Los libros de Vedorías del Valle del Roncal

Abstract

The vedoría is a juridical figure, traditional in the Roncal Valley (Navarra), whose function is to determine the borders between fields belonging to private owners, a task which was undertaken by two inspectors or veedores designated by the Town Hall. As agreed by both, the corresponding minutes were drawn up and registered in the official register kept in the Town Hall and became known as the Book of Vedorías. The first vedorías known, date back to the end of the XVI century and the institution, with small local variations, maintained power up to the second half of the XIX century, when they began to be enforced less frequently. The last vedoría was undertaken in Uztarroz, in 1962. The vedorías, originally, were sentences dictated by the lord mayors, who during the Ancient Regime held judicial powers. However, once this judicial base disappeared, the vedorías continued to be enforced for more than one and a half centuries, constituting a fascinating example of administrative inertia.