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The Sevillian Nobility and Trade with the New World in the Sixteenth CenturyAuthor(s): Ruth PikeSource: The Business History Review, Vol. 39, No. 4, Special Latin American Issue (Winter,1965), pp. 439-465Published by: The President and Fellows of Harvard CollegeStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3112598

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ByRuthPikeASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY

HUNTER COLLEGE

The SevillianNobilityand Tradewith the New World in the

SixteenthCentury

c Seville was the first and, for most of the sixteenth century, the onlyEuropean community permitted to trade directly with the New World.That members of her nobility, who were traditionallyaloof from trade,were intimately involved testifies to the wealth to be gained and its

revolutionaryeconomicand social effects.

I

In the sixteenth century Sevillian society underwent a pro-

found transformation.1 New social and economic values werecreated and old ones discarded as the result of the city's new eco-nomic position as the door and port of the Indies. 2 Medieval con-

cepts stressing virtue and valor as the essence of nobility fell intodecline.3 An acquisitive society was emerging, and the spirit of

profit-making embraced the whole city.' Greed for money and

* The material for this study has been drawn primarily from the Sevillian Protocols.An American Council of Learned Societies Grant-in-Aid made it possible for me to collectthe information used in the preparation of this paper which is part of a projected largerstudy of the history of the city of Seville in the sixteenth century. The following abbrevia-tions have been used: APS: Archivo de Protocolos, Seville; AMS: Archivo Municipal, Seville.

1The discovery of America, more than anything else, transformed Seville from a pro-vincial Andalusian port city into a prosperous international metropolis - a new Babyloniaas she was called by contemporary writers. Was not Seville and all Andalusia before thisevent the furthest point and the end of all land, and now it is the middle to which comethe best and most esteemed of the Old World . . . to be carried to the New. FrayTomas de Mercado, Summa de tratos y contratos (Seville, 1587), p. A2.

'The Spanish dramatist Lope de Vega described Seville in these terms in his El

peregrino en su patria, quoted in Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Rinconete y Cortadillo,ed. Francisco Rodriguez Marin (Madrid, 1920), p. 10. For a description of the city see

my article, Seville in the Sixteenth Century, Hispanic American Historical Review, vol.XLI (Feb., 1961), pp. 1-30.

Spanish medieval concepts completely separated riches from nobility. A rich man was

ingenious [capaz], powerful, and, above all, virtuous. The highest grade of medieval

nobility was formed by the ricos homes and ricas hembras and money did not allow oneto belong to this class. Alonso Garcia Valdecasas, El hidalgo y el honor (2nd ed., Madrid,

1958), p. 71.'Lope de Vega expressed the new feeling in his La prueba de los amigos:

No dudes que el dinero estodo en todo:

Es principe, es hidalgo, es caballeroEs alta sangre, es descendiente godo.



dissatisfaction with social and economic status became the common

affliction of all Sevillians. The whole city lived under the spell ofthe fabulous American treasure that at the arrival of the fleet was

carried in carts pulled by four oxen along the streets from theGuadalquivir to the Casa de Contratacion. Even the famous

picaro, GuzmAn de Alfarache, found that in Seville riches are not

highly esteemed since silver runs as freely here as does copper in

other parts. 6If Sevillian life was characterized by materialism and covetous-

ness, no group reflected this more than the city nobility.7 Like

their counterparts in the rest of Spain, warfare, politics, religion,and traditional farming had been their principal activities for

centuries. Trade, which carried with it a social stigma, was left tooutsiders and foreigners. In the sixteenth century the opening of

the New World and the subsequent conversion of their city into a

thriving commercial emporium forced the Sevillian aristocracy to

revise both their ideas and patterns of life. Fray Tomis de Mercado,keen analyst of Sevillian life, carefully noted this phenomenon. Ac-

cording to him, the discovery of the Western Indies seventy years

ago, presented a magnificent opportunity to acquire great wealth

which lured the nobility of Seville to be merchants since they saw

in it [trade] large profits. 8 Don Dinero, in the words of Que-vedo,9 subdued the nobility as he had triumphed over the rest of

the population of the city.The conversion of the nobility to commerce opened what had

heretofore been a closed society, and brought about the entrance of

the merchant class into their ranks. Marriages between the scions

of the oldest noble families and the daughters of merchants became

a normal occurrence in the city during the course of the century.10In fact, even the nobility who did not engage in commerce were

In Fblix Lope de Vega Carpio, Obras escogidas, ed. Federico Carlos Sinz de Robles(Madrid, 1952), II, i, 1429.

6 Alonso de Morgado, Historia de Sevilla, reprinted by the Sociedad del Archivo His-

palense (Seville, 1887), p. 166.e Mateo Alemin, Guzmdn de Alfarache, in Angel Valbuena y Prat, La novela picaresca

espaviola (Madrid, 1956), Part II, Book III, chap. 7, p. 551.See Santiago Montoto de Sedas, Sevilla en el imperio, siglo XVI (Seville, 1938), pp.

194-203, for a list of the noble families of Seville in the sixteenth century.8 Mercado, p. A2. Fray Tombsde Mercado is the author of the best treatise on business

methods practiced in his native Seville.SThe reference here is to Francisco de Quevedo's satirical poem, Poderoso caballero

es don Dinero. See Francisco de Quevedo Villegas, Obras completas, ed. Luis Astrana

Marin (Madrid, 1952), p. 82.o10As Alarc6n stated in his El semejante a si mismo:

Es segunda maravillaUn caballero en SevillaSin ramo de mercader.

Juan Ruiz de Alarc6n, Obras completas, ed. Agustin Millares Carlo (Mexico, 1957), vol.I, p. 298.

440 BUSINESS HISTORY REVIEW



forced by necessity, or at times cupidity, to marry the daughters of

merchants, and the power of gold made hidalgos and nobles out

of merchants and commoners. 1

The commercialization of the nobility and the ennoblement ofwealthy merchants were two parallel currents that operated in

Seville during the sixteenth century. The desire for nobility was

particularly strong. Once a merchant had accumulated sufficient

capital he developed a taste for nobility and hidalguia and tried to

raise himself by creating an entailed estate for his son. 12 A large

part of the wealth obtained by the Sevillian merchants from the

American trade went into the purchase of landed estates in Aljarafeand Sierra Morena out of which they created rich mayorazgos for

their heirs.13The penury of the royal treasury also contributed to the ennoble-

ment of rich merchants in Seville as elsewhere in Spain during the

period. The crown found in the sale of rights of hidalguia a profit-able source of income at a time when royal financial demands were

great. Repeatedly, the Seville City Council complained to the kingabout this practice and finally in 1582 secured his promise not to sell

any more patents of nobility in the seventy-two towns belonging tothe district of Seville in return for a loan of 50,000 ducats.

With the sale of hidalguias went the distribution of municipaloffices traditionally reserved to the nobility. The positions of veinti-

cuatro [alderman] and jurado [common councilman] were placedon the market and opened to the highest bidder. Merchants

solicited these posts not only for the social prestige inherent in them

but also for the economic advantages and exemptions that theybrought. The minutes of a City Council meeting of April 8, 1598,

clearly describe the situation: The people who try to purchasehidalguias, and veinticuatrias are merchants and businessmen who

do so in order to further their own interests and to facilitate theshipment of their merchandise and the activities of their agents ...They pay excessive prices for the said patents [of nobility] and

xercado, p. A2. The wealth of the Sevillian merchants was proverbial. There aremerchants, wrote Morgado, who are so rich that they could easily purchase three goodvillas outside of Seville, provide a dowry of 24,000 ducats for their daughters, while atthe same time keep their arms free for greater concerns. Morgado, p. 172.

L Mercado, p. A2.1 Jaime Vicens Vives, Historia social y econdmica de Espafia y Amrnica (Barcelona,

1957-1959), vol. III, p. 112.4There were 36 veinticuatros in Seville in the sixteenth century. To hold this position

one had to be a denizen of Seville, noble, and be named by the king. The veinticuatrosreceived an annual salary of 3,000 mrs. and had to reside in the city for at least fourmonths a year. In reality, they governed the city. Traditionally, the office of jurado hadbeen elective, 2 being selected by the denizens of each district. In 1552, they numbered56. Like the veinticuatros, they enjoyed exemption from royal and municipal taxes andhad special legal privileges. Montoto de Sedas, pp. 61-63, 213.

