ricohombre

The ricohombre (a magnate, literally, a Spanish word for "richman") or ricahombría, was a high ranking nobility title in mediaeval kingdoms on the territories of modern Spain and Portugal, replaced by a title of grandee in the late 14th-early 15th century. The ricoshombres, established during the Reconquista (the first document with the term, the charter of Santarém, Portugal, is dated 1179), were supposed to be advisers to the rulers. The transition from ricoshombres to grandees occurred between 1390 and 1530 as the new "noble oligarchy" replaced the old one due to the change of power base caused by the conflict between infantes of Aragon and the supporters of John II of Castile with his favorite Álvaro de Luna. Alfonso de Cartagena in his Doctrinal de los caballeros (c. 1441–1444), while...