Dos estudios sobre el Patrimonio Nacional

Abstract

The two studies brought together in this volume offer two dogmatic approaches to the legal institution of National Heritage. The first examines the unique position that this institution occupies within the framework of public affairs. Contrary to the thesis – which is widely accepted in our doctrine – that has sought to reduce this position to a subcategory of the public domain or the patrimonial assets of the State, the study defends the distinct and differentiated status of National Heritage. The second study, for its part, attempts to reconstruct the legal history of the Royal Patronages with the aim of unravelling the reasons why a set of prerogatives with ecclesiastical and seigneurial roots have ended up forming a closed relationship of legal-public foundations linked to National Heritage. In both cases, the same methodological premise is used: the study of legal institutions cannot be separated from their consideration as historical and political artefacts.