Malos Usos

the general term for the most oppressive feudal obligations in 13th-15th century Spain (mainly in Catalonia) that expressed the personal dependence of the peasantry on the nobility. The malos usos included the payment made upon transferring the ownership of a peasant from one master to another; the right of a lord to inherit part or all of the property of a peasant dying without heirs and not leaving a will; the right of the first night; a fine levied on a peasant for marital infidelity; and a fine for fires occurring in the peasant’s home. One of the demands of the peasant uprisings of 1462-72 and 1484-86 was the elimination of the malos usos. In 1486 they were annihilated by the sentencia de Guadalipe.