The leasing of the sisas of millones in Granada

Abstract

The “servicio de millones” was granted by the Castilian Cortes in the period of Philip the Second, and consisted at the beginning of a “sisa” (tax) on wine, vinegar, oil and meat. In Granada, between 1601 and 1625, this imposition was administrated through annual leasing at public auction. The amounts awarded by the “sisas” to the best bidders allow us to follow the fluctuation of their value in the afore mentioned years, while the collapse of rents and the taking amounts presented by some leasers, give us an idea of the difference between the amounts paid for the rent and the ones received. On the other hand, the family relationships among some participants, and the goods the mortgaged, illustrates certain social realities among the bourgeoisie in Granada at the begining of the seventeenth century.