Recursos

In the Middle Ages a large number of Catalan peasants were remences (serfs): men and women who were forced to live and work on a farm. To free themselves they had to pay a redemption, or remença, to their lord. Moreover, they were subject to other forms of servitude, known as mals usos. (Learn more)

The Llibre del Sindicat Remença (Peasant Syndicate Book) is a handwritten book. It contains the proceedings of the meetings that took place between serfs in the Catalan dioceses of Girona, Vic, Barcelona, Elna and Urgell, from 1448 to 1449. They had to negotiate the abolition of mals usos before the king, Alfons IV the Magnanimous, and collect the money needed to pay the serf's redemptions. (Learn more)

The relevance of the Llibre del Sindicat Remença as a precedent of the first legal text -the Guadalupe Arbitral Ruling- that abolished peasant servitude should be highlighted. Moreover, the Syndicate of 1448 is the result of the royal authorization of Alfons IV that allowed serfs to meet together and organize themselves to press for their freedom. In this sense, it is one of the first signs of political recognition of a non-privileged group: for the first time the negotiating power of bonded peasants was recognized.

In June 2013 the International Committee of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme agreed to include the Llibre del Sindicat Remença of 1448 in the Memory of the World Register.

The Memory of the World (MOW) Register is a programme created in 1992 by UNESCO aimed at the protection, preservation, access and dissemination of documentary heritage. Its goal is to promote and preserve from collective amnesia the key documents for understanding the evolution of mankind. The programme highlights the role of the world's documentary heritage in guaranteeing mankind's shared memory. The documents and the collections of documents included in the register make up and bear witness to the historical evolution of societies throughout the world. (Learn more)