Definition
A Spanish term meaning "part" or "portion." In legal contexts, *partida* appears almost exclusively as a shorthand reference to *Las Siete Partidas* — the monumental thirteenth-century Castilian legal code compiled under the direction of Alfonso X of Castile (Alfonso the Wise). The code, whose full name translates roughly as "The Seven-Part Code," organized the law of the Castilian kingdom into seven major divisions (partidas), each addressing a distinct body of law: canon and procedural law, royal authority, feudal institutions, family and personal status, commercial and property law, criminal law, and the law of wills and succession.
In American legal history, *Las Siete Partidas* carries particular significance as a source of substantive law in territories formerly under Spanish colonial rule, including Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and California. Courts and practitioners in those regions applied Partidas doctrine through the period of transition to American sovereignty, and the code's influence persisted in local statutes and judicial decisions long after political transfer.
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES
The term appears in two functional registers in the legal literature:
1. *Partida* (singular): A single division or "part" of the seven-part code. References to a specific *partida* typically denote one of the seven books, followed by a title and law number — e.g., *Partida* III, title IV, law 2.
2. *Las Partidas* (plural, with article): The complete code as a whole. This is the far more common usage in American case law and legal scholarship. The two forms are used interchangeably in older sources, sometimes without the article.
Why It Matters in Research
The practical significance of *partida* in Law Mind corpus research is almost entirely downstream of *Las Siete Partidas* as a legal authority. Researchers should be alert to several navigational issues:
**Transitional-period American law.** Courts in former Spanish territories routinely cited the Partidas as binding or persuasive authority in the decades following the Louisiana Purchase (1803), the Adams-Onís Treaty (1819), and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). Opinions from Louisiana, Florida, and the Southwest frequently quote specific *partidas* by number without further explanation, assuming reader familiarity with the code. A reference to "the third Partida" or "Partida 5, title 11" in an antebellum opinion is a citation to a specific statutory provision, not a vague textual allusion.
**Spelling variation.** Historical sources inconsistently spell and capitalize the term: *partida*, *Partida*, *Las Partidas*, *the Partidas*, and occasionally the anglicized "the Partides." Corpus searches should account for these variations.
**Property and family law concentration.** The Partidas' deepest footprint in American jurisprudence falls in community property, marital rights, land titles, and testamentary succession — areas where Spanish doctrine survived the transition to American governance most durably. Researchers working on community property history or Spanish land grants will encounter *partida* references with particular frequency.
**Absence of standard English translation in the historical period.** American lawyers and judges in the nineteenth century often worked with the Partidas in Spanish or through partial translations of uncertain authority. This creates interpretive variability across courts and periods that is not always visible from the English-language record.
Historical Dictionary Support
All three historical sources — Black's (first and second editions) and Burrill — treat *partida* identically: a bare translational gloss ("Span. Part; a part") followed by a cross-reference to *Las Partidas*. None offers independent substantive content under this headword. This uniformity reflects an editorial judgment that the term's legal significance lies entirely in the composite code rather than in the word itself.
Notably, none of the historical dictionaries explains the structural meaning of *partida* as a numbered division of the code — a point essential for reading citations accurately. The entries assume the reader will follow the cross-reference and acquire that context elsewhere. Researchers relying solely on these dictionary definitions will be underequipped for actual corpus navigation.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: Las Siete Partidas; Spanish Colonial Law; Community Property (Historical Origins).