Repopulation of the kingdom of Granada at the close of the 16th century: the “Instrucciones Particulares” of 1595. II. Documents

Abstract

The following article presents the Letters Patent (Real Cédula) issued at San Lorenzo on September 30, 1595, giving the president of the Chancery of Granada specific instructions to correct the problems encountered through the Kingdom of Granada. It is only one of the numerous documents generated as the result of a royal visit two years previously, which visit had as its purpose the inspection of the repopulation efforts carried out following the expulsion of the “moriscos”.

These Letters Patent, unknown and unpublished until now, constitute a clear picture of the wide-ranging social, economic and institutional difficulties within the Kingdom of Granada at the end of the sixteenth century, always, however, drawing attention to them from the repopulation angle. At the same time, it shows those difficulties identifies and makes concrete the places all its problems and the measures to solve them.

The publication of the document is accompanied by a analysis from the legislative point of view, touching on the effectiveness of the promulgation of the Letters Patent and on the “regulations” governing the repopulation process, as well as, upon the difficulties generated by the programme’s implementation and existence at the time, all of which is contrasted with information drawn from diverse archival sources, from among which, have been selected those documents emphasizing notarial acts.