SEVILLE AND NEW WORLD 441



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AlonsoHernmandeze

Jerez MerchantBernardinode Isla Merchant of Burgos SantaMaria

Juande Isla Merchant of Burgos SantaMariaAndris de Le6n Old Nobility San Vicente

Garciade Le6n Old Nobility Veinticuatro SantaMariaDiego L6pez de Sevilla Merchant San

Esteb•nAlonsode Medina Merchantof Burgos, Santa Maria

hidalgode

ejecutoriaAlonsoNavarro Merchant SantaMaria

HernmnNiifiez de Toledo Merchant SantaCruzBaltasarNiifiez de Silva Old Nobility Veinticuatro San Lorenzo

Diego Ortiz Old Nobility San BartolomJuande Pineda Old Nobility SantiagoDiego del PostigoAlmonacid Broker San LorenzoAlvaro Pirez de Esquivel Old Nobility Veinticuatro San BartolomRuy Pbrez de Esquivel Old Nobility Veinticuatro SanJuanLuis de Prado Old Nobility Santa CruzMelchor de Prado Old Nobility Santa CruzAlonso Ruiz Old NobilityFranciscoRuiz Merchant San LorenzoFernandoRuizCabeza de

Vaca Old Nobility VeinticuatroPedro S~nchezde Araoz Old Nobility Santa Cruz

JuanSAnchezBueno Merchant Fiel Ejecutor San NicolAsMelchor de Segura Merchant San SalvadorPedro de Sepilveda Merchant Santa MarialaAntonio de Soria Merchant Fiel EjecutorAntonio de Vergara Old Nobility Veinticuatro

Source: The Sevillian Protocols



councilmanships in order to use these positions to avoid paying the

almojarifazgo [customs duties] and to pressure the officials of the

latter to pass their shipments without inspecting them. The

opinion 1'6 f the municipality is reflected in Table 1. Not only didthe most important members of the Sevillian noble trading grouphold the position of councilman but a large number of them were

of merchant origin.Once a merchant purchased a title of nobility and a seat on the

Municipal Council he was considered legally the equal of the

traditional nobility. The title of Don was placed before his name

and the qualification of merchant eliminated after it. The en-

nobled merchants or new nobility then took their places beside the

old nobility, and through intermarriage and bonds of interest bothgroups merged to form, by the end of the century, a compact social

class. Yet the coming together of the old and new nobility did not

destroy the existent current of social prejudice toward the new

hidalgos. The literature of the period expresses unequivocally dis-

criminatory feelings in this regard.'6 As for the old nobility, there

was only one organized attempt on their part to discriminate againstthe parvenus. In 1573, a few members of the first families of the

city petitioned the king to allow them to form a religious con-

fraternity restricted to nobles. When the City Council became in-formed of this action, it immediately sent a statement to the mon-

arch opposing it. The reason for this intervention is clear. The

Council members believed that the objective of such a confraternityis not good will, nor religious or pious acts, but rather to give the

said brothers the power to make and break hidalgos . . . as it

would cause disgrace among those who would not be accepted as

members, and only those who would be received would be con-

sidered truly noble while those who would not want to join would

be suspect. 17Needless to say, the Sevillian nobility never succeededin establishing a confraternity.

Although the special circumstances in Seville undoubtedlyfacilitated the rise of the wealthier members of the middle class

asAMS, Actas Capitulares, siglo XVI, cabildo de 8 April 1598. The usual price ofan aldermanship was 7,000 ducats.

16 Traditionally, no one except nobility was permitted to use the title of Don exceptby royal permission. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the use of Don by en-nobled merchants of common origin provoked satire among the contemporary writers. Polode Medina censures the Don of a wealthy merchant as follows:

El ver que ayer Juan de VilchesDe mercader tuvo tienda,

Y, haciendo linaje el trato,Don Juan Mercader se mienta.

Salvador Polo de Medina, Poesias, ed. Adolfo de Castro (Madrid, 1884), XLII, 182.

'7 Marqu6s de Tablante, Anales de la Plaza de Toros de Seviila as quoted in Montotode Sedas, p. 187-190.




into the nobility, this was not a phenomenon particularly character-

istic of Seville. All over western Europe during the sixteenth and

seventeenth centuries there was a strong tendency toward the en-

noblement of the middle class.18 It was the reality of nobles tradingin a country where commerce was frowned upon and considered

dishonorable that especially marks Seville. Spanish traditional

thought held that nobility and trade were incompatible and that a

noble would lose his status if he entered such a profession. As

Suirez de Figueroa points out in his El pasagero, I am sure that

the only thing that prevents many from entering trade, although it

is the way to become wealthy quickly, is the stigma of dishonor that

it brings. 19

Regardless of contemporary opinion as represented by the authorof El pasagero, there is no evidence that the Sevillian nobility felt

dishonored because of their mercantile activities. On the contrary,

they believed that there was no incompatibility between trade and

nobility and that they could engage in commerce without any loss

of status or prestige. In the well-known commentary by Veitia on

the Spanish trade with America, for example, we read: Tradingwith the Indies by purchasing and shipping cargoes for wholesale

disposal or exchange for native products is not detrimental to

nobility. There is no objection thereto according to the prevailingcustoms and systems of sanctions. In fact, it is usual for very re-

spected caballeros and even magnates to ship goods to the Indies. 20

This decisive change in attitude on the part of the Sevillian no-

bility during this period is also reflected in contemporary plays and

novels whose scene is set in Seville. In Castillo Sol6rzano's pica-

resque novel La Garduita de Sevilla, one of the characters, Felici-

ano, is the son of a wealthy hidalgo who had increased his fortune

through the American trade. Whereas in Lope de Vega's El premio

del bien hablar, the main character, Leonarda, tells her suitor Don

1s Fernand Braudel, La Mdditerrande et le monde mdditerranden d l'dpoque de PhilippeII (Paris, 1949), p. 619.

1 Crist6bal SuArez de Figueroa, El pasagero, ed. Francisco Rodriguez Marin (Madrid,1913), p. 201.

soJoseph de Veitia Linaje, Norte de la Contrataci6n de las Indias occidentales (new ed.,Buenos Aires, 1945), p. 161. Veitia stresses the difference between the wholesale andretail trade, a point that was emphasized in a famous decision in 1622. At that time,Philip IV decided to award Admiral Antonio de Alliri, of hidalgo origin, with the habit ofCalatrava despite the fact that the rules of the religious-military orders debarred thosewhose ancestors (in this instance, grandfather) had traded. The controversy over this caseled to a subsequent papal decree that closed the orders except with papal dispensation to

aquellos comerciantes 6 mercaderes que bien ellos 6 sus padres 6 abuelos tuvieron 6hubieron tenido tienda abierta y vendieron en la tienda, dicha mercancia, bien por si, bien

por personas designadas por ellos; pero que de ninguna manera deben ser excluidos aquellosque causa lucrt inviertan su dinero en el comercio de por mayor como dice vulgarmente(ad grossum) y no vendan sus g6neros en tienda, ni los hagan vender al menudo (admenutum). Marques de Laurencin, El Admirante don Antonio de Alliri en la Orden deCalatrava, Boletin de la Real Academia de Historia, vol. XLVIII (1906), p. 331.




Juan, an unoccupied and impoverished Castilian hidalgo typical of

the period who has come to Seville for the purpose of going to

America to seek his fortune, that she is the daughter of an hidalgo

who trades with the New World and that this does not dishonor herfather in any manner. Lope expresses the same opinion in La esclavade su galdn when Dofia Elena describes herself as the daughter of

a businessman who is a well-born hidalgo. 21

II

Even before the wide-scale entrance of merchants into its ranks,

the old nobility of Seville was not a homogeneous class. At the top

were the grandees and the titulos who monopolized all titles suchas marquis, duke, and count.22 In Seville the great lords were

represented by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, the Marquis of Tarifa,

and the Duke of Arcos, among others.23 Below these were the

caballeros and hidalgos who were members of the secondary or

lower nobility. The terms hidalgos and caballeros, used in a genericsense to denote noble lineage, were employed indiscriminately dur-

ing the period. This latter category covered most of the firstfamilies of Seville.

