Perú - History Lab

Book notes on Indian languages in Chile and Peru

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:51 +0000

Note made by Diego Ugalde of the books relating to the languages of the Indians that he and José Celestino Mutis, director of the Royal Botanical Expedition to the kingdoms of Chile and Peru, were able to bring together by order of the Count of Floridablanca on 3 October 1787, in order to satisfy the wishes of the Empress of Russia.

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Mainland Galleons

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:33 +0000

The Mainland Galleons were the ships of the Carrera de Indias that linked Spain with the Viceroyalty of Peru. This fleet differed in part from the Fleet of New Spain, as it brought together the fleet of Tierra Firme, a convoy of merchant ships, and the Armada de la Guardia de la Carrera de Indias, a squadron that was destined for the military protection of the fleet in the Atlantic. These fleets transported silver from the main mining centres in Peru, such as Potosí, La Paz and Oruro, which is why the Armada accompanied them, especially on their return to Spain. On their return journey, they were also joined by the fleet from New Spain. This combination of navy and fleet is known as the Tierra Firme galleons. On their journey to America, they left from Andalusia, stopped in the Canary Islands and from there they travelled mainly to the ports of Cartagena de Indias and Nombre de Dios, which in the 17th century was replaced by Portobelo. Over time, Peruvian trade caused the crisis and early disappearance of the Tierra Firme galleons and Portobelo fairs, as the Atlantic trade was progressively abandoned and the Pacific trade became more important, seeking the Pacific Race to the Philippines and China and the supply of European goods through Mexico and the fleets of New Spain. This new design led to the slow languishing of the galleons in the late 17th and early 18th century until they were finally scrapped in 1739. The image shows the plan of the galleon “Nuestra Señora del Mar”, one of those of the Armada of General Marqués del Vado, which was wrecked in the Gulf of Bermuda, its captain and owner being Admiral Francisco de Pineda. It shows how the galleon, which has four masts and sails hoisted, is surrounded by five boats where most of the crew have been assembled, while some of its members are lowered into them by ropes. There is a large amount of water coming out of the scuppers.

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Number of thousands of Amerindian tributaries in the viceroyalty of Peru (1580-1630)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:41 +0000

Much of the interest in the administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru has focused on Francisco de Toledo (1569-1582), the principal architect of the kingdom’s administrative, labour and fiscal system during the formative years of the 16th century, who increased the power of the state in pursuit of a restructuring between Spaniards and Amerindians by channelling the flow of surplus economic wealth to Spain. The efforts of the viceroy and the Madrid government to prevent abuses fell on deaf ears once he left the viceroyalty, as the main criticism was directed at the corregidores, who were said to have disregarded the laws, abused their authority and enriched themselves at the expense of the Crown and the Indians. Such malfeasance did not go unnoticed, and in 1604-1626 Crown officials seriously contemplated abolishing the corregimiento system in the Indies. Nevertheless, demographic studies for Peru have provided estimates of the indigenous tributary population belonging to the district of the caja de Lima. The graph presented here indicates that the indigenous tributary population fell sharply from 30,394 in 1580 to 14,690 in 1630, a decline of more than 50%. The effect of epidemics and emigration on Peru’s demographic decline was particularly severe in the district of Lima. Most tributaries lived in villages that came under the jurisdiction of an encomienda. A contemporary, Antonio de León, estimated that by 1631 the encomiendas of the Lima district were producing more than 82,000 pesos a year in tribute. In this sense, the decline of the indigenous population increased the tax burden on the tributaries remaining in the repartimientos.

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Tributes and lags in the viceroyalty of Peru by the Court of accounts in 1630.

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:57 +0000

Much of the interest in the administration of the Viceroyalty of Peru has focused on Francisco de Toledo (1569-1582), the principal architect of the kingdom’s administrative, labour and fiscal system during the formative years of the 16th century, who increased the power of the state in pursuit of a restructuring between Spaniards and Amerindians by channelling the flow of surplus economic wealth to Spain. The efforts of the viceroy and the Madrid government to prevent abuses fell on deaf ears once he left the viceroyalty, as the main criticism was directed at the corregidores, who were said to have disregarded the laws, abused their authority and enriched themselves at the expense of the Crown and the Indians. Such malfeasance did not go unnoticed, and in 1604-1626 Crown officials seriously contemplated abolishing the corregimiento system in the Indies. The general corruption and incompetence of the corregidores is the most plausible explanation for the absence of a significant correlation between tribute revenues and the number of indigenous tributaries. Revenue fluctuations between 1580 and 1630 were excessively pronounced. The transitory rise in tribute revenues in 1624-1627 was simply the result of a large remittance by the corregidores of the capital. Treasury officials based in Lima could not contain the administration among corregidores who were nominally under their jurisdiction. The system of fees and administrative procedures, carefully devised by Francisco de Toledo, was in ruins by the early 17th century. Corruption of the corregidores and loss of tax revenues were widespread in the provinces far from the viceregal capital. According to Francisco López de Caravantes, in 1630, tax debts or arrears had reached 1,654,057 pesos in the viceroyalty. In this sense, the highland provinces of Potosí, Cuzco and La Paz were the ones that had accumulated the largest arrears.

The post Tributes and lags in the viceroyalty of Peru by the Court of accounts in 1630. first appeared on History Lab.

Relative prices of traded goods in the Spanish Empire (1661-1810)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:52 +0000

By 1700, the Hispanic Monarchy dominated a vast territory where the American colonies were divided into two huge viceroyalties. Trade between Spain and Peru experienced a certain increase despite being one of the most difficult places to access as it pushed the passage towards the Pacific Ocean. The number of ships that made this journey increased 2.6 times between 1660 and 1770. However, although Peru’s trade with Spain was predominant, Chile was the main destination for its regional maritime exports, which consisted primarily of sugar, tobacco and textiles. Grain trade was non-existent between the Peruvian and Chilean regions because there was no clear comparative advantage. However, the situation changed after the Lima earthquake of 1687, which resulted in a significant drop in wheat prices. On the other hand, trade regulation and its impact on the ease of trade improved after the Bourbons came to the throne. However, the differentials are greater between trade between Spain and Peru than between Peru and Chile. In the former case, goods could cost four times or more in Lima than in Castile at the end of the 17th century. In the case of the Pacific, prices were 50% higher in the same period, whether in Santiago or Lima. A comparison of price dispersion between the second half of the seventeenth century and the eighteenth century shows a tendency towards less dispersion in the case of paper, while values remain relatively stable for bramante and saffron. The War of the Spanish Succession, one of the determining factors, together with the War of Jenkins’ Ear, which slowed down the globalisation process, was an immediate effect at the beginning of the 18th century. The loss of commercial influence was alleviated from 1739 with the full authorisation of single vessels to trade between Spain and Peru.

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Women in Hispanic America

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:22 +0000

Audiovisual capsule on American women in the Modern Age, focusing on the diversity existing in this space, as exemplified by the ethnic differences or the heterogeneous legal conditions (free, slaves). Special mention is made of the case of the “tapadas” of Lima. Duration: 8.04 min. The video, made by Benita Herreros Cleret de Langavant (University of Cantabria), is designed for university students (Degree in History, Master’s and Doctorate in Modern History) and is one of the results of the teaching innovation project “History and Art Capsules II. History, with gender and in feminine”, funded by the University of Cantabria through a competitive public call (2020). This teaching project was coordinated by Begoña Alonso and Benita Herreros Cleret de Langavant (PIs), with the participation of Tomás A. Mantecón Movellán and Rubén Castro Redondo, together with the two aforementioned researchers

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