display of the map details, their agreement and the overall appearance.
The planimetry includes all of the pathways, the course of the river Nágima, the limits among the different crops, the symbols used to identify the exploitations, the existing irrigation ditches and canals plus other building details pertaining to the geography of the place. It is also of great importance a carefully drawn grid depicting the agricultural plot layouts, since this grid matches another one obtained for these lands years later through allegedly more precise processes.
The altimetry, however, is not as satisfactory since the slope between two points in the plane cannot be estimated. This is obviously due to the inherent difficulty of calculating the altitude in those times. However, it is unquestionable that the shading offered by the brown color, along with the representation of the contact between hillsides and bales with lower dry land, provides the map with striking plasticity.
The jurisdictional impact of the map is also of great historical importance; for this reason, we dedicate a special section in this paper. This map contributed to settling the until then existing disagreement about the demarcation limits for a part of the Castilian-Aragonese border. Such peculiarity confirms the significance of maps like this one as tools for settling land disputes and for taking strategic decisions in order to avoid these disputes. Note that the map includes the geographical situation of the lands in dispute, which are part of a floodplain situated in a karst landscape and located at the Nágima river basin, a tributary on the left bank of the Jalón River.
The litigation between the parties is represented in the map by means of three lines in different colors (blue, yellow and red) to facilitate the thorough understanding of the boundaries in conflict. Three surveyors drafted their respective boundaries in light of the previous delimitation deeds for that purpose. The blue demarcation includes the version of the Marchioness Consort of Camarasa, Ana Gertrudis Bermúdez de Castro y Taboada (1742-1799), who was the wife of Domingo Gayoso de los Cobos Bolaños de Ribadeneira (1735-1803), 11th Marchis of Camarasa. As for the red demarcation, it covers the interests of the council of Pozuel de Ariza. Finally, a third expert surveyor mediating between the two parts produced a parcelling out of the lands in dispute, which can be seen in yellow in the map. The Marquesses of Camarasa defended the lands represented in the map almost in their entirety, outlining the eastern delimitation of the lands in dispute up to the Coto de Pozuel hills. The council of this Aragonese villa, however, outlined a much more reduced area for the Nágima basin. And the third surveyor acting as mediator demarcated the boundaries in such a way that they were closer to the interests of the Casa de Caramasa, moving the boundaries to the south near Moreal de Ariza and reducing these to the east, in the surroundings of Pozuel, where the boundaries match half of the river’s course.
The document, likewise, outlines the ground plans and elevations of the castle and tower of Martín González and of the adjacent hermitage Nuestra Señora de la Torre, whose baptismal font was a demarcation milestone between the two kingdoms that granted access to the Castilla and Aragón privileges through baptism. From what can be inferred through the design of the map and the statement contained in the latter, the ultimate goal of this conflict between the Aragonese villa of Pozuel de Ariza and the lords of Torre de Martín González on their farmland or terrazgo, which is annexed to the Casa de Camarasa in the map, is quite clear: gaining control of a land which was the last vestige of a border conflict between the kingdoms of Castilla and Aragón during the Middle Ages.
In that sense, this work addresses the issue about whether what was termed “Terrazgo de Martín González” in the map was within the jurisdiction of Castilla or Aragón, and whether the Marquesses of Caramasa, later Counts of Castrojeriz also, had the rights over the lands in conflict since they were title holders of the estate of Morón de Almazán and the aggregated territories of Mendoza, or if, on the contrary, these lands belonged to the boundaries of Pozuel de Ariza, and they did not have anything to do with the jurisdiction of the manor. Each party defends their interests as shown in the map, although the Camarasa family had enough documentary evidence to prove their continued possession of this terrazgo at least since the 14th century, as we will prove here. Finally, it seem that the author of the map was so concerned with the orientation of this topographic representation that he decided to include to two motifs to explain it. At the top of the map there is a wind rose with the four cardinal points, even though the North is indicated by means of a fleur-de-lis. The second motif pictures the beautifully coloured outer ring of a compass whose sophisticated needle points to the magnetic North. Classification-JEL: R1 Keywords: Cartografía Histórica, Frontera Castellano-Aragonesa, Torre de Martín González, Ermita de Ntra.Sra.de la Torre, Tierras en Litigio., Historical Cartography, Castilian-Aragonese Border, Tower of Martín González, Hermitage of Ntra.Sra.de la Torre, Lands in Litigation. Pages: 165-190 Volume: 1 Year: 2021 File-URL: http://www.revistaestudiosregionales.com/documentos/articulos/pdf-articulo-2609.pdf File-Format: Application/pdf Handle: RePEc:rer:articu:v:1:y:2021:p:165-190