 Book II. Popular Hostility, Part II. Less irritating but more serious in its effects was the use made of the Fuero by those engaged in trade. Inquisitor General Dessa in 1504 issued a stringent prohibition against any salaried official having an interest, direct or indirect, in any business. Daily experience, he said, showed how much approbrium and disturbance it brought upon the Inquisition. Before he decreed that it should, ipso facto, deprive the offender of his position and subject him to a fine of twenty thousand maravedis. He should cease to be an official as soon as contravention occurred, and the receiver, under pain of fifty ducats, should cut off his salary. All officials cognizant of such a case should notify the Inquisitor General within fifteen days, under pain of Major X communication, and this order was to be read in all tribunals in presence of the assembled officials. The severity of this regulation indicates the recognized magnitude of the evil and its retention in the compilation of instructions shows that it was considered as remaining in force. Like all other salutary rules, however, it was slackly enforced from the first, and the Catalan's took care to have the prohibition embodied in the bull, Pastoralis officii. It gradually became obsolete. A royal decree of August 9th, 1725, in exempting from taxation the salaries officials of the Tribunal of Saragossa, adds that, if they possess property or are in trade, those assets are taxable, showing that their ability to trade was recognized. How aggravating was the advantage which they thus enjoyed can be gathered from a Valencia case of about 1750. Joseph Segarra, the contador of the Tribunal, entered into partnership with Joseph Miralles, a carpenter, to bring timber from the Sierra de Cuenca. In the settlement Segarra claimed from Miares a balance of 1,779 libras. They entered into a formal agreement to accept the arbitration of Dr. Boyle, but Segarra rejected the award, and Miralles sought to enforce it in the royal court. Then the Tribunal intervened, asserting the award to be invalid, because Segarra could not divest the inquisition of its jurisdiction, and it refused the request of the regent for a conference and a competencia. Evidently it was dangerous to have dealings with officials. They always had a winning card up the sleeve to be played when needed. As regards the great army of familiars, it was of course impossible to prevent them from trading. In fact, traders eagerly sought the position in view of the advantages it offered of having the inquisition at their backs, whether to escape payment of debts, or to collect claims, or to evade customs dues, or in many other ways not recognized by the concordias, but allowed by the tribunals. The Suprema occasionally warned the inquisitors not to appoint men of low class, such as butchers, pastry cooks, shoemakers, and the like, or traders whose object was protection in their business. But no attention was paid to this. A large portion of the familiars was of this class, and the space occupied in the formularies by forms of levy and execution, and sale, and other similar matters, shows how much business was brought to the tribunals by the collection of their claims. The opportunities thus afforded for fraudulent dealings, for evading obligations, and for enforcing unjust demands, were assuredly not neglected, and may be reckoned among sources of the animosity felt for everyone connected with the Holy Office. In the remarkable paper presented in 1623 to the Suprema by one of its members, many of the abuses of the Inquisition are attributed to the indifferent character and poverty of the officials. "'It would be well,' the writer says, to appoint none but clerics, holding preferment to support themselves, and unencumbered with wife and children. They would not when dying leave penniless families, which obliges the Inquisitor General to give to the children their father's offices, thus bringing into the tribunals men who cannot even read, an increase of salaries also would relieve them from the necessity of taking bribes under cover of fees, and thus would put a stop to the popular murmurs against them. The Inquisitors moreover should have power of removal, subject to confirmation by the Suprema, for now their hands are tied, their subordinates are unruly and uncontrollable. The greatest injury to the reputation of the Holy Office arises from its bad officials, who recognize no responsibility. No one should be appointed to office or, as a familiar, who is a tailor, carpenter, mason, or other mechanic. It is these people who cause quarrels with the secular authorities, for they have little to lose and claim to be inviolable. In short, if we may believe the writer, the whole body of the tribunals, except the Inquisitors, was rotten. None of the officials, from the Fiscals down, were to be trusted, for all were eagerly in pursuit of dishonest gains, robbing the Inquisition itself and all who came in contact with it, and to this he attributed its loss of public respect and confidence. Matters did not improve, for the Suprema always defended the tribunals from all complaints, and its tenderness towards delinquents assured them of virtual impunity. At length, as we have seen in 1703, Philip V made an attempt at reform. It was probably owing to this pressure that, in 1705, the Suprema issued a Carta Accordada prohibiting a number of special abuses, and pointing out that, in regard to the proprieties of life, neither Inquisitors nor officials obeyed the instructions, consorting with improper persons, and intervening in matters wholly foreign to their duties, thus rendering odious the jurisdiction of the Holy Office. From various incidents alluded to above, it is evident that this produced little amendment, but when the vacillation of Philip V was succeeded by the resolute purpose of Carlos III and his able ministers, the power of the Inquisition to oppress was greatly curbed. It was not alone the commonalty that had reason to complain of the extended jurisdiction claimed by the Inquisition. The feudal nobles, whose rights were already curtailed by the growth of the royal power, were restive under the interjection of this new and superior jurisdiction, which recognized no limitations or boundaries, and interfered with their supremacy within their domains. Thus, in 1553, the Duke of Nahera complained that, in his town of Navaret, the Commissioner of the Inquisition had insulted his Alcalde Mayor, and then, with some familiars, had forcibly taken wheat from his Algoasil. Inquisitor General Valdez wrote to the Tribunal of Calaora to investigate the matter and to punish the officials if found in fault. The Alcalde and Algoasil were not to be prosecuted, save for matters pertaining to the Inquisition, and this not only in view of its proper administration, but because he desired to gratify the Duke. A still more serious cause of complaint to which the nobles were fully alive was the release of their vassals from jurisdiction by appointment to office. In 1549 the Countess of Nieva appealed to Valdez, setting forth that Arnedo was a place belonging to the Count. It was within three leagues of Calaora, and there had never been a familiar there, until recently Inquisitor Valcle Olivas had appointed some peasants in order to enfranchise them from the jurisdiction of their lord. It was not just that. While the Count was absent from the kingdom on the king's service, his peasants should be thus honored in order that they might create disturbance in the villages and interfere with the feudal jurisdiction. It may well be doubted whether her request for the revocation of the commissions was granted, but that her pre-vision of trouble was justified is seen in a case before the Tribunal of Barcelona in 1577 in which Don Pedro de Queral, Lord of Santa Colonia, a powerful noble of Tarragona, endeavored to secure the punishment of two of his vassals, Juan Requesenz, a miller, and his cousin Vicente. They were both familiar and seemed to have been leaders of a discontented opposition which rendered Don Pedro's life miserable. The trees and his plantations were cut down, his arms over the door of his baile in Santa Coloma were removed and defaced, libelous coplas against him were scattered around the