Political Integration and Regeneration: the Southern Basin of Duero in the Kingdom of Asturias-León (SP)

Abstract

This paper analyses the socio-political dynamics which emerged as a consequence of the political integration of the southern basin of river Duero within the Astur-Leonese kingdom. The formation of a new political structure involved the implementation of new social networks, based on military duties and the bishoprics that framed the region. Some landscapes of regeneration marked by the construction of fortifications and the making of particular burial areas were created. The communities settled on some political centres underwent those transformations and changed their identities. The final collapse of the kingdom of Asturias-León on this area did not involve a definitive breakdown, as the local communities survived and preserved some identitarian features. Such evolution is not to be understood within the theoretical framework of a “frontier society”, but in terms of political regeneration.