Los tratados de práctica notarial en las bibliotecas de escribanos neogranadinos del siglo XVIII

 

Alfonso Rubio Hernández[1]

Universidad del Valle - Colombia

 

Reception: 20/10/2015        

Evaluation: 14/02/2016

Approval: 22/02/2016

Research and innovation article

 

Resumen: Entre las bibliotecas particulares de escribanos numerarios y de cabildo que ejercieron durante el siglo XVIII en el Nuevo Reino de Granda, constatamos la presencia de formularios, tratados o manuales prácticos que se inscribieron en la tradición europea de la literatura jurídica de los “ars notariae” y sirvieron para ejercer un oficio fundamental para el desarrollo social y económico de las ciudades americanas, un oficio escasamente estudiado por la historiografía colombiana. Para ello analizamos los Inventarios Post Mortem de Jacobo Facio Lince, Mariano Bueno, Juan Andrés Sandoval y Joaquín Sánchez de la Flor, escribanos que ejercieron su oficio en las ciudades de Medellín, Cartago y Popayán. Los registros de sus bibliotecas particulares nos permiten caracterizarlas para centrarnos luego en la descripción individual de los tratados notariales identificados y su circulación en Indias.

 

Palabras clave: bibliotecas particulares, escribanos del número y de cabildo, Nuevo Reino de Granada, siglo XVIII, tratados de práctica notarial

 

 

The Treatises on Notarial Practice in the Libraries of 18th Century Scribes of New Granada

Abstract

Among the personal libraries of public and cabildo (council) scribes during the 18th century in the New Kingdom of Granada, we nd the presence of formularies, treatises or practical manuals inscribed in the European tradition of legal literature of “ars notariae” which performed a fundamental function in the social and economic development of American cities; a task that has been scarcely studied in Colombian historiography. This study analyzes the Post Mortem Inventories of the scribes, Jacobo Facio Lince, Mariano Bueno, Juan Andrés Sandoval and Joaquín Sánchez de la Flor, who practiced their trade in the cities of Medellín, Cartago and Popayán. After

characterizing the personal library records of these scribes, this study focuses on the individual description of the notarial treatises found, and their circulation in the Indies.

 

Key Words: personal libraries, public and cabildo scribes, New Kingdom of Granada, 18th century, treatises on notarial practices.

 

Les traités de pratique notariale dans les bibliothèques de notaires néogrenadins au XVIIIe siècle

 

Résumé

 

Les bibliothèques des notaires ayant exercé pendant le XVIIIe siècle en Nouvelle-Grenade, révèlent l’existence des formulaires, des traités ou des manuels qui appartient à la tradition européenne de la littérature juridique des « ars notariae ». Ces textes leur ont permis d’exercer un office fondamental dans les villes américaines, qui a été paradoxalement très peu étudié par l’historiographie colombienne. Afin de combler ce vide, nous analysons les inventaires post mortem de Jacobo Facio Lince, Bon Mariano, Juan Andrés Sandoval et Joaquin Sánchez de la Flor, notaires dans les villes de Medellín, Cartago et Popayán. D’abord nous nous occuperons de caractériser ces bibliothèques privées et ensuite nous ferons une description individuelle des traités notariaux identifiés et nous montrerons leur circulation dans les Indes.

 

Mots-clés: bibliothèques privées, notaires, Nouveau Royaume de Grenade, XVIIIe siècle, traités de pratique notariale.

 

 

Introduction

 

Through writing, the cabildo scribes first set and then preserved the decisions made by the council members and the administrative acts that these gave rise to. Receivers of documents from different institutions, producers of capitulary minutes and of a varied documentary typology that the cabildo, in the performance of its functions, was obliged to elaborate; and custodians of the reports, which, with the passing of time, were accumulating in the city archives. The scribes became mediators between the cabildo, as the city’s governing institution, and the inhabitants, who, as governed subjects, engaged in a private and public life in their place of residence.

 

 

The figure of the cabildo scribe was essential to the economic and social development of the cities founded in the American territory. If we look at Villa de Medellín of the New Kingdom of Granada, it being an important commercial mining center, until the end of the 18th century, the majority of its cabildo scribes were also scribes of mining and records, this title also empowered them to carry out functions of an economic nature and of the control of the exploitation and smelting of precious metals.

 

Villa of Medellín did not have a public scribe (or notary public) until the year 1764. For 90 years after its foundation in 1675, the cabildo scribe also acted as the notary public of the city. During this same period, the lack of officially appointed cabildo scribes meant that they were substituted by retiring or graduating scribes, who acted as secretarial officials. As from the creation of the post of public scribes, during periods of a lack of cabildo scribes, they were replaced by notaries public who acted as stand-ins in the cabildo. These circumstances, also common in other cities, meant that the powers of the different scribes were often confused. During the colonial period that lasts from 1675 until 1819, when in the month of August, the cabildo proclaimed its independence from the Spanish crown, out of the 16 scribes that performed functions in the cabildo of the Villa, 11 were cabildo scribes and 5 were public