streets, but the cousins being familiars were safe from his wrath. Don Pedro died, but the trouble continued between his widow, the Countess of Queral, and a new generation of Requesenz, who succeeded to their father's office of familiars. Finally, in 1608, she succeeded in convicting Juan Requesenz of malicious mischief, but her only satisfaction was that he was reprimanded, warned, and sentenced to pay the costs, amounting to a hundred and fifteen and a half reales. Such a case shows how feudalism was undermined and we can conceive how nobles must have writhed under the novel experience of rebellious vassals clothed with inviolability. It is easy therefore to understand the detestation felt for the inquisition by all classes, laymen and ecclesiastics, noble and simple. It was fully aware of this and constantly alleged it to the king when defending the tribunals in their quarrels, and when urging enlarged privileges as a protection against the hatred which it had excited. In its appeals against the curtailment of its jurisdiction in Aragon, it did not hesitate to admit that it had been hated there from the beginning and that its officials were so abhorred that they would not be safe if exposed to secular justice, and even as late as 1727, it repeated the assertion of the persistent hostility of the Aragonese. In Logroño the inquisitors reported to the Suprema in 1584 that it was a common saying among the people that their life consisted in discord with the tribunal and that it was death to them when there was peace. It was the same in Castile. The Cortes in 1566, when encouraging Philip II to constrain the Fleming's to admit the inquisition, gave as a reason that his success there was necessary to the peaceful maintenance of the institution in Spain, thus intimating that if the Fleming's rejected it, the Castilians would seek to follow their example. In the same year the familiars alleged that the detestation in which they were held led them to be singled out for a special oppression in the building of troops, and in 1647 the Suprema declared that nothing seemed sufficient to repress the hatred with which they were regarded, in support of which it instanced an unjust apportionment in Cuenca of an assessment of a forced loan. This hostility continued to the last, even though the decadence of the inquisition in the 18th century diminished so greatly its powers of oppression. A defender of the institution in 1803 commences by deprecating the hatred which had pursued it from the beginning, even in the present age he says, of greater enlightenment there is crass ignorance of its essential principles and a mortal opposition to its existence. Thus notwithstanding the Spanish abhorrence of Jews and heretics, the dread which the inquisition inspired was largely mingled with detestation arising from its abuse of its privileges in matters wholly apart from its functions as the guardian of the faith. End of Book 2, Chapter 5, Part 2, Recording by Margaret S. Bayotte, Orlando, Florida. The permanent tribunals of the Spanish inquisition were Toledo, Sevilla, Valladolid, Corta, or Madrid, Granada, Cordova, Murcia, Lorena, Cuenca, Santiago, or Galicia, Lagrano, and Canaries, under the crown of Castilla, and Saragosa, Valencia, Barthelona, and Mallorca under the crown of Aragon. In addition were Sicily, Sardinia, Mexico, Lima, and Cartagena de las Indias, which lie beyond the scope of the present work. This distribution of the forces of the inquisition was not reached until experience had shown the most effective centers of action. Numerous, more or less temporary tribunals were erected, and many changes occurred in the apportionment of territory. The following list makes no pretentions to absolute completeness, but contains the result of such illusions as I have met in the documents. Alcaraz For some years there was a fixed tribunal at Alcaraz. In 1495 Alonzo Hernandez, presented for a cannery, is qualified as Inquisitor of Alcaraz, and in 1499 Alonzo de Torres is appointed as Inquisitor there. Army and Navy The fleet organized for the Catholic League, which won at Lepanto, seemed to require a tribunal to preserve it from heresy, and Philip II produced from Pius V, a brief of July 23, 1571, authorizing the Inquisitor General to appoint an Inquisitor for each Army of Philip II, whether by land or sea. The first appointment under this seems to have been Rodrigo de Mendoza, Inquisitor of Barcelona, whose commission as Inquisidor de la Scalaras is dated March 21st, 1575, together with one for his notary, Domingo de León, and instructions as to his duties. He was succeeded by Geronimo Manrique, who celebrated an auto-defei in Messina. After him was Dr. Juan Batista de Cardona, but merely as commissioner, who served for two years, when Paramot, writing in 1598, tells us that the fleets were scattered and the office ceased to exist. If so, it was revived for, in 1622, we are told that Frey Martin de Vivanco, Chaplain of the Gallies of Sicily, was appointed Inquisitor del Mar, and in 1632 it is stated that when a Prince Sip del Mar was appointed, he took with him an Inquisidor and officials, and all prisoners arrested by them were delivered to the nearest tribunal when the galleys made port. In later times the Inquisitor General was Becarrio General de los Reales, Aercitos, de Mar e Tierra, and as such appointed sub-delegates to accompany the Army with the necessary powers. The Juris de Sion, castrains enjoyed by military men did not exempt them in matters of faith from the Inquisition, but the sub-delgados castrainses seems to have possessed no judicial powers, and debate arose in 1793 and again in 1806, whether they or the Episcopal Ordinary should be called in to vote with the Inquisitors, in the cases of soldiers. Avila When Torquemata built his convent of Santo Más in Avila, he provided accommodations for an Inquisition, and in 1590 the prisoners accused of the murder of the Santo Niño de la Guardia were transferred thither from the tribunal of Sergovia for trial. It continued to exist for some years and had connection with Sergovia, for June 9, 1499, Francisco Gonzales of Fresnada and Juan de Monasterio were appointed inquisitors of Avila and Sergovia, residing sometimes in one city and sometimes in the other. Balagur There were autos de fe celebrated in Balagur August 15, 1490 and June 10, 1493, but these were held by the inquisitors of Barcelona as they did in Tarragonia, Girona, Perpignan and other places in their district. In 1517, however, there would seem to be a tribunal there, for a letter of the Suprema relates to the murder of the Assessor of the Inquisition of Balagur. If so, it was probably withdrawn in consequence, for in 1518 the inquisitors of Barcelona are ordered to publish edicts against those who molest the clergy of Balagur for observing the interdict cast upon the town. Barbastro As early as 1488 there was a tribunal with inquisitors at Barbastro, but in 1521 it was suppressed and incorporated with Saragossa. Barcelona Established in 1486 it claimed jurisdiction over the Free Republic of Andorra, which was included by Aravalo de Zosa in his visitation of 1595. Long after Roussillon and Cardania had been retroceded to France, the Barcelona inquisitors in 1595 still styled themselves inquisitors apolistos, and el Principado de Catalonia y su partido con los candados de Roussillon y Cerdania y los vals de Aran y Andorra. Siloreta Tarragonia Tortosa Balagur Burgos There was originally a tribunal in Burgos, but in the redistricting by Zimanes it was included in Valladolid. In 1605 Philip III transferred the tribunal to Burgos, with orders to the inquisitors to eject any occupants of buildings that they might find suited to their purposes. In 1622 it was still rendering yearly reports of cases to the Suprema, but probably about 1630 it returned to Valladolid. When in 1706 Madrid was captured by the Allies under Galloway and Las Minas, the court fled to Burgos, carrying the inquisition dither, but its stay was short and it soon returned to the capital. Cadiz C. Zerris Calahora A tribunal was established here as early as 1493, when it celebrated an auto at La Gronia. In 1499 it alternated between Calahora and Durango. In the redistricting by Zimanes in 1509 it was incorporated with Durango, but