The problem of indebtedtness in the households of the castilian high nobility during the first half of the Sixteenth century: the case of the second count of Monteagudo (1506-1547)

Abstract

Many members of the high nobility became indebted in the kingdom of Castile during the sixteenth century, in spite of the fact that it was a period of economic growth. The second count of Monteagudo, lord of Almazán, was one of the first members of this group that had to declare himself insolvent in 1524, after he had borrowed big quantities of money during his voyage with the king to Flanders in 1520. The author reconstructs in this article the process that led to this declaration of insolvency, and he identifies the main factors that explain the permanent financial difficulties that this noble had to face until his death in 1547.