{{Short description|Court pages in medieval Spain}} '''''Doncel''''' was a court appointment in the Crowns of Castile and Aragon during the Late Middle Ages. It was bestowed upon youth from noble families, prior to knighthood. ''Donceles'' worked alongside other ''pajes reales'' (royal pages) as royal servants and received training by the ''Alcaide de los Donceles''.<ref name="MALQ">{{cite book |last1=Ladero Quesada |first1=Miguel Ángel |title=La Casa Real en la Baja Edad Media |date=1998 |publisher=Historia. Instituciones. Documentos No. 25 |pages=327–350 |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=634139 |language=es}}</ref> One of the most famous ''donceles'' was Martín Vázquez de Arce, known as the ''Doncel de Sigüenza'', who was page to Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, 1st Duke of the Infantado and died during the Granada War.
Donceles lived in the Royal household during their adolescence. In the court of Peter IV of Aragon in 1356 there were 110 donceles of noble origin (Aragonese, Catalan and Valencian).<ref name="MALQ" /> In the Crown of Castile there were both noble ''donceles'' and other ''pajes'' and ''criados'' who were often not noble.<ref name="MALQ" /> Both ''pajes'' and ''donceles'' received military training by the ''Alcaide de los Donceles'', a post created by Alfonso XI of Castile around 1340.<ref name="MALQ" /> Known ''alcaides'' include {{ill|Martín Fernández de Córdoba (died 1437)|es|Martín Fernández de Córdoba|lt=Martín I Fernández de Córdoba}}, Diego Fernández de Córdoba and Martín II Fernández de Córdoba.<ref>See [https://historia-hispanica.rah.es/ ''Diccionario Biográfico Español''].</ref>
In the times of the ''Reyes Católicos'', this kind of royal servant was known as ''contino'', thus named because of their ''continuous'' availability.<ref name="MALQ" /> Their tasks were varied, mostly administrative, and they received a fixed salary.<ref name="MALQ" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=León-Borja |first1=István Szászdi |title=Juan Ponce de León y su época: estudios institucionales de la Conquista |date=2011 |publisher=Diputación de Valladolid |isbn=9788478523016 |page=136 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A_rPkCSwOI0C |language=es}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Medieval royalty Category:15th century in Spain