was soon re-established. Sedulis of 1516, 1517 and 1520 indicate that at this time it was tribunal of the enormous district of Valladolid, but in 1522 the inquisition of Navarre was extended over Calahora. Then Navarre and Calahora were separated, but in 1540 there was a redistribution and Navarre and the Basque provinces were added to Calahora. In 1560 a part of the territory of Burgos was set off from Valladolid and added to Calahora and, in 1570, the seat of the tribunal was definitely moved to La Gronia. Calata Yud Calata Yud was the seat of an intermittent tribunal at least from the year 1488, for in 1502 Ferdinand speaks of Juan de Agoviva who for fourteen years had served it as barber-surgeon whenever it presided in Calata Yud, and one of the first presentations to a pre-bend in 1488 was Martin Marquez, described as fiscal of the inquisition of Calata Yud. And letter of the Suprema, January 22, 1519, addressed to the inquisitor of Calata Yud, shows that it was still in existence, but it most soon afterwards had been merged into Zaragoza. Canaries The zeal of Diego de Moros, bishop of Canaries, did not wait for the extension of the Spanish inquisition over his diocese, but led him to establish an Episcopal one by proclamation of April 28, 1499. It was not until 1504 that inquisitor general Diza sent Bartolome Lopez de Tribaldos thither to establish a tribunal at Las Palmas, which seems to have commenced business October 28, 1505. It continued thus to the end. Cartagena, C. Mercia, Ciudad Real. A letter of Ferdinand, November 8, 1483, announces the appointment of Licenciados Constanza and de Balthazar as inquisitors for Ciudad Real. May 10, 1485, Ferdinand announces the transfer of Costana to Toledo, to which place the tribunal was removed. Cordova A tribunal was established in Cordova as early as 1482 at the instance of its bishop, the new Christian Alonso de Burgos. Its district comprised the bishoprics of Cordova and Jan, the Avedía de Alcalá de la Real, the Atalanta Miento of Cazorla, with Ecija and Estepa, to which Granada was added after the conquest, C. Granada and Jan. Corte The tribunal of Madrid was technically known as Corte. Madrid, originally a town of no special importance, belonged to the province of Toledo and was naturally under the jurisdiction of its tribunal, as the royal residence underfilled the second and eventually the capital of the kingdom, except during the brief transfer to Valladolid, 1600 to 1606, it furnished a large part of the business of Toledo. Toledo and inquisitors came there to make investigations and even to try cases, of which we have examples in 1590 and 1592. Something more than this was felt to be needed, and the Suprema adopted the plan of calling inquisitors from other places to commence prosecutions and act under its instructions, of which the Licentiado Flores, Inquisitor of Murcia in 1593 and Cifantes de Loarte, Inquisitor of Granada in 1615 are examples. The presence of the inquisitor general, who did not hesitate to take action in emergencies, and that of an experienced commissioner, together with the frequent sojourn of one of the Toledo inquisitors, enabled speedy action to be taken when requisite, as occurred in 1621 and again in 1624, and seemed to render superfluous the organization of a special tribunal. Yet the want of it was felt, especially with the influx of Portuguese new Christians, who multiplied in the capital. As the pressure increased, Toledo furnished two assistant inquisitors to reside in Madrid, thus establishing a kind of subordinate court, but in 1637 it was reported that the establishment of a tribunal was positively resolved upon, with the added comment that this would sorely vex the Toledans. To their natural opposition it is doubtless to be attributed the postponement of what, to a spanured of the period, would seem a necessity to the capital. It cannot have been long after this that one was organized for, in the matter of the confiscation of Juan Cote, commenced in Toledo, we find it, September 10, 1640, sitting in Madrid, with Francisco Salgada and Juan Adam de la Para as inquisitors. In the same year they suggested that the case of Benito de Valdepeñas, on which they were engaged, should be sent to Toledo as more convenient for the witnesses, which was accordingly done. Toledo in influence is doubtless responsible for the action of Arce i Renoso, soon after his accession in 1643, in suppressing the new tribunal and restoring the business to Toledo. The pressure, however, became too great, and Arce i Renoso was obliged to reverse his action. The date of the re-establishment may safely be assumed as 1650, for a list of penitents, reconciled by Corte from the beginning, starts with three in 1651, and their trials can scarce have been commenced later than 1650. Yet the relations between Toledo and Madrid continued intimate. In 1657, Lorenzo de Sotomayor styles himself as inquisidor apostolico de la inquisition de la ciudad e regno de Toledo y asistante de Corte. To the end of the century the former always alluded to Corte as a despacho or office and not as a tribunal, and Corte seems to have sent its convicts to Toledo for their sentences to be published in the Autos de Fay. Its jurisdiction was strictly limited to the city, while the surrounding country remained with Toledo. In some respects its organization was peculiar. About 1750 we are informed that its inquisitors were drawn from other tribunals who continued them on their payrolls, their places being taken by appointees who served without salary until a vacancy occurred. Selection to serve in Corte was regarded as a promotion, leading to a place in the Suprema or to a bishopric, although the incumbent drew only the salary from his former tribunal with a Christmas propina of a hundred duquets. It had no receiver, the Suprema paid its expenses and presumably collected its fines and confiscations. Cuenca. Mercy and Cuenca were originally under one tribunal. Some trouble apparently arose, possibly connected with the Episcopal Ordinaries, for Zimenes ordered, January 22, 1512, that cases originating in Murcia should be taken to Cuenca to be voted on and vice versa. Lorente says that in 1513 they were separated and Cuenca formed an independent tribunal, but documents as late as 1519 show them still connected. Until, in 1520, we find Cuenca celebrating an auto. A letter of March 7, 1522, states that the Pope has given to Cuenca the Sea of Segenza, without taking it from Toledo, because Toledo has never visited it, although ordered to do so and is not to do so in future. Then, May 31, 1533, the Suprema says that Toledo can exercise jurisdiction there without giving Cuenca cause of complaint, and in 1560, Segenza was restored to Toledo. Yet in 1584, we find Cuenca exercising jurisdiction as far north as Soria. There would seem to have been some connection maintained between Murcia and Cuenca. Four in 1746, the former, in enumerating its personnel, specifies nine Calificadores in Murcia and four in Cuenca. Durroca There would appear to have been for a time a tribunal in Durroca. Four in the accounts of Juan Roiz, receiver of Aragon for 1498, there is an item of expenditure on the prison of the Inquisition there, which was duly passed. Durango C. Calahora As defined by Zmenes in 1509, Durango had jurisdiction over Biscay, Guipuscoa, Alava, and Calahora, with some neighbouring districts. Estella C. Navar Galicia, also known as Santiago. The earliest delusion to this tribunal occurs in a commission issued at Coruña, May 20, 1520, to Dr. Gonzalo Maldonado as Inquisitor of Santiago. It was probably some time before the tribunal was in working order, but in 1527 it had caused sufficient alarm for the Suprema to write to Yao III of Portugal, asking for the arrest and surrender of those who had fled from it, and in the same year a warrant for three hundred duquets was drawn to be distributed among the Inquisitors and Officials of the Inquisition of Galicia. This was followed by a similar payment in 1528, showing that the tribunal was not self-sustaining. Apparently the harvest was scanty and the tribunal was allowed to lapse, until the scare about Protestantism called attention to the ports of the Northwest as affording ingress to heretics and their books, for we