Privilegios - History Lab

Privilege letter from Charles I granting the title of villa to the place of Torres de la Alameda (1555)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:54:58 +0000

The document is a letter of privilege. This type of document was used by the monarchs to abolish taxes, confirm municipal privileges or, in this case, to grant the title of villa to Torres de la Alameda. The most immediate consequence was that the new town left the jurisdiction of Alcalá de Henares and created a new council. However, despite the theoretical concession, on a practical level it remained under the tutelage of Alcalá de Henares. This charter is an example of compensation to areas that rendered good services to the Crown; although it was usually signed by monarchs, on this occasion it was signed by Princess Juana of Austria, daughter of Charles I and Isabella of Portugal.

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Valencian Cortes of 1626

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:33:40 +0000

The Alfonsine charter originated in the 14th century, when it was institutionalised by Alfonso II of Valencia. The aim of the Alfonsine charter was to encourage repopulation in the context of the Christian conquest, so that anyone who managed to gather 15 Christian houses with a criminal discharge (Primitivo Pla Alberola) was encouraged to do so. With this privilege, many territories in the Valencian area were populated, and it was also an opportunity for a person who had not been a nobleman to become a lord of that territory. The expulsion of the Moors in 1609 posed a major problem, mainly because in many cases, the lords no longer had 15 houses, so they could no longer formally enjoy the advantages of the Alfonsino privilege. To this end, during the Valencian courts of 1626, the lords asked for the privilege to be maintained as an exception to the drastic demographic decline caused by the Moorish expulsion.

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Decree of 11 August 1710, signed at El Buen Retiro

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:33:29 +0000

The organisation of militias to defend the coast from Barbary raids was a task that the Habsburgs began in the 16th century. The strengthening of the Barbary corsairs (Tunisian, Algerian and Tripolitanian) in the first centuries of modernity led to the organisation of militias in the affected towns, which gradually became professionalised. The organisation of these militias not only made it possible to defend the coast from Berber landings and attacks, but also to rescue the North African towns in the event of a siege. In a context as complicated as 1716, Philip V needed all the military support he could get. The years of the War of Secession were exploited by the enemies of the monarchy: the Algerians had taken Oran and Mazalquivir. The Moroccans, led by Moulay Ismail and his successor, continued to besiege Ceuta. Likewise, the British had taken Gibraltar and Minorca.

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Decree of the Nueva Planta of the Audience of the Principality of Catalonia (1716)

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

Philip V’s victory in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) led to the establishment of a new political and administrative reality in Spain. The old feudal institutions were replaced by other forms of centralist government whose aim was, in the words of Philip V, to establish “the same laws, customs, usages, customs and courts […] to abolish and entirely repeal […] all privileges, privileges, practices and customs…”. The new reality generalised the legislation of Castile to the whole territory. However, the territories that supported Philip against Archduke Charles, the Basque areas and Navarre, did maintain the foral regime. The documentation presented here corresponds to the Nueva Planta Decree of the Audiencia of the Principality of Catalonia.

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