Fresno de Rodilla es un pueblo que en el siglo XV tomó
a censo perpetuo gran número de tierras de los monasterios de San
Cristóbal de Ibeas, San Juan de Ortega y Nuestra Señora de las
Huelgas. El que fuera un alto porcentaje de la tierra de cultivo de
su término era a la vez una muestra de su debilidad y de su fortaleza,
pues sus vecinos dependían de esas parcelas para seguir practicando
la agricultura y a la vez los monasterios dependían de esos
mismos vecinos para que sus tierras continuaran cultivándose y percibiendo
una importante renta agraria. Sobre esta base se desarrolló
una compleja serie de pleitos durante casi dos siglos.
Fresno de Rodilla is one of many villages that, in the
15th Century, took a great amount of land from the Monasteries of
San Cristóbal de Ibeas, San Juan de Ortega and Nuestra Señora de
las Huelgas under Medieval census contracts. The fact that it was a
high percentage of agricultural land belonging to the district was
both a sign of weakness and strength; the inhabitants of the village
depended on this land to continue growing crops while, at the same
time, the monasteries depended on those very inhabitants so that their land would continue to be cultivated and so that they could continue
receiving farming income. Against this backdrop, a complex
and continued series of quarrels developed which lasted for almost
two centuries.