hear nothing more about it until 1562, when Philip II, in letters of June 2nd and 26th, informs the Governor and Officials of Galicia that Valdez had dispatched Dr. Quijano there as Inquisitor. They are no longer to prosecute cases of heresy as they have been doing, but are to lend him all aid in favour, and are to allow him to dispose as he pleases of the seats in his public functions, without disputes as to precedence. In 1566 we hear of Bartolome de Leon as Receiver there, which would indicate that it was at work and was making collections. Still, it had a struggle for existence, for it was discontinued early in 1568, but it was re-established within a few years if Lorente is correct in saying that its first auto-defe was celebrated in 1573. A letter of Dr. Alva, its Inquisitor, October 31st 1577, speaks of having in the previous year, sentenced Guillaume de Monnier, he being the only Inquisitor, with the advice of a single Consultor, showing that the tribunal was sparingly equipped. In later years it became one of the active tribunals of the kingdom. Its district comprised Coronia, Pontevedro, Orenes, and Lugo. Granada. Granada, after its capture, was included in the Inquisitorial District of Cordova until, in 1526, the Tribunal of Yein was transferred thither. Guadalupe. A temporary tribunal was organised here in 1488, which during its brief existence was exceedingly efficient. C. p. 171. Huska. C. Larida. Yacca. A tribunal apparently existed here, which was annexed to Saragossa in 1521. Yein. A tribunal must have been established here about 1483, for two of its Inquisitors took part in the Assembly of Sevilla, which framed the instructions of 1484. It seems to have been discontinued. For September 2, 1501, Ferdinand ordered a certain Dona Beatrice of Yein to abandon her house to the Inquisitors sent thither, and seek other quarters until they should finish the business that took them there. This indicates that only a temporary tribunal was intended, but the situation was conveniently central, and it was one of those retained by Jimenez in his reorganisations of 1509, when he assigned it to the districts of Yein and Guadix, with Alcaraz, Cazorla, and Base. It was still in existence in 1525, as shown by a royal letter of that date, but in 1526 it was suppressed and united with Cordova, the tribunal being transferred to Granada. In 1547 the official title of the tribunal was Cordova-Yen. Rodrigo tells us that it was re-established independently in 1545, but this is evidently an error, and the name does not reappear in subsequent lists of tribunals. In 1501 we hear of inquisitors of the province of Leion, whose district cannot have been confined to that province, for Ferdinand, writing September 2 to Cousin Duc, tells him that they have occasion to go to his city of Coria, Extremadura, and asks that they may occupy his house while there. In 1514 also there is allusion to the receiver and aguasile of the inquisition of Leion. Apparently the term is a synonym of the tribunal of Valladolid. Lerida. The provinces of Huesca in Aragon and Lerida and Urgel in Catalonia were united as an inquisitorial district at least as early as 1490, when we hear of the inquisitors of Huesca and Lerida taking testimony. In 1498 a letter of Ferdinand, October 8, announces the transfer of Urgel to Barcelona. Allusions to the tribunal continue to occur in the correspondence of Ferdinand, who in 1502 called away the inquisitor as there was so little to do. Saragossa would not attend to heresy, and only the financial officials need be left. It was not discontinued, however. In 1514 there was an attempt to murder the inquisitor, canon Antist, but in 1519 it is still addressed as inquisitor of Lerida. In this same year, however, Charles V, in a letter of January 22nd, speaks of the tribunals of Huesca, Tarazona, and Lerida having been united with that of Saragossa, and when the people of Huesca complained in the Cortes of Saragossa, of their citizens being carried away for trial, he ordered under pain of a thousand Florence that no one should interfere with the jurisdiction of the Saragossa Tribunal. October 9 an inspector reported that there was no need of a receiver or other officials there, whereupon they were all dismissed. In 1532, however, the inquisitors of Saragossa undertook to appoint a receiver for Lerida, but were told by the Supremia to cancel it as this was a function of the Crown. Lagrano In 1570, as we have seen, the tribunal of Calahora was shifted to Lagrano, which in 1690 defines its territory as the whole kingdom of Navar, the bishopric of Calahora and La Calzada, Biscay, Guipuzcoa, Burgos along the mountains of Oca, and the sea coast as far as San Vicente de la Barquera, thus comprising the modern provinces of Navar, Guipuzcoa, Biscay, Santander, Alava, Lagrano, and a large part of Burgos. La Reña Originally, Extremadura and León were combined. In 1500 Enrique Paz is receiver for the seas of Placencia, Coria, and Barajos, and the province of León. In 1509 Jiménez assigned to Lerida as its district, Placencia, Coria, Barajos, and the lands of the military orders, but as late as 1516 it is spoken of as the inquisition of León, Placencia, Coria, and Barajos. Its original seat was La Reña, but in 1516 it was transferred to Placencia, and the receiver was ordered to sell the houses purchased at La Reña for the prison, because others will be wanted for the purpose of Placencia. It was migratory, however, and in 1520 the people of Ciudad Rodrigo, Coria, and Herida were notified that it was about to leave Placencia, and wherever it went accommodations must be provided for lodgement, audience chamber, and prisons. Finally, it settled permanently at La Reña, and towards the close of the 16th century Zapata speaks of it as the first tribunal of the kingdom with the widest jurisdiction. Madrid C. Corte Medina del Campo The great importance of Medina del Campo as a center of trade rendered inevitable its selection as the seat of a tribunal at an early period. In 1486 it was fully furnished with three inquisitors and an assessor, the Abbot of Medina serving as ordinary. In 1516 we find it incorporated with Valladolid. When the court moved to Valladolid the buildings of the inquisition were wanted for its accommodation and the tribunal, in June 1601, was unceremoniously sent to Medina, where Dr. Martin de Bustos was turned out of his house to lodge it. Its stay was short, for in 1605, as we have seen, it was transferred to Burgos, and there is no later trace of a tribunal at Medina. Mercía C. Cuenca Mercía was a seat of one of the early tribunals comprising the seas of Mercía and Cartagena. Cuenca, which was attached to it in the redistribution by Yemenes in 1509, was separated about 1520. Oren, sometime after its conquest by Yemenes, was placed under the jurisdiction of Mercía. The sea of Orojuela, although belonging to Valencia, on its suppression about 1510, was united to that of Cartagena and thus fell under the tribunal of Mercía, where it remained after the restoration to Episcopal honors in 1564. The tribunal of Orojuela naturally followed the same course on its suppression. Navar After the conquest of Navar in 1512, a tribunal was established in Pompiluna, where it did not long remain. Then for a short period it was transferred to Estella. In 1515 we find it in Tudela, where Ferdinand orders the Archdeacon of Almazón to visit it as it is in much need of reform, and soon afterwards he asks for a delegation of Episcopal power as Tudela was only a denary. It was quartered in the Convent of San Francisco to relieve which, in 1518, the Suprema ordered appropriate buildings to be obtained. In 1521 and 1522 there was talk of removing it to Pompiluna. Then it was extended over Calahora. Soon afterwards they were separated, but finally in 1540 they were united and so remained. Soon after the transfer to La Gragno we find the tribunal describing itself as Entodo Elreña de Navarra, Obespado de Calahora y La Calzada y Su Distrito. Navy Sea Army Oren Paramo tells us that when Jimenez conquered Oren he commissioned Frey Yedra as Inquisitor there. Lorente places this in 1516 and calls the Inquisitor Martin de Vedicar, Jimenez's provisor. At that time, however, there could have been no tribunal there. For July 9, 1516 