As a rule the investment of the magnates in the American tradecentered around the ownership of vessels engaged in the carrera de

Indias.24 Actually, the cost of outfitting and maintaining these ships

21Alonso de Castillo Sol6rzano, La Garduiia de Sevilla y anzuelo de las bolsas, ed.

Federico Ruiz Morcuende (Madrid, 1942), p. 21; Fl61ixLope de Vega Carpio, El premiodel bien hablar in Obras de Lope de Vega Carpio, ed. Emilio Cotarelo y Mori, XIII

(Madrid, 1980), I, 876; ibid., La esclava de su galdn, XII, primera jornada, p. 185.22Both groups corresponded to the medieval ricos homes. The only difference between

them was that the grandees were called cousins by the king and could remain covered in

his presence while the titulos were called relatives. Vives, p. 62.

2The Chronicler Lucio Marineo Siculo gives some interesting statistics as to the annual

incomes of the magnates of Seville in his Cosas memorables de Espafia (AlcalA de Henares,

153388) s quoted in Montoto de Sedas, p. 284:Duke of Medina Sidonia 55,000 ducatsDuke of B6jer 40,000 ducatsDuke of Arcos 25,000 ducats

Marquis of Ayamonte 80,000 ducats

Marquis of Tarifa 80,000 ducats

Marquis del Valle 60,000 ducatsCount of Orgaz 10,000 ducatsCount of Gelves 10,000 ducats

24During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries magnates such as the Dukes of Medina

Sidonia and Medinaceli and the Marquis of Cadiz, as lords of the most important Andalusian

ports and shipowners in their own right, invested their wealth in voyages which aimed at

both trade and privateering against Moorish shipping and the coastal towns of Granada andNorthern Africa. It should also be remembered that the Duke of Medinaceli was able and

had been willing to outfit the Columbus expedition but was forced to withdraw because

of the opposition of the Catholic Sovereigns. Generally, the crown, distrusting the nobility,

tried to exclude the Andalusian feudal lords from undertaking expeditions to America fortheir own account and risk. Richard Konetzke, Entrepreneurial Activities of Spanish and

Portuguese Nobleman in Medieval Times, Explorations in Entrepreneurial History, vol.

VI (1958-54), pp. 116, 118. This, of course, did not prevent them from owning the shipsthat carried on the trade between Seville and America.




was so large that it would be difficultfor an individual,unless hewas a member of the upper nobility, to undertake it alone. As

Table 2 shows, ships were either owned outright by a great lord or

the ownership was shared by several persons of lesser status andwealth. A typical division would be among three individuals: two

capitalists, either members of the lower nobility or merchants, anda shipmaster. 25

It appears that the magnates would have liked to monopolizeSevillian shipping through their control over the vessels engagedin the American trade. This is particularly true in the case of Avarode Bazin who was the first to use in the trade with the New World

large galleons of his own property for the transport of merchandise

and treasure. He invented a new type of galleon and copied fromthe Genoese and Venetians the galleas or galeaza for which he ob-

tained an exclusive building concession in February 1550. These

new vessels were given the monopoly of carrying the king's treasure

from the Indies, might lade whatever articles private merchantschose to entrust to them, and were subject to the ordinary rulesgoverning the American trade. In addition, Bazin was named

captain general of the India trade for fifteen years.26There was much opposition to these terms from the Seville Mer-

chant's Guild or Consulado and also in the Council of the Indies,but the contract was confirmed, and Bazin's patent as captaingeneral was issued on August 1, 1550. One year later, however, a

group of Sevillian shippers petitioned the Consulado to sue Don

Alvaro on their behalf, claiming that he was attempting to have

his own ships of heavy tonnage chartered for the carrera de Indias

to the detriment of the other lighter vessels. Eventually, the Con-

sulado appealed to the crown to restore free navigation with the

Indies for all ships although of lesser tonnage than those owned by

the said Alvaro de Bazin. 27

Besides their control over the vessels in the carrera de Indias the

great lords also invested in the wholesale trade of both mer-SThe information presented in Table 2 is drawn solely from the Sevillian Notarial

Archives. As such, only an approximate value can be given to it. It would be difficult,however, to obtain a more complete list since the ships registers published by H. and P.Chaunu, Seville et l'Atlantique, 1504 d 1650 (Paris, 1955-1960) only infrequently men-tion the owners of the vessels.

~ C. Fernhndez Duro, Armada espaflola (Madrid, 1895), vol. I, p. 327. BazAn wasrequired to supply within two months 6 galleons of a combined displacement of at least2,000 tons, 8 of the new sort and 8 of the older. He was then to begin the constructionof 6 galleases, 8 to take the place of the 3 old-type galleons and complete them as soonas possible; so that in the end there might be 3 newly constructed armadas of 2 galleasesand 1 galleon each. These armadas were to sail to Vera Cruz, Nombre de Dios, and SantoDomingo, respectively. Clarence Haring, Trade and Navigation between Spain and theIndies in the Time of the Hapsburgs (Cambridge, Mass., 1918), p. 264.

n27ernhndez Duro, vol. I, p. 440; APS, 1 June 1551, Oficio XV, Libro I, Alonso deCazalla, fol. 506; ibid., 9 June, fol. 649.




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chandise and slaves. One of the best examples of entrepreneurialactivity among the members of the upper nobility is the Ponce deLe6n family. Luis Ponce de Le6n, Lord of Villagarcia and Rota

and a cousin of the discoverer of Florida, sent goods to the Indiesand maintained factors on the island of Hispaniola as early as thefirst decade of the century.28 His wife Dofia Francisca operated thevessels San Telmo and San Cristdbal in her own name, an unusual

example of ship ownership by a woman.29 The Duke of Arcos,

Rodrigo Ponce de Le6n, owned several galleons plying the seasbetween Seville and the New World S0 while at mid-century hisrelative Fernando Ponce de Le6n invested in the slave trade and

sent large quantities of merchandise to America.3'

III

The lower nobility, however, played the most active role in the

trade with America in the sixteenth century. They were involved in

exactly the same transactions as the non-noble merchants and onlytheir names distinguish them from the latter. They invested in sea

loans, gave sales credit, owned ships, participated in the slave trade,went to America to sell their goods, maintained overseas factors,

and invested in such New World enterprises as cattle raising, sugarproduction, and pearl fishing. In fact, the career of anyone of this

group reflects well-rounded entrepreneurial activity. Two of themost notable families were the Prados and the Barreras, both of

whom belonged to the traditional aristocracy of the city.32 The

Prados, particularly the Councilman Luis and his nephew G6mez,invested heavily in sea loans as Tables 3 and 4 indicate. In 1525

28In a document of October 1518, Juan Armero admitted that he had fraudulently with-held from Luis Ponce de Le6n 7,000 pesos that he had brought to Seville in two trips from

the Indies where he was serving along with Fernando de la Torre as factor of the abovesaid Luis Ponce de Le6n. APS, 22 Oct. 1518, Oficio X, Diego L6pez, fol. RegistroIndias, ndlm.19.

2 Ibid., 28 Feb. 1509, Oficio IX, Libro I, Luis Garcia, fol. Principio del legajo. ..Diego Vicent, vezino de Cidiz, maestro de la nao San Telmo surta en el puerto de las Mulasen Seuilla en nombre de la muy magnifica sefiora dofia Francisca Ponce de Le6n muger dedon Luis Ponce de Le6n sefior de Villagarcia, sefiora que es de la dicha nao. San Cristdbal,Chaunu, I, year 1508. Ownership of a vessel by a woman was rare in Seville in the six-teenth century except in the case of widows who placed its management in male hands orminor daughters under guardianship.

* The Santa Elena, for example, APS, 8 Oct. 1525, Oficio V, Libro III, Francisco deCastellanos, fol. 592.

