Discurso de Antolín de la Serna

Abstract

In 1618 the contador Antolín de la Serna wrote a remarkable Discurso in which he suggested to the King the substitution of the two most important indirect taxes of the Crown of Castille by a tax on flour and the establishment of the Erarios. In support of his proposal he indicated the alcabala and the millions as the cause of the already noticeable decadence of the Monarchy, and, to lend credibility to this Discourse, he made complicated calculations on the basis of four key facts: 1. The Crown received five million ducats yearly through these taxes; 2. Over 10.000 people were employed in the collecting of the same; 3. Castille had over six million inhabitants; 4. Each person consumed an average of between ten and twelve fanegas of wheat per year. The introduction shows how and why Antolín de la Serna deliberately falsified some data in order to maintain his thesis, and it becomes clear that if the Discourse is of interest to historians today it is not because data nor the calculations he makes, but because of the criticism of the fiscal system in use in the final years of the reign of Phillip III.