the Governor Lope Hurtado de Mendoza was ordered to discover and punish those who were impeding the sale of property for the Inquisition, work which would have been entrusted to the tribunal had there been one. By this time it had probably been suppressed and placed under Mercia. Orejuela According to Lorente, Ferdinand, August 7, 1507, united the tribunal of the Bishapric of Orejuela to Valencia, which would infer its previous existence. It was reorganized in 1515 when Bishop Mercado appointed Pedro de los Rios as Inquisitor and he was sent there with a staff of officials and the magistrates were ordered to provide quarters for El Tiempo Cufare Minister. This indicates that the tribunal was not expected to be permanent and it was probably not long afterwards that it was united with Mercia. Osuna In 1488 among the presentations to Brebens is one of Pedro Sanchez, qualified as Inquisitor of Osuna. Such tribunal can only have been short-lived and must speedily have been incorporated with that of Seville. Pampaluna C. Navar Per opinion August 9, 1495, and Otto de Fe was celebrated in Per opinion, but it was held by the Inquisitors of Barcelona. In 1518 there was only a commissioner there, but in 1524 there was a tribunal with Juan Navarro as Inquisitor and Antonio Saleteta as Secretary. It was not permanent, however. In 1566, when Soto Salazar was sent on his visitation to Barcelona, he was instructed to ascertain and report promptly details for the benefit of the Inquisitor about to be sent to Per opinion to reside for the future and what officials should be provided for him. It is doubtful whether this intention was carried out in any event it was but transitory. Placencia C. Lorena Santiago C. Galicia Saragossa Established in 1484 the tribunal gradually absorbed all the minor tribunals but parted with Tarul to Valencia. C. Babastro Calatayud Daroka Yaca Lareda Tarazona Tarul Segovia Segovia claimed the honor of being among the earliest cities, after Seville, to possess a tribunal, but there was no representative from there among the Inquisitors assembled to frame the instructions of 1484, owing doubtless to the resistance of the bishop Juan Arias de Vila. One must have been established soon afterwards, for in 1490, the prisoners accused of the murder of the Santo Niño de la Guardia were on trial there, when Torcamada transferred them to Avila. C. Avila In the redistribution by Yemenes, in 1509, Segovia was incorporated with Valladolid, but in 1544 and again in 1599 the Inquisitors of Toledo included in their enumerations of their jurisdictions. Seganza A tribunal was early established in Seganza, which must have been busy if we may believe the statement that an auto-defei in 1494 relaxed 149 victims to the secular arm. In 1506, Diza dismissed the officials for the reason that it was about to be united with Toledo, a merger ratified by Yemenes in 1509. Toledo neglected it, and it was transferred to Cuenca. In the eighteenth century there would appear to be some kind of subordinate tribunal there, for about 1750, Saragosa, in a report of its personnel, states that one of its five inquisitors is assisting at Seganza. Terazona A tribunal established here in the early period was merged into that of Saragosa in 1519. Teragonia When in 1643 the Inquisitors of Barcelona were ejected, they were, after some delay, sent to open their tribunal at Teragonia, where they remained until the suppression of the Catalan Rebellion in 1652. Tarul In 1485 a tribunal was established in Tarul after some resistance. At what time it was transferred to Valencia does not appear, but a Sedula of October 2, 1502, is addressed to the Inquisitors of Valencia residing in Tarul and Albericin, showing that it was then subordinate to Valencia. In 1518 it was discontinued and the district was subject to the direct jurisdiction of the Valencian tribunal, but Cardinal Adrian, by a provision of November 21 of the same year, transferred it to Saragosa and then, March 3, 1519, restored it to Valencia. This was felt by Aragon as a grievance, and at the Cortes of Monzón in 1533 it asked that Tarul and Albericin should be restored to the Saragosa tribunal, but the request was peremptorily refused and they remained subject to Valencia. Toledo In 1485 the tribunal of Ciudad Real was transferred to Toledo. At first the limits of its district seemed not to be clearly defined, for in 1489 the Inquisitors were told to go to Guadalajara and Ferdinand ordered the local authorities to show them favour and allow them to make a rest. See Corte, Cuenca, Segovia, Seganza, Valladolid for sundry changes in the district. In 1565 the official designation is the City and Archbishopric of Toledo, the City and Bishopric of Seganza, and the Bishoprics of Avila and Segovia, which apparently remained permanent except the detachment of Madrid. Tortosa For some reason the Bishopric of Tortosa, although part of Catalonia, was subject to the tribunal of Valencia. When in 1697 Vendôme captured Barcelona the tribunal emigrated to Tortosa and established itself in the Collegio Imperiale. Although peace was declared soon afterwards it remained in Tortosa at least until 1700 and presumably stayed until the conclusion of the War of Secession when it was reinstated in Barcelona in 1715. Tudela, C. Navar. Valencia The old inquisition of Valencia was reorganized in 1484 and continued to the end. As seen above it parted with Orjuela to Murcia, obtained to rule an aberrisson from Saragossa and Tortosa from Barcelona. Valladolid A tribunal was assigned to Valladolid in 1485 but did not get into working order until 1488. After this it was suspended to be revived in 1499 as appears from a letter of Isabella, December 24, 1498. The northern provinces of Spain were comparatively free from heresy and Jiménez, in his reorganization of 1509, assigned to Valladolid the enormous district comprising the seas of Burgos, Osma, Valencia, Sagovia, Avila, Salamanca, Zamora, Leon, Oviedo and Astorga and the abbeys of Valladolid, Medinadel Campo and Sahagun. In 1516 the enumeration is the same except the omission of Zamora and the addition of Ciudad Rodrigo and Calahora. Roughly speaking it may be assumed to comprise the whole of the provinces of Old Castile, Leon and Asturias. Valdez, August 8, 1560, repeated April 12, 1562, made over the whole of this to Toledo, but the grant can only have been temporary, for in 1565 the Toledan inquisitors described themselves as of the city and archbishoprics of Toledo, the city and bishopric of Sagunza, with the bishoprics of Avila and Sagovia, and in 1579 we find the inquisitors of Valladolid styling themselves inquisitors of the kingdoms of Castile and Leon and the principality of Asturias. This enormous district it continued to retain, subject to the easternmost portion detached to Calahora or Lagrangio and to its translation in 1601 to Medinadel Campo and thence to Burgos, from which it was returned to Valladolid probably about 1630. Xerries In 1495 Rodrigo Locarro is described as Inquisitor of Xeroes. In 1499 the sovereigns appointed Alonso de Guevara Inquisitor of Cadiz and Xerries. The tribunal continued there for some time. In 1515 Ferdinand alludes to Luis de Reba Martin, our late receiver in the Inquisition of Xerries, who in dying had left to the treasury a legacy of thirty thousand MRS for the relief of his conscience. I have met no later reference to it, and it probably was soon afterwards merged into the tribunal of Seville. End of Appendix I. Part II Appendix II of the history of the Spanish Inquisition of Spain, Volume I. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. History of the Inquisition of Spain, Volume I, by Henry Charles Lee. Appendix II. List of Inquisitors General 1483 Tomas de Torcamada, appointed in 1483, died September 16, 1498. 1491 Miguel de Morillo is also Inquisitor General in 1491. Additional Inquisitors General, appointed in 1494. 1494 Martin Ponce de Leon, Archbishop of Messina, died in 1500. Inigo Monrique, Bishop of Córdoba, died March 4, 1496. Francisco Sanchez de la Fuente, Bishop of Avía, died September 1498. Alonso Suárez de Funtelsas, Bishop of Yen, resigned in 1504, died November 5, 1520. 