SIbid., 28 Oct. 1550, Oficio X, Libro III, Melchor de Portes, fol. Primer tercio del

legajo.'aOne of the privileges of the Sevillian nobility in the Middle Ages was their right to

defend and fortify certain Parish churches. This was of great importance during periodsof civil strife between rival noble bands, particularly in the first half of the fifteenthcentury, but by the sixteenth century had become merely a ceremonial privilege. ThePrados controlled the church of Santa Lucia, and the Barreras, that of Santiago. Bothfamilies also had their family vaults in their respective churches. See Montoto de Sedas,p. 202.




they supplied the funds to outfit and dispatch 24 per cent of the

ships that left Seville in that year for the Indies. Most of these

sea loans were granted for the dispatch of merchandise rather than

for the provisioning of ships. Their most active borrowers weremerchants who did not have the funds to cover the costs of shipmentand thus were completely dependent on such creditors. More of

the profits from the trade with the New World accrued to such

capitalists than to the merchants, who were crushed by high interest

rates or by the heavy advances they were forced to make.33

By the middle of the century, the Prados were involved in the

Afro-American slave trade, an activity that enriched many Sevillian

nobles in the sixteenth century. In 1551, Luis and Melchor de Prado

formed a partnership with a Sevillian merchant, Juan de Villagrin,for the trade of merchandise and slaves to the Indies.34 The total

capital of the comcpaiia equaled 12,000 ducats, Luis de Prado con-

tributing 3,584.35 The remainder was divided between the other

two parties. Under the provisions of the contract, Juan de Villagrdnwas to accompany the investment to New Spain and to sell it

there. Furthermore, he was to share equally with the others in the

division of the profits.36

Among the Barreras, the Councilman Juan de la Barrera, was one

of their most enterprising members during this period.37 Barrerainvested in sea loans during the 1530's and extended sales credit

to shipowners and merchants in need. In the 1540's he was espe-

cially active in the shipment of merchandise and slaves to Vera

Cruz. By mid-century he was concentrating on the slave trade and

was part owner of a slaver, the Santa Catalina, that made regular

s As early as 1509, interest rates were so high that the Archbishop of Seville tried

to prohibit these transactions but was deterred by King Ferdinand who sanctioned them on

grounds of economic necessity. By mid-century, 80 to 90 per cent was taken from ship-masters and 50 to 60

percent from passengers in need. A.

Sayous,Le

r61edes G6nois lors

de premiers mouvements r~guliers d'affaires entre l'Espagne et le Nouveau-Monde (1505-

1520), Comptes rendues des a4ances de l'Acaddmie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres (July-

Sept. 1932), p. 296; Mercado, p. 220.

s4APS, 9 March 1551, Oficio XV, Libro I, Juan Franco, fol. 1136. The commercial

partnerships or compaifas used in the sixteenth-century trade between Spain and the New

World have been described by Padre Mercado. In its simplest form the compafifa was an

association between two individuals in which one party furnished the capital and remained

at home while the other carried the investment to its destination. Since the traveling asso-

ciate contributed only his services, he received a percentage of the profits, usually one fourth.

When all invested both money and labor, the profits were divided. Mercado, ch. ix.

s The ducat (ducado) was a gold coin used in Spain until the end of the sixteenth

century whose value was equivalent to 375 maravedis. Enciclopedia universal ilustrada

(Barcelona, 1928), vol. 182, p. 2323.

s APS, 9 March 1551, Oficio XV, Libro I, Juan Franco, fol. 1136.

8 In 1568 Juan de la Barrera and his first wife, Elvira de Herrera, denizens in the dis-

trict of Santiago, established a mayorazgo for their grandson Juan de la Barrera, second son

of their only child Ana de la Barrera and Melchor Maldonado de Saavedra. After Dofia

Elvira's death, Councilman Barrera married Mayor Farfin. This second marriage also

produced a daughter, Ana de Farfin. See Montoto de Sedas, p. 203 and APS, 4 Sept. 1586,

Oficio I, Libro I, Diego de la Barrera, fol. 87v.




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trips between Seville, Africa, and Vera Cruz. A freighting contractfor the Santa Catalina, dated October 29, 1549, mentions 120African slaves, 70 males and 50 females, to be taken on in Africa

and sold in the Indies.38Another aspect of the entrepreneurial activity of Juan de la Bar-

rera was his investment in such New World enterprises as cattle

raising. The latter was a very profitable industry on Hispaniola andPuerto Rico. Oviedo noted that herds of 42,000 head could be

found on Hispaniola and that 20,000 head was average.39 Hides

along with sugar made up the chief exports from the Caribbeanarea during the whole colonial period.40 As early as 1538, Juan de laBarrera found it necessary to send two herdsmen from Spain to

assist his New World employees in watching over his herds inPuerto Rico.41

Pearl fishing off the island of Cubagua along the Venezuelancoast also interested Barrera. In 1536 he directed his factors Fran-

cisco de la Reina and Diego Almonte to purchase one quarter of a

pearl fishing business in Cubagua from Luis SAnchez, a resident ofthe island. The investment was indeed profitable, for in 1548

Barrera sold 400,057 maravedis worth of pearls to a single individ-

ual, the Treasurer Francisco de Castellanos, Councilman of the

City of Los Remedios (Rio de la Hacha).42The Alcizares, who traced their origin to the original knights who

helped Ferdinand III recapture Seville from the Moslems in 1248,also traded and were related to the Prados through marriage.43Several members of the Alcizar family held important posts in the

municipal government while at the same time participated in the

American trade. Francisco del AlcAzar, the head of the family

during the first half of the century, is a good example of this com-

bination of office holding and trading.44 As the eldest son of Pedro

del AlcAzar, he inherited the position of veinticuatro held by hisfather, and in 1504 also obtained the office of jurado. In addition he

38 APS, 19 Sept. 1537, Oficio XV, Libro II, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 970; 23 Jan. 1549,Oficio XV, Libro I, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 184; 21 Feb. 1548, Oficio XV, Libro I, Alonsode Cazalla, fol. 413; 23 Oct. 1549, Oficio XV, Libro II, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 966; 29Oct. 1549, Oficio XV, Libro II, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 1012.

3 Gonzalo Fernindez de Oviedo, Historia general y natural de las Indias (Madrid,1959), I, 79.

40 Clarence Haring, The Spanish Empire in America (New York, 1947), pp. 256-257.41 APS, 14 Oct. 1538, Oficio XV, Libro II, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 1129.2 Ibid., 30 May 1536, Oficio I, Libro I, Alonso de la Barrera, fol. Sin folio, Registro

ntm.10; 28 April 1548, Oficio X, Libro III, Melchor de Portes, fol. 360, cuaderno suelto.

SPedro Martinez del Alczar took part in the reconquest of Seville from the Moslemsin 1248 and received lands in the subsequent repartimiento of the city. J. Gonzhlez, El

Repartimiento de Sevilla (Madrid, 1951), vol. II, pp. 135, 205, 228.*Francisco del Alczar was married to Leonor de Prado. Five children resulted from

this marriage of whom Pedro was especially active in the American trade. APS, 4 Oct.1550, Oficio X, Libro III, Melchor de Portes, fol. Primer tercio del legajo; Baltasar delAlczar, Poesias, ed. Francisco Rodriguez Marin (Madrid, 1910), p. xii.




eventually became the Mayor of Seville, and Treasurer of the

Mint.45 As for his involvement in the trade with America, it was

both of a capitalistic and commercial type. He invested in some sea

loans but was more active in shipping merchandise to the Indies.46He maintained a number of factors in the New World to take

charge of his business there.47 As early as 1508, he was part owner

along with Alonso de la Barrera of the ship San Salvador.48 Hisbrother Luis also invested in trade and at the same time held the

position of Receiver General of the Almojarifazgo of the Indies.49At Luis' death in 1551, he was succeeded in this office by his son

Melchor who was also a trustee of the city and a deputy of the

Governor of the Royal Alczar.5so Another son of Luis was the

famous Sevillian poet, Baltasar del Alczar, author of epigramatic,materialistic poetry exemplified by the Cena jocosa, a detailed de-

scription of a luxurious banquet. All of AlcAzar'spoems praise the

pleasures of a full table and the good life and are a reflection of

the growing spirit of materialism among the lower nobility of

Seville.51A frequent collaborator of the Alczares and Prados was another

jurado, Pedro Sancho de Araoz. The Araoces were neighbors of

the Prados in the traditional district of Santa Cruz and frequently

intermarried.52 Pedro Sancho de Araoz was one of their outstand-

In 1519 he purchased the villa of Palma and the fortress of Alpizar from DiegoColumbus for 11,700,000 maravedis of which he paid 7,500,000 immediately. APS, 7 Nov.

