Abstract This paper analyses the presence and relevance of law in the Libro de buen amor ( LBA ) by Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita. It highlights that legal elements are not merely a literary device for the author, but rather constitute a structural axis of the work. To this aim, various pieces or allusions in the work are examined from a jurilinguistic perspective, such as the fable of the wolf and the fox or the episode of Don Melón and Doña Endrina, which demonstrate Juan Ruiz’s extensive knowledge of ius commune . The analysis concludes that the legal component is not only a resource for parody or moral teaching, but an end in itself, intended to promote ius commune . Furthermore, the LBA is a key document for understanding the reception of ius commune in Castile, as well as the change in legal thinking during the Archpriest’s era.
Encarnación Tabares Plasencia (2026) studied this question.