1498 Diego Deza, Archbishop of Sevilla, commissioned November 24, 1498, for Castile, Leon, and Granada, and September 1, 1499, for All Spain, resigned in 1507, died July 9, 1523. Separation of Inquisitions of Castile and Aragon, Castile, 1507. Francisco Yemenez de Cisneros, Cardinal and Archbishop of Toledo, commissioned June 5, 1507, died November 8, 1517. Aragon, 1507, Juan Anguera, Bishop of Vich, of Lareda in 1511, commissioned June 6, 1507, died February 14, 1513. Luis Mercador, Bishop of Tortosa, commissioned July 15, 1513, died June 1, 1516. Ray Juan Pedro de Paule, Dominican Provincial of Aragon, also commissioned by Leo X, died in 1516. 1516, Adrienne of Utrecht, Cardinal and Bishop of Tortosa, commissioned November 14, 1516. Reunion of Inquisitions of Castile and Aragon. 1518, Cardinal, Adrienne of Utrecht, commissioned March 14, 1518, elected to Papacy January 9, 1522, continued to act until his departure for Rome from Tarragona, August 4, 1522. 1523, Alfonso Manrique, Cardinal and Archbishop of Sevilla, commissioned September 10, 1523, died September 28, 1538. 1539, Juan Pardo de Tavares, Cardinal and Archbishop of Toledo, appointed June 10, 1539, commissioned November 7, 1539, took possession December 7, 1539, died August 1, 1545. 1546, Francisco Garcia de Loiza, Archbishop of Sevilla, commissioned February 18, 1546, took possession March 29, 1546, died April 22, 1546. 1547, Fernando Valdes, Archbishop of Sevilla, commissioned January 20, 1547, took possession February 19, 1547, resigned in 1566, died December 9, 1568. 1566, Diego Espinoza, Cardinal and Bishop of Segunza, commissioned September 8, 1566, took possession December 4, 1566, died September 15, 1572. 1572, Pedro Ponce de León y Cordova, Bishop of Placencia, commissioned December 7, 1572, did not take possession, his brief arrived four hours after his death, January 17, 1573. 1573, Gaspar de Carroga, Cardinal and Archbishop of Toledo, commissioned April 20, 1573, took possession May 28, 1573, died November 12, 1594. 1595, Geronimo Manrique de Lara, Bishop of Avila, commissioned August 1, 1595, died November 1, 1595. 1596, Pedro de Puerto Carrero, Bishop of Cuenca, commissioned January 1, 1596, resigned in 1599, died September 20, 1600. 1599, Fernando Niño de Guavara, Cardinal and Archbishop of Sevilla, commissioned August 11, 1599, took possession December 23, 1599, resigned in September 1, 1602, died January 1, 1609. 1602, Juan de Zaniga, Bishop of Cartagena, commissioned July 29, 1602, died December 20, 1602. 1603, Juan Batista Acevedo, Royal Confessor and Patriarch of the Indies, commissioned January 20, 1603, died July 8, 1608. 1608, Bernardo de Santander de Val, Iroxas, Cardinal and Archbishop of Toledo, commissioned September 12, 1608, died December 7, 1618. 1619, Luis de Alliaga, Royal Confessor, commissioned January 4, 1619, resigned in 1621, died December 3, 1626. 1622, Andrés Pacheco, Bishop of Cuenca, commissioned February 12, 1622, died April 7, 1626. 1627, Antonio de Zapata, Cardinal and Archbishop of Burgos, 1600 to 1605, commissioned January 30, 1627, resigned in 1632, died April 23, 1635. 1632, Antonio de Sotomayor, Royal Confessor and Archbishop of Damascus, commissioned July 17, 1632, resigned June 21, 1643, died in 1648. 1643, Diego de Arce Irenoso, Bishop of Plasencia, commissioned September 18, 1643, took possession November 14, 1643, died June 20, 1665. 1665, Pascal de Aragon, Archbishop of Toledo, a document of October 26, 1665 is drafted in his name, resigned soon afterwards. 1666, Juan Evarardo Nathardo, Royal Confessor and Cardinal, commissioned October 15, 1666, banished February 25, 1669 as Ambassador Jerome, died in 1681. 1669, Diego Sarmiento de Valaderes, Bishop of Plasencia, commissioned September 15, 1669, died January 29, 1695. 1695, Juan Tomas de Recoberte, Archbishop of Valencia, commissioned August 2, 1695, died June 13, 1699. 1699, Alfonso Fernandez de Cordova, Iagular, died September 19, 1699, before the arrival of his brief. 1699, Balthazar de Mendoza, Sandoval, Bishop of Segovia, commissioned October 31, 1699, resigned in 1705, died November 4, 1727. 1705, Vidal Marien, Bishop of Cöta, commissioned March 24, 1705, died March 10, 1709. 1709, Antonio Ibanez de Riva Herrera, Archbishop of Saragosa, commissioned April 5, 1709, died September 3, 1710. 1711, Francisco Guides, Cardinal, commissioned June 11, 1711, resigned in 1716, died October 10, 1725. 1715, Felipe Antonio Gil de Tabuada, Archbishop of Saragosa, commissioned February 28, 1715, did not serve. 1717, Joseph de Molines, proclaimed January 9, 1717, while in Rome, detained in Milan by the Austrians and died there. Juan de Arzimendi, died without serving. 1720, Diego de Estorga y Céspedes, Bishop of Barcelona, commissioned March 26, 1720, resigned in 1720, died February 9, 1724. 1720, Juan de Camargo, Bishop of Pampaluna, commissioned July 18, 1720, died May 24, 1733. 1733, Andrés de Orbe y La Teregu, Archbishop of Valencia, commissioned July 28, 1733, died August 4, 1740. 1742, Manuel Isidro Manrique de Lara, Archbishop of Santiago, commissioned January 1, 1742, died January 10, 1746. 1746, Francisco Perez de Prado Equesta, Bishop of Tarul, appointed July 26, 1746, commissioned August 22, 1746, died in July 1755. 1755, Manuel Quintano Boniface, Archbishop of Farsalia, commissioned August 11, 1755, resigned in 1774, died December 18, 1775. 1775, Felipe Bertrand, Bishop of Salamanca, appointed December 27, 1774, commissioned February 27, 1775, took possession May 5, 1775, died November 30, 1783. 1784, Augustine Rubín de Savallos, Bishop of Yain, appointed January 23, 1784, commissioned February 17, 1784, took possession June 7, 1784, died February 8, 1793, 1793, and died in January 7, 1784, commissioned Manuel Abad Elaciera, Archbishop of Salimbria, took possession May 11, 1793, resigned in 1794, died January 12, 1806. 1794, Francisco Antonio de Lorenzana, Archbishop of Toledo, took possession September 12, 1794, resigned in 1797, died April 17, 1804. 1798, Ramón Joseph de Arce, Renoso, Archbishop of Saragossa, resigned March 22, 1808, died in Paris, February 16, 1814. 1814, Xavier Mier Ecampillo, Bishop of Almeria, took possession in August 1814. In a series of documents he ceases to appear about June 18, 1818, and for some months the Suprema acts as in a vacancy. 1818, Geronimo Castillon Isalas, Bishop of Tarazona, the earliest document in which I have met his signature is dated October 21, 1818. He had no successor and died April 20, 1835. End of Appendix II. Appendix III of History of the Inquisition of Spain, Volume I. This is a Libra box recording. All Libra box recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libra box.org. History of the Inquisition of Spain, Volume I, by Henry Charles Lee. Appendix III. Spanish Coinage. The question of values has significance in so many of the operations of the Inquisition that an outline of the successive mintages of Spain becomes almost a necessity. The subject is complicated after the middle of the 16th century by the progressive but fluctuating depreciation in the Moneta de Vellón, or base coinage, which became practically the standard of value in all transactions. The monetary unit of Castile was the Maravedi, anciently a gold coin of value, but in the 15th century diminished to a fraction of its former estimation. A declaration of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1503 says that formerly the Silver Real was equal to three Maravedes, but now it is worth thirty-four. The unit of weight was the Marque, or half-pound, of eight ounces, or four thousand six hundred and eight grains. The intermediate weights were the Ochavo of seventy-eight grains, the Adarme of thirty-six, and the Tomen of twelve. These were applicable to all the precious metals, but, up to seventeen thirty-one, the Marque of gold was reckoned to contain fifty Castilanos of eight Tomines, making forty-eight hundred grains, whereby the grain was reduced one-twenty-fifth. The standard of fineness was fixed by Ferdinand and Isabella for gold at twenty-three and three-quarter carats, but was reduced by Charles V to twenty-two carats, at which it remained. For silver the standard maintained since the fourteenth century was known as Onse dineros cuatro granos, pure silver being Doce dineros, equivalent to point-nine-two-five fine. In seventeen-oh-nine, Philip the Fifth reduced it to Onse dineros, or