1519, Oficio X, Libro II, Diego L6pez, fol. 14, cuaderno de noviembre. He also held theterritories of Gelo, Cullers and Pufiana, Alc/zar, p. xii.

Freighting contract, APS, 11 May 1508, Oficio V, Libro Anico, Juan Alv/rez de

Alcal, fol. 246; Sales credit, APS, ibid., 6 Nov., Oficio XV, Libro II, Bernal Gonz/lezVallesillo, fol. Tercer tercio del legajo.

a' For example Fernando de Castillo and Pedro de Padilla, ibid., 25 Aug. 1509, OficioI, Libro I, Mateo de la Cuadra, fol. 757.

's Ibid., 3 Nov. 1508, Oficio XV, Libro II, Bernal Gonzhlez Vallesillo, fol. Segundo tercio

del legajo. He owned one-third of the San Salvador, the remaining two-thirds being held

by Alonso de la Barrera and Crist6bal Rodriguez, the ship's master. See Table 2.

'Luis del AlcAzar, veinticuatro de Sevilla

y receptor generalde los

almojarifazgosde

Indias, APS, 25 Feb. 1590. As a younger son, Luis del Alcizar did not receive any rich

inheritance at the death of his father. His marriage to Leonor de Le6n Garabito helped to

improve his financial status. Alc8zar, p. xv.*

APS, 2 Feb. 1576, Oficio XV, Libro I, Diego HernAndez, fol. 11; ibid., 19 Dec. 1580,Oficio XVII, Libro VI, Francisco de Vera, fol. 1207, cuaderno suelto ndm. xciv. The Alcizar

or royal castle of Seville dates from the time of Pedro IV (1350-1369) who engagedMoorish architects to build it.

s There is no evidence that the poet was directly engaged in the trade with the New

World, but he did invest in business in Seville. A document in the Municipal Archives

of Seville, dated 1592, contains a petition by Alczar soliciting permission from the CityCouncil to build a mill on the banks of the Tagarete, a small stream that formed a moat

at Seville and there emptied into the Guadalquivir. SAM, Escribania del Cabildo, secci6n

tercera del siglo XVI, tomo 11. nimn. 83. He also sold pearls and linen. In a notary deed

of Feb. 1597 Juan Asensio, a pearl merchant, promised to pay him 3,271 reals for pearls,and in Jan. 1559 Juan Bautista Merelo and his wife obligated themselves to pay him 812

reals for 831 varas of linen cloth. Alcazar, pp. xxxix, xl-xliii.U APS, 7 Nov. 1522, Oficio XV, Libro II, Pedro FernAndez, fol. Registro de noviembre.

The district of Santa Cruz, with its buildings constructed against the walls of the AlcAzar,

was originally the Jewish quarter of Seville. In the fourteenth century it was opened up to

Christian settlement and became one of the most exclusive districts in the city.




ing members in the first decades of the century. His activities con-

sisted primarily of sending goods to America and granting sea loans.In 1513, for example, de Araoz and Alonso de Prado, brother of

Councilman Luis de Prado, formed a partnership with merchantMartin Fernandez. The latter was to accompany 20 toneladas of

merchandise to Hispaniola and sell it there. 53

The combination of trading and public office so characteristic of

the Alczares could also be found among the members of the Le6n

family. In the second half of the century, Garcia de Le6n held the

posts of veinticuatro and jurado and was also an active Sevillian

trader and partial owner of the Santa Maria.54 Moreover, he served

in an official capacity in the Casa de Contrataci6n. His duties as a

Deputy of the Comptroller, Diego de Zgrate, varied from assistingthe Sevillian traders by mediating their problems with the admin-

istrators of the Casa to taking charge of the property of persons who

had died in the Indies. In 1551, he relinquished his position as

councilman to Zgrate, probably as a reward for commercial favors

from the Comptroller. One son, Juan de Le6n, represented his

father in Mexico City, taking charge of the shipments of merchan-

dise and slaves that Don Garcia sent to that city. Another son,

Licentiate Gaspar de Le6n Salazar, secured royal appointment as

Lieutenant Governor of Yucatan in 1586.66

IV

If the old nobility of Seville were as active participants in the

American trade as has been indicated, can we then assume that

they adopted the merchant's way of thinking or reflected that qual-

ity known as the capitalist spirit. It has been generally believed

that the nobility went into trade to maintain their standard of

living in face of the price revolution of the sixteenth century and to

engage in the conspicuous consumption characteristic of the age.58

SIn 1508, for example, he sent the following cargo to Santo Domingo: 12 varas de

trenzas de Valencia, 4 varas y media de veinticuatrefios, 6 varas de chamelotes y 100 pares

de alpargatas. Ibid., 19 April 1508, Oficio XV, Libro I, Bernal Gonzhlez Vallesillo, fol.

Tercer tercio del legajo; ibid., 28 Sept. 1508, Oficio I, Libro II, Mateo de la Cuadra, fol.

327, cuaderno 12. The Castilian tonelada or ton was equal in weight to 20 quintals or

hundred-weight, and in Spanish vessels of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was esti-

mated to represent a space of something over 56 cubic feet. Haring, Trade and Navigation,

p. 284.

a' APS, 28 Sept. 1542, Oficio XV, Libro I, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 945.

SIn 1546, Garcia de Le6n intervened in a controversy between the wealthy merchants,

Gonzalo and Gaspar Jorge, and the Officials of the Casa de Contrataci6n. APS, 11 Aug.

1546, Oficio XV, Libro II, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 377. For his other activities and succes-sors, see ibid., 7 Nov. 1551, Oficio XV, Libro II, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 1887, 17 Sept.

1580, Oficio XVII, Libro I, Francisco de Vera, fol. Principio del legajo, 28 June 1586,

Oficio III, Libro II, Gonzalo Ramirez, fol. Registrada Indias, 16.6 See Vives, II, p. 521.

456 BUSINESS HISTORYREVIEW



Trading, then, was only a means to an end and, as a result, thebasic attitudes of the nobles remained the same. Nevertheless,ifwe interpret merchantmentality o mean shrewd,pragmaticcal-

culationof gains and losses and the desire for profitsas an end initself, it would be hard to say that the Prados,the Barreras,or anyof the old nobility of Seville who were engaged in the Americantrade did not reflectthis.

As for the new nobility,they areusuallydescribedas havingbeen

entirely convertedto the aristocraticway of life.5' The parvenus,accordingto this interpretation, ecame morenoble thanthe noble-men, abandoningcommerceto live off land and annuities. Certain-

ly the new nobilityof Seville investedin land andjuros,established

mayorazgos or theirheirs,and tried to follow the traditionalaristo-cratic way of life, but the special position of their city - the op-portunityfor quickwealth throughtrade- influencedthem to stayin trade and to encouragetheir sons to do so as well. In fact, itbecamecustomary or the youngersons of the new nobilityto go toAmericaas agentsfor their fathers. In 1557,for example,Bartolom6de Jerez, son of CouncilmanAlonso Hernindez de Jerez, traveledto Tierra Firme to serve as his father'sfactor there. A year later,Pedro V6lez left for the Indies with merchandisebelonging to his

father, Councilman Garcia de Contreras.58Moreover, the newnobility often permitted their daughters to marry wealthy mer-chants and cooperated n commercialventures with their plebeiansons-in-law. Councilman FranciscoRuiz marriedhis daughter tomerchantFernandoPrez, his associatein severalenterprises.DonFranciscohimself married into the old nobility so that the Ruiz

family representeda true fusion of the old and new groups.59

V

One of the most prominentmembers of the new nobility duringthe first decades of the centurywas Ant6n Bernal. The latterbeganhis careeras a goldbeaterand throughhardwork andinconspicuous

t Ibid., III, pp. 108, 112-13; Braudel, pp. 619-24.r It was not unusual for the younger sons of the old nobility of Seville to go to America

as commercial agents for trading members of their families. The Catdlogo de pasageros aIndias durante los siglos XVI y XVII, 3 vols. (Seville, 1940-1946), hereafter cited as CPI,shows numerous instances of this. For example, in 1513, Diego de la Sal, a younger sonof the old noble family of De la Sal, went to America as a factor for his brother. CPI, vol.I, n6m. 1342. For Jerez and V61ez, see ibid., vol. III, nums. 3348 and 1844.a n 1551 Ruiz and Fernando P6rez entered into a partnership with a resident ofPuerto Rico for the trade of merchandise and slaves between San Juan and Seville for a

period of four years. APS, 27 July 1551, Oficio XV, Libro II, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 897.P6rez was also his associate in the renting of a sugar mill in Puerto Rico. Ibid., 10 June1551, Oficio XV, Libro I, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 655v. Francisco Ruiz' wife was MenciaOrtiz, a member of the old nobility. Ibid., 21 March 1549, Oficio XV, Libro I, Alonsode Cazalla, fol. 595.




consumption was able to accumulate enough capital to invest intrade. As early as 1506, he granted sea loans and sold merchandiseon credit to merchants and shipmasters. He also sent shiploads of

goods to the New World. The following cargo bound for Hispaniolain 1508 is typical of the kind of products that Bernal and the otherSevillian traders sent to America in the early period. It included

10 quintals of soap, 10 quintals of olive oil, 2 dozen breastplates,7 fanegas of chickpeas, and 4 calves. By the second decade ofthe century, he was the owner of one-half of the Santa Maria de la

Merced and engaged in the slave trade. At the same time he beganto lend money to certain impecunious members of aristocracy whowere in constant need of cash. Diego Columbus was the recipient

of many of these loans. In 1523 the bankrupt son of the discovererof America was forced to turn over a piece of jewelry worth 6,000ducats to Bernal as a pledge for a loan. Several years passed beforeColumbus was able to repay the loan during which time Bernalserved as Don Diego's guarantor, an excellent way to secure hisinvestment.60

Ant6n Bernal's rise from the artisan class into the nobility was

accomplished in less than ten years, an indication of the fluidityof the class structure in Seville during this period. Although the

notarial deeds continue, throughout the first decade of the century,to designate him as goldbeater, it is clear that he did not practicehis trade and that he had assumed the role of a merchant-capitalist.In 1512, he is called jurado for the first time, having probably

purchased the office in that year. A subsequent marriage to Juanade Hoces, a member of the old nobility, secured his newly won

position and increased his social prestige. Success stories such asBernal's were not unusual in Seville during the sixteenth century.61

Alvaro de Briones was a frequent collaborator of Ant6n Bernal.

Briones and his brother Fernando came from the merchant class.Fernando can be found in Santo Domingo in 1508 where he served

as a commission agent for the Seville trading community until his

death in 1514.62 The New World offered endless opportunities for

enrichment, legitimate and otherwise, and Fernando seems to have

6 Ibid., 14 Feb. 1506, Oficio XII, Libro I, Fernando Ruiz, fol. Principio del legajo;11 March 1506, Oficio VII, Unico libro, Gonzalo Alvarez de Aguilar, fol. Tercer tercio del

legajo; 7 Oct. 1508, Oficio XV, Libro II, Bernal Gonz6lez Vallesillo, fol. Segundo tercio del

legajo; 3 Dec. 1516, Oficio I, Libro II, Mateo de la Cuadra, fol. 793; 3 Dec. 1528, Oficio I,Libro I, Alonso de la Barrera, fol. 1178; 18 Feb. 1524, Ofcio V, Libro I, Francisco deCastellanos, fol. 83; 23 Jan. 1526, Oficio V, Libro I, Francisco de Castellanos fol. 283v.The loan to Columbus was cancelled on 23 Aug. 1530.

61Ibid., 11 Feb. 1512, Oficio I, Libro I, Mateo de la Cuadra, fol. 232.6 Ibid., 18 Feb. 1508, Oficio XV, Libro I, Bernal GonzAlez VaUesillo, fol. Primer

tercio del legajo; 27 Feb. 1514, Oficio X, Libro I, Diego L6pez, fol. Cuaderno nim. 2,fol. 7v; 7 April 1517, Oficio XV, Libro I, Bernal Gonzdlez Vallesillo, fol. 295.




taken advantage of them. Much of the money he obtained went

into the construction of rent houses in the city of Santo Domingo.In fact, at his death he left a considerable fortune to his mother.63

In 1512, Alvaro de Briones, who by this time had purchased aposition on the City Council, joined his brother in Santo Domingo.During the three years that Alvaro stayed in the Indies he took

charge of his own business interests there as well as those of several

important Sevillian traders including the Councilmen Francisco deEscobar and Francisco Diaz de Santa Cruz. In 1515, he returned to

Seville and in the following year formed a partnership with a mer-

chant, Antonio de Vargas, to buy merchandise and send it to the

Indies where it will be sold by the said Antonio de Vargas. His

Sevillian residence was temporarily broken in 1525 when he under-took another trip to America.64 In 1526 he was in Puerto Rico col-

lecting his own debts and those of other traders who had em-

powered him to do so.65 At this point, Alvaro de Briones' name

disappears from the Sevillian Protocols and it seems likely that heremained in the New World for several years. In 1537, he was

again in Seville, shipping goods to America and entrusting his over-

seas affairs to commission agents in Santo Domingo, Cuba, and

Puerto Rico. Whether he remained in Spain or made another trip

to America is not known since no further trace of his career can befound among the notarial deeds.66

The Diaz family was also of middle-class origin. Juan Diaz de

Alfaro's profession was that of money-changer while his brothersPedro Diaz de Alfaro and Francisco Diaz de Santa Cruz were both

merchants. Juan Diaz' investment in the New World trade was

both capitalistic and commercial. He granted sea loans, sales credit,and shipped goods to America. By the second decade of the cen-

tury, he had already entered into the slave trade. Both Pedro and

Fernando traveled to the New World under partnership agreementswith their brother and served as American representatives of the

SAccording to Las Casas, El piloto RoldAn edific6 una renglera de casas para sumorada y para alquilar en las cuatro calles. Luego un Hier6nimo Grimaldo, mercader yotro lamado Briones y otros, y cada dia fueron creciendo los edificios. Bartolom6 de lasCasas, Historia de las Indias (Mexico, 1951), vol. II, p. 235. See also, APS, 27 Jan. 1514,Oficio X, Libro I, Diego L6pez, fol. Cuaderno nilm. 2, fol. 7v.

lbid., 10 Jan. 1512, Oficio I, Libro I, Mateo de la Cuadra, fol. 60; 11 July 1514,Oficio V, Libro I, Francisco de Castellanos, fol. Primer tercio del legajo, Francisco deEscobar; 16 May 1515, Oficio V, Libro II, Francisco de Castellanos, fol. 215, FernandoDiaz de Santa Cruz; 3 Nov. 1515, Oficio XV, Libro II, Bernal GonzAlez Vallesillo, fol.845; 24 March 1516, Oficio XV, Tnico libro, Bernal Gonzdlez Vallesillo, fol. 238v; 30Dec. 1525, Oficio I, Libro II, Alonso de la Barrera, fol. 978. No record of Briones' tripsof 1512 or 1525 can be found in CPI.

* The merchant Alfonso de Nebreda, for example, granted him general powers to takecharge of his business in the Indies. Ibid., 27 June 1526, Oficio V, Libro II, Franciscode Castellanos, fol. 509.

SIbid., 8 Nov. 1537, Oflcio XV, Libro II, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 1442v.




