By 1150, the king approved a series of pacts, called the "Usatges", which ""explicitly acknowledged legal equality between burghers … and nobility"" (Woolard 17). In addition, the Aragonese gentry established the "Corts", a representative body of nobles, bishops, and abbots that counterbalanced the King's authority. By the end of the 13th century, "the monarch needed the consent of the Corts to approve laws or collect revenue" (McRoberts 10). Soon after, the "Corts" elected a standing body called the "Diputació del General" or the "Generalitat", which included the rising upper bourgeoisie. The first Catalan constitutions were promulgated by the "Corts of Barcelona" in 1283, following the Roman tradition of the Codex.