point-nine-one-six-six-seven, and in some mintages even lower. Gold coins. When Ferdinand and Isabella revised the coinage in fourteen-ninety-seven, they ordered the Marque to be worked into sixty-five and one-third Excelentes de la Granada. This coin was worth three-hundred-and-seventy-four Marvedes, and was thus practically the same as the Duquette or Escado, which was rated at three-hundred-and-seventy-four. There were also the Dubla Alfonsoe, or Castiano, or Peso de Oro, equal to four-hundred-and-eighty-five, the Dubla de la Banda, to three-sixty-five, the Florin, to two-sixty-five. Thus the Duquette, which was the coin most frequently quoted, was equivalent to eleven silver reales. The ratio between gold and silver fluctuated between seven and eight to one. In fifteen-thirty-seven, Charles V ordered Coronas and Escudos, twenty-two carats fine, to be worked sixty-eight to the Marque, and to be worth three-hundred-and-thirty Marvedes, which he says was the weight and fineness of the best crowns of Italy and France. With the progressive depreciation in the value of silver, the coinage law, filled the second in fifteen-sixty-six, raised the Escudo from three-hundred-and-thirty Marves to four-hundred. From three-hundred-and-thirty Marvedes to four-hundred. The old Duquettes were to be current at four-hundred-and-twenty-nine Marvedes, the Castellanos at five-hundred-and-forty-four. The tendency of silver continued downward, and in sixteen-oh-nine, Philip III permitted the Escudo to pass for four-hundred-and-forty Marvedes, threatening three years' exile and a fine of five-hundred Duquettes for asking or receiving more. In sixteen-twelve he allowed the Castellano in Bullion to be sold for five-hundred-and-seventy-six Marvedes under the same penalties for exceeding it. The Escudo, or crown, remained the standard gold coin. In sixteen-forty-two it was raised to five-hundred-and-fifty Marvedes, in sixteen-forty-three to six-hundred-and-twelve, and then reduced to five-hundred-and-ten, owing to variations in the silver and vellan coinage. In sixteen-fifty-one it is rated at sixteen silver reales, in sixteen-fifty-two at fourteen, in sixteen-eighty-six at fifteen, but with a new coinage of lighter-weight silver it was raised to nineteen, and the de Blonde, or piece of two Escudos, to forty reales. For larger transactions multiples of the Escudo were struck, known as de Blones de Ados, de Aquatro, and de Ahocho, containing respectively two, four, and eight Escudos. The latter, which became popularly known as the Spanish de Blune, were rated in seventeen-twenty-six at eighteen pesos, or pieces of eight silver reales, in seventeen-twenty-eight at sixteen, in seventeen-thirty-seven at fifteen, and in seventeen-seventy-nine at sixteen again, the de Blune and the peso being virtually of the same weight, each a fraction under an ounce. In seventeen-thirty-eight, to supply the lack of silver money, there were coined half-crowns of gold, worth in vellan, eighteen reales, twenty-eight marvitas. This fraction was troublesome, and in seventeen-forty-two the weight was changed to correspond with twenty reales, and the coins became known as ventenos, or escuditos. Silver coins. The silver unit was the reale, which under the coinage laws of Ferdinand and Isabella, was worked sixty-seven to the silver mark, of eleven deneros four grains fine, point nine to five, worth thirty-four marvitas. It long continued of the standard, but in the financial mismanagement under Philip IV, the weight was reduced by ordering the mark worked into eighty-three reales, and one cartilo, eighty-three and one-quarter reales. The old coinage in circulation being advanced twenty-five percent, in value, by making the peso equivalent to ten reales instead of eight, but as this failed to afford the expected relief it was suspended in sixteen-forty-three, to be again tried in sixteen-eighty-four, when the reale was reduced to eighty-four to the mark, and the old coinage was rated at ten to eight of the new. In seventeen-o-nine we first hear of the Peseta, a name applied to the French coin introduced by the War of Secession, rated at two reales, and subsequently used to denote the double real of Spanish mintage. At the same time the standard was reduced to eleven deneros, or point-nine-one-six-six-seven fine. During the subsequent years of the reign of Philip V, the variations in the silver coinage were numerous and perplexing. The peso, escuda de plata, or piece of eight reales, was the leading coin, and in seventeen-twenty-six it was ordered that it, whether minted in the indies or in Spain, should be current for nine-and-one-half reales. And, as this did not bring it to an equivalent with gold, in seventeen-twenty-eight it was declared equal to ten reales. This, however, was now confined to the mintage of the indies, which came to be known as Platonacional. The small coinage of the Spanish mince was termed provincial and was allowed to remain current at a discount of twenty percent. It was seventy-seven reales to the mark, and the fineness was only ten deneros, reduced in seventeen-twenty-eight to nine deneros, twenty-two grains, or point-seven-nine-eight fine, rendering it, in reality, only about three-quarters the value of the standard. There were thus two entirely distinct silver currencies co-existent, and to these was added a third, popularly known as Marías, La Nueva, Quevelger Mante, Salaman Marías, which was called in by decree of April twenty-seventh seventeen-twenty-eight, but which was still in circulation in seventeen-thirty-six. Under these circumstances considerable circumlocation was necessary when quoting sums in silver to define the exact kind of coin meant, as, for instance, in the coinage law of July sixteenth seventeen-thirty, we are told that the allowance for expenses to the official known as the fiel was Un Real de Plata Provincial, valor de sixteen cuartos de Vellón. In fact, as we shall see, the debased coinage known as Vellón had become the real standard of financial transactions. In the later periods it will simplify the appreciation of amounts recorded to remind the reader that the peso, or piece of eight reales, is the modern dollar, and the real, or one-eighth of this, is the coin familiarly known of old in various parts of the United States as the bit, the eleven-penny bit, shortened to levy, the nine-pence, or the shilling. The maraveda was one-thirty-fourth of this, or about three-eighths one cent. In the colonies there is weakened allusion to the peso and sellado as distinguished from the peso de a ocha, which I gather to be a piece worth four-hundred maravetas, or nearly eleven-and-three-quarters reales, a little more than a duke it. The debased coinage known as Vellón was an alloy of silver-eric copper, which proved the source of unutterable confusion in Spanish finance. As we find it prescribed by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1497, it is merely a token coin convenient for small transaction, consisting of seven grains of silver to the mark of copper, worked into one-hundred and ninety-two blancas, the blanca being one-half of the maravete. Complaints were made that it was exported at a profit, so that it became scarce, and in fifteen-fifty-two, Charles V, to remedy this, reduced the silver to five grains. The extravagant expenditures of Philip II rendered him eager to clutch at any expedient to relieve immediate necessities, and in fifteen-sixty-six he adopted the unfortunate device of issuing a moneta de Vellón rica, with two and one-half deneros, two grains, ninety-eight grains of silver to the mark of copper, to be worked into corteos, eighty to the mark, worth one-quarter real, or eight and one-half maravetes, into cortos, one-hundred and seventy to the mark, worth four maravetes, and medios cortos, three-hundred and forty to the mark, worth two maravetes. The blancas, or half maravetes, were retained, but the silver in them was reduced to four grains to the mark, worked into two-hundred and twenty pieces. Although there do not appear ever to have been larger coins of Vellón issued than those authorized by Philip II, the flood of this inferior money supplanted the precious metals. It became the basis of all internal transactions, and the precious metals were reduced virtually