Diaz enterprise. Fernando was in Santo Domingo by 1507 whereasPedro did not arrive until 1510. A document of the year 1515throws some light on the organization of the Diaz partnership.

Pedro was to remain in the Indies as the New World representativeof the company while Juan and Fernando would direct the businessfrom Seville. The profits were to be divided among the brothersin proportion to the amount that each had originally invested inthe enterprise. This meant that Juan and Fernando would receivethe larger share. 6

VI

Very few of the successful tradersamong

the old or newnobilityfollowed the example of the Diaz or the Briones and traveled to

the New World. Most were content to stay at home and direct fromSeville while sending younger members of their families to repre-sent them in America. A cousin Pedro and a nephew Fernandoboth served Councilman Bernardino de Isla on the island of His-

paniola during the second decade of the century. G6mez de Prado

began his career as an agent for his uncle Luis in Santo Domingofor several years and in the 1540's Hernin Nfiiez de Toledo estab-lished his

brother in Panama. In the second half of the century itbecame customary to send younger sons as did Francisco Ruiz andPedro de Sep6ilveda, among others.68

The role of commission agent in the New World was a difficultone because of the physical hardships that it entailed and becauseof the opportunities for fraud and graft available in America. He

who goes to the Indies . . . earns a great deal, remarked Padre

Mercado.69 As early as 1514, there was a flood of complaints againstabuses committed by the agents of the Sevillian traders, such as

refusals to send in accounts and malversations of funds.7r ToIbid., 5 Aug. 1513, Oficio V, Libro II, Francisco de Castellanos, fol. 883v.; 16 April

1509, Oficio V, Libro I, Bernal Gonzilez Vallesillo, fol. Primer tercio del legajo; 20 Oct.1511, Oficio XV, Libro II, Bernal Gonzilez Vallesillo, fol. Segundo tercio del legajo; 23Jan., Oficio V, Onico libro, Pedro de C6rdoba, fol. Primer tercio del legajo (a sales creditfor 200 arrobas of olive oil and 16% quintals of sea biscuit); 19 May 1515, Oficio V,Libro II, Francisco de Castellanos, fol. 240 ( 40 casks of wine, 40 casks of flour, and 167arrobas of olive oil on the San Miguel to Santo Domingo); 26 July 1513, Oficio V, LibroII, Francisco de Castellanos, fol. 861; 13 Aug. 1513, Oficio V, Libro II, Francisco deCastellanos, fol. 870v.; 19 Aug. 1513, Oficio V, Libro II, Francisco de Castellanos, fol.900; APS, 10 Oct. 1515, Oficio X, Libro I, Diego L6pez, fol. Indias, 4.

lbid., 21 July 1509, Oficio IV, Libro III, Manuel Sigura, fol. 2333, Pedro de Isla;7 July 1513, Oficio X, Libro I, Diego L6pez, fol. 206, Indias, 2, Fernando de Isla; 26July 1514, Oficio V, Libro I, Francisco de Castellanos, fol. Primer tercio del legajo; 19Aug. 1549, Oficio XV, Libro II, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 446, Francisco

Ntfiezde Silva;

27 July 1551, Oficio XV, Libro II, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 901v., Ant6n Ruiz Ortiz; 20May 1580, Oficio XVI, Juan Rodriguez de la Torre, fol. Cuaderno suelto, Registro nuim.xxvii, Pedro de Sepulveda y Leyva.

* Mercado, fol. 91.o70Colecci6n de documentos indditos . . . de ultramar (Madrid, 1897), vol. X, p. 445.




further complicate the situation, those who left for America usuallyentered into several advantageous contracts with different Sevillian

capitalists, making it difficult to determine the gains and losses of

each investor in case of fraud. Even when sons and relatives weresent to the New World under partnership agreements the situation

did not change. The distance and the opportunities available in

America proved to be, in many instances, overpowering.Such was the case of Fernando de Isla who represented various

members of his family and other Sevillian traders in the Indies

during the first decades of the century. From 1509 on, Isla re-

ceived large shipments from Seville to be sold in America. By1512, however, his uncle Bernardino and the other Sevillian traders

began to suspect that Fernando was not faithfully carrying out hisduties and that he was using the funds that he collected for his own

benefit. To cover his activities, he simply stopped sending records

of his transactions back to Seville. For several years members of

the Isla family tried to force Fernando to pay his debts and, when

this was not forthcoming, to show his books to representatives that

they sent from Spain. During the course of this struggle, Fernando

suddenly died. Finally, in 1527, Councilman Juan de Isla soughtthe aid of the crown. The king directed the Governor of Puerto

Rico to order the accounts of the deceased Fernando de Isla to beopened. 71

Another New World representative of the Isla family was Pedro

de Isla whose life contrasts sharply with that of his relative Fer-

nando. Pedro's name first appears in the Sevillian Protocols in 1509

at which time he was serving, along with Fernando, as a factor ofBernardino de Isla. In fact, in 1510, Bernardino's brother Garcia

ordered Pedro to collect 602,000 maravedis from Fernando that thelatter owed him for merchandise that he sent him to sell in the

Indies. 72 Pedro's activities up to this point were those of a regularcommission agent. Nevertheless, during the period 151(0-1514,there occurred a radical change in his life. He apparently under-

went a religious conversion, abandoned his commercial obligations,and began actively to champion the cause of the mistreated Indiansof the Caribbean. His efforts on behalf of the natives became so

1APS, 29 Jan. 1509, Oficio XV, Libro I, Bernal Gonzdlez Vallesillo, fol. Primer tercio

del legajo, Manuel Cisb6n; 10 Oct. 1512, Oficio XV, Libro II, Bernal Gonzdlez Vallesillo,fol. Tercer tercio del legajo, JAcome de Grimaldo. In Nov. 1514, Bernardino de Isla sent40 toneladas of merchandise to Fernando to sell on Hispaniola. Ibid., 7 Nov., Oficio XV,Libro II, Bernal Gonzdlez Vallesillo, fol. Segundo tercio del legajo. See also, ibid., 10Oct. 1512, Oficio XV, Libro II, Bernal Gonzdlez Vallesillo, fol. Tercer tercio del legajo;22 Feb. 1527, Oficio XVII, Pedro Tristkn, fol. 859.

72Ibid., 21 July 1509, Oficio IV, Libro III, Manuel Sigura, fol. 288333;7 May 1510,Oficio XV, Libro I, Bernal Gonzdlez Vallesillo, fol. Segundo tercio del legajo.




pronounced that he attracted the attention of the future Defenderof the Indians, Bartolomb de las Casas.73 According to Las Casas,Isla tried to save the remaining Indians of the Lucaya Islands from

extinction by bringing them to Hispaniola and settling them therein colony. To accomplish this plan, he financed an expedition offrom eight to ten men who spent three years in the Islands peace-fully persuading the Indians to join the colony. The experimentfailed not because of the method - peaceful persuasion - but ratherthat they could not find enough Indians left to form the projectedsettlement. As for Pedro de Isla, he eventually entered the Francis-can Order, living out the rest of his life in humility, asceticism, and

devotion.7

VII

In Seville, the head of the Isla family during the first half of thesixteenth century was Bernardino de Isla. The Islas were originallyfrom Burgos and were among that group of northern merchants,

including Guipuzcoans and Biscayans, who migrated to Seville

during the last decades of the fifteenth century to take advantageof the opening of the New World. Within a short period of time

these outsiders were fully incorporated into Sevillian life to theextent of purchasing municipal positions and patents of nobility.This was the case with Bernardino de Isla. Councilman Isla was

particularly active in the shipment of goods to America. He sentseveral cargos of twenty to forty toneladas each year, at times inassociation with his brother Garcia. He also invested in real estate

in the city of Santo Domingo and in the carrying business on thelsland.75

Another merchant of Burgos who obtained wealth and nobility

in Seville was Francisco de la Corona. He specialized in the clothtrade and invested in numerous sales credits as Table 5 shows. In

7aLas Casas, vol. II, p. 858. After 1514, the Sevillian Protocols speak of the heirs ofPedro de Isla although Isla is not mentioned as being deceased. APS, 20 Feb. 1514, Ofi-cio III, Libro I, Juan Ruiz de Porras, fol. 746. During this same period, Las Casas himselfsuddenly awoke to the inequity of the system under which he profited, gave up his landsand Indians, and for 52 years fought for the Indians of America. See Lewis Hanke, TheSpanish Struggle for Justice in the Conquest of America (Philadelphia, 1949), pp. 21-22.

