The Use of Pacts in the Wars Between the Archbishops of Santiago and the Galician Nobility in the Mid-Fifteenth Century

This article analyses the use of pacts in the << private wars >> or horizontal violence among members of the aristocracy through a particular case study: the wars between the archbishops of Santiago and the Galician nobles in the mid-fifteenth century. The aim is to systematise and define the different objectives in pursuit of which the contenders resorted to pacts during the main phases of the conflict cycle. The aim is to examine how the pact was constructed as a useful and versatile instrument of action in this type of disputes, for both defensive and pacifying purposes as well as offensive and tactical ones. Finally, the effectiveness of bilateral pacts between the contenders in the pacification processes will be assessed, together with the role that these pacts acquired in the face of the monarchy's definitive intermediation to settle the conflict cycle.