to the position of commodities. There was a restamping of this coinage in sixteen-o-two, in which the silver was omitted, put into forced circulation at a value of seven to two. With all the power of Spain, backed by the treasures of the New World, and wielded by an autocratic monarchy, it was impossible to maintain so vicious an artificial occurrence at par, and there followed, during the seventeenth century, a series of the most desperate attempts to remedy the evils which were crippling the commerce and industry of the nation. In sixteen-nineteen there was a solemn promise made that no more of the pernicious stuff should be issued for twenty years, a promise only made to be broken and renewed in sixteen-thirty-two. In sixteen-twenty-five, under the severest penalties, the premium on gold and silver was limited to ten percent, and in sixteen-twenty-eight the nominal value was reduced one-half, but in sixteen-thirty-six the permissible premium on silver was recognized as twenty-five percent, immediately after which the Vellón coinage was restamped and troubled in value. In sixteen-forty the premium was allowed to be twenty-eight percent, and in sixteen-forty-one there was another restamping and the value was doubled, followed by recognizing the premium as fifty percent. In some accounts before me of the salaries and expenses of the Supreme Council of the Inquisition, not dated, but evidently belonging to this period, the figures set down are increased when added, in one case by twenty-eight percent, and in another by fifty, to adjust them to the currency in which they were expected to be paid. In other statements some items are specified as payable in Vellón and others in Plata. In the effort to bring the Vellón to par in sixteen-forty-two it was suddenly reduced to one-sixth of its current value, and then in sixteen-forty-three it was raised fourfold. This resulted, in sixteen-forty-seven, in a premium of twenty-five percent, but when in sixteen-fifty-one it was again restamped and restored to the value which it bore prior to sixteen-forty-two, the premium rose to fifty percent. In June sixteen-fifty-two another attempt was made to reduce it to one-fourth, but this seems to have been a failure and in November the edict was suspended. In sixteen-sixty its further issue was suspended and the experiment was again tried of an alloy containing twenty grains of silver to the mark, or about one over two-hundred and thirty, which became known as the Moneta de Molino de Vellón Ligado. This was so unsuccessful that in sixteen-sixty-four its nominal value was reduced to one-half and all other Vellón currency was prohibited, while in February sixteen-eighty a still further reduction of seventy-five percent in its value was ordered, and in May its use was forbidden, it was declared to have no value as currency, and the premium of fifty percent was permitted as against other Vellón coins, which had still continued in circulation. This lasted for four years, when in sixteen-eighty-four the Moneta de Molino was restored to circulation with a nominal value doubled out of the last reduction. With the eighteenth century the pretense of alloying copper with a fraction of silver was abandoned. In seventeen-eighteen a pure copper coinage was issued, and by this time the premium on-species recognized by law had advanced to nearly one-hundred percent. In spite of the prohibition to ask or receive more than this, people were forced to pay more. Traders kept the copper coinage tied up in bags representing the larger coins, and refused to furnish the latter except at an advance. The premium gradually rose until, in seventeen-thirty-seven, the Rial de Plata Provincial was recognized legally as worth two Rials de Vellón, and the Rial de Plata Nacional is worth two-and-a-half. Although there were no coined Rials de Vellón, they were the standard money of account on which all transactions were based. In the laws regulating the mints the salaries of the officials are always stated in Vellón. Thus in seventeen-eighteen the superintendent of the Mint of Madrid has twenty-four thousand Rials de Vellón, the treasurer sixteen thousand, and so forth. In seventeen-twenty-eight the superintendent is allowed five-hundred Escudos de Vellón, the Contador, four-hundred, etc. In seventeen-thirty it is provided that the sum of one-hundred and twenty-thousand Rials de Vellón is to be placed in the hands of the treasurer for current expenses, and he is to give in security twenty-thousand Ducados de Vellón on unencumbered real estate. From this it follows that, when the kind of coin is not specified, there may be some difficulty in estimating the value of a sum of money mentioned. The difference between silver and Vellón went on increasing. In seventeen-seventy-two, when a new coinage of gold and silver was issued, the gold Escudo, worth sixteen Rials de Plata, was declared to be worth thirty-seven and one-half Rials de Vellón. With the revolution the old coinage passed away and was replaced by the decimal system, the Peseta and Centimo being equivalent to the French Frank and Centine. Yet prices continued to be quoted in Rials, which are now rated at twenty-five centimos, or about five cents of American money. Nothing is more difficult than to ascertain accurately the variation in the purchasing power of money, but perhaps the price of labor affords the most trustworthy standard. In the fifteenth century this would seem to have been about six maravitas a day. In the eighteenth, common laborers employed in the mince received three and one-half Rials de Vellón per diem, while those in more confidential positions, such as watchmen, were paid six. As a matter of course the kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon had their independent systems of coinage, which were based on the old divisions of the Marque, almost everywhere prevalent, of Libras, Sueldos, and Daeneros, or Pounds, Schilling, and Pence, there being twenty Sueldos to the Libra, and twelve Daeneros to the Seldos. In the documents of the early period there are frequent fluctuations in the relations between these coins and the Castilian system, but as a rule there were reckoned twenty Aragonese Seldos to the Ducat, which therefore was equivalent to the Libra. In Catalonia the Sueldo Barcelonaes was twenty-four to the Ducat, and there was also a coin known as Morabaton equal to nine Seldos. Unification of currency throughout the monarchy was a desirable object, long frustrated by the stubborn particularism of the provinces. It was especially difficult to bring about in Catalonia, where the Velen coinage had been largely diluted by the Allies during their long occupation of the Principality in the War of Secession. An edict of 1733 informs us that there were twenty-four Daeneros to the Catalan Real, but most of those in circulation of the coinage of 1653 had been restamped by the Allies to double their nominal value. They had also coined Daenerios Catalanes, with the same alloy of silver as the mentions of 1653, but with only half the weight, yet circulated at the full value. The edict denounces the Daenerios of both Aragon and Catalonia as an intolerable abuse, and with superfluous emphasis orders that their use be abandoned, immediately in Aragon and Catalonia, as soon as sufficient money of Velen can be coined to take their place. The effect was futile for another edict of 1737 assimilates the Daenerio of Aragon and Valencia to the Castilian Oceavo, or peace of two Maravitas, and the Daenerio of Catalonia to one Maravere. In 1743, in consequence of disputes arising between troops quartered in Catalonia and the peasants, it was ordered that the Velen money of Castile should circulate freely in Aragon, Catalonia, and Mallorca. As late as 1772, an edict calls in the local small coinage of Valencia and orders it replaced with Castilian money, but this was so unsuccessful that it was followed in 1777, with one confining the use of these coins to Valencia and forbidding their circulation elsewhere. When the unification of the currency occurred does not clearly appear, but it probably was not until the revision of the monetary system in the present century. The old crusado of Portugal, to which reference sometimes occurs, was virtually the same as the Spanish duket.