74n the years following the discovery of America all of the Lesser Antilles in additionto the Bahamas and Bermuda were called the islas de los lucayas. Manuel Gim6nezFerntndez, Bartolomd de las Casas, vol. II (Seville, 1960), p. 472. For the Isla expedition,see Las Casas, pp. 858-54.

7sAPS, 21 July 1509, Oficio IV, Libro III, Manuel Sigura, fol. 2888; 7 Nov. 1510,Oficio XV, Libro II, Bernal Gonzdlez Vallesillo, fol. Segundo tercio del legajo;- 1511,Oficio V, Libro linico, Pedro de C6rdoba, fol. Primer tercio del legajo; 30 March 1512,Oficio XV, Libro I, Bernal Gonzdlez Vallesillo, fol. Tercer tercio del legajo. At Bernardino'sdeath in 1520, an inventory of his property lists houses in the city of Santo Domingo that

were built by the said Councilman and his factors and several mule teams. Ibid., 18Nov. 1520, Oficio IV, Libro IV, Manuel Sigura, fol. Registro Indias, Segundo tercio.




1525, Councilman Corona owned one-half of the ship La Magdalenawith his compatriot, Francisco YAfiez.76 Corona's agents in Americaswere also natives of Burgos such as his nephew Fernin Diaz andthe merchant

Sebastiande Castro.

TABLE

CREDrTSGRANTEDBY FRANCISCODE LA CORONA IN THE

SPRING AND SUMMER OF 1525

Date Amount Type of merchandise Borrowers

27 March 58,837 mrs. linen cloth Luis Alonso, merchant7 April 155,843 mrs. silks,velvets, Francisco de la Pefia,

damasks and master of La Magda-woolen cloth lena26 July 126,562 mrs. merchandise Alonso Fernindez,

unspecified goldbeater and Pedrode San Martin ownersof Santa Maria de laMerced

19 Aug. 184 ducats unspecified same as above25 Aug. 200 ducats linen cloth Fr. Tombs Ortiz, Vic-

ar General of Domini-can Order in New

Spain, owner of SanSalvador and JAcomeAlemin

2 Sept. 50 ducats unspecified same as above15 Sept. 200 ducats unspecified Lope de Bardeci, citi-

zen of Santo Domingo

a 375 maravedis = 1 ducatSource: The Sevillian Protocols.

At times, Francisco de la Corona collaborated with Alonso de

Medina, a member of the well-known Medina family of Burgos.The Medinas were of noble origin but for centuries had engagedin trade in their native city.77 Consequently, Alonso de Medinacan not be considered as belonging to either the old or new nobilityof Seville but represented a third group made up of foreigners -

Guipuzcoans, Biscayans, and those from Burgos - who were hidal-

gos de ejecutoria.78 In other words, they were originally of noble7 bid., 27 April 1525, Oficio V, Libro II, Francisco de Castellanos, fol. 84.

SM. del Carmen Carl6, Mercaderes en Castilla (1252-1512), Cuadernos de historiade Espaila, XXI-XXII (1954), p. 290.

Hidalgo de ejecutoria: El que ha litigado su hidalgufa y probado ser hidalgo desangre. Denominase asi a diferencia de hidalgo de privilegio: El que lo es por compra omerced real. Martin Alonso, Enciclopedia del Idioma (Madrid, 1958), vol. II, p. 2264.In Burgos they called themselves mercaderes caballeros. See M. del Carmen Carl6, p.289.




origin, and had proved this legally, but for generations had traded.79They were officially considered noble but were popularly lookedupon as merchants. Councilman Alonso de Medina was the owner

of the vessel San Salvador, and a slave trader during the 1530's and1540's. Like the rest of the Sevillian business community he made

large investments in marine insurance during the years around

mid-century. Sea loans had by this time become less frequent asthere was no longer an urgent need for cash among the enriched

shipowners and merchants. Insurance contracts could be had oneasier terms and served to cover the risk. A document of 1551 men-

tions an insurance policy of 30,000 ducats which Medina and twentyother Sevillian traders placed over a cargo of slaves on the Santa

Maria de Guadalupe, lost off the Mexican coast.80sThe Biscayan hidalgos de ejecutoria were well represented in

Seville by Lope FernAndez de Eibar. Councilman Eibar could

easily have served as the inspiration for one of the characters in Lopede Vegas's El premio del bien hablar - a Biscayan hidalgo who be-

came wealthy selling iron in America.81 Lope Fernindez de Eibar's

commercial activity consisted primarily of sending such products to

the New World. He also invested in sea loans and gave sales credit.Like his fellow traders in Seville, he found it difficult to find honest

agents to represent him in America. He placed great confidence in

his compatriots, a trust that was clearly misplaced. In 1525, for

example, he was obliged to ask the royal authorities in Santo

Domingo to compel Matias Ortiz, his factor of several years' stand-

ing, to return to Seville to give an account of his administration.

In the same year, he empowered five different individuals, all

Biscayans, some in residence on Hispaniola and others about to

leave for the Indies, to take charge of his overseas affairs. In 1518,

he tried to solve the problem by sending a relative, Pedro de Eibar,to be his principal agent in America. It seems, however, that the

' Calder6n gives the following picturesque description of an ejecutoria:

Si vierais mi ejecutoria,primas mias, os prometo

que se os quitaran mil canas.Vestida de terciopelo

Carmesi, y all pintadosmis padres y abuelos,como unos santicos de Horasl

Pedro Calder6n de la Barca, Obras completas, ed. Angel Valbuena Briones, vol. II (Madrid,

1956), jornada primera, p. 1300.soAPS, 22 Feb. 1510, Oficio I, Libro I, Mateo de la Cuadra, fol. 67, cuaderno 3;

18 Sept. 1546, Oficio XV, Libro II, Alonso de Cazalla, fol. 700v. During the sixteenth

century, insurance premiums oscillated between 5 and 7 per cent. At times due to waror the increased activity of pirates, they reached 30 per cent. R. Carande, Carlos V y sus

banqueros (Madrid, 1943), p. 280. See also, APS, 19 Feb. 1551, Oficio XV, Libro I, JuanFranco, fol. 1059v.

81 Lope de Vega, El premio del bien hablar, vol. I, p. 375.




situation did not improve for at the time of his death in 1525 he

was still trying to obtain satisfaction from his factors in Cuba,

Hispaniola, and Mexico.82

And so it was that during the course of the sixteenth century thehidalgos de ejecutoria and the rest of the nobility of Seville, both

old and new, preferred to spend their time at the Casa de Contrata-

ci6n arranging for the shipment of their goods to the New World,rather than serving their sovereign at court or in the army. It is not

surprising that the contemporary writers rebuked the Sevillian

nobility for their desire to serve Mercury more than Mars. In anycase, we can hardly blame them for was not the American trade, inthe words of Mercado, one of the richest that the world had ever

seen. 83

8 APS, 22 Oct. 1518, Oficio X, Diego L6pez, fol. Registro Indias, nim. 18; 4 Jan.1518, Oficio X, Diego L6pez, fol. Registro nim. 1; 12 Feb. 1518, Oficio X, Diego L6pez,fol. Registro Indias, nim. 6; 24 June 1516, Oficio XV, Libro Anico, Bernal Gonz6lezVallesillo, fol. 535; 12 May 1515, Oficio XV, Libro II, Bernal Gonz~lez Vallesillo, fols.

870 and 869v.; 22 Oct. 1518, Oficio X, Diego L6pez, fol. Registro Indias, nim. 18;24 April 1525, Oficio I, Libro I, Alonso de la Barrera, fols. 668v., 664, 715.

* Mercado, p. A2.


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