The Horta of Valencia is a large irrigated area managed by eight communities of landowners. Traditionally, it was considered that these communities were composed of peasants, that they were self-managed and self-governed, and that they had remained immutable over time. However, the historical evidence shows that this is not true for pre-modern times. This article examines a possible Islamic origin of these institutions, the rupture caused by the Christian conquest of Valencia in the thirteenth century, the structure of the communities, and the social diversity of their members within the framework of feudalism. We conclude that irrigation communities cannot be used as examples of institutional continuity or of self-regulated and autonomous social organisations.

中文翻译：

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不仅仅是农民：中世纪和现代早期西班牙巴伦西亚灌溉社区的连续性神话

瓦伦西亚的奥尔塔是一个大型灌溉区，由八个土地所有者社区管理。传统上，人们认为这些社区由农民组成，他们是自我管理和自治的，并且随着时间的推移保持不变。然而，历史证据表明，这在前现代时代并非如此。本文考察了这些机构可能的伊斯兰起源、十三世纪基督教征服瓦伦西亚所造成的破裂、社区的结构以及封建主义框架内其成员的社会多样性。我们得出结论，灌溉社区不能用作制度连续性或自我调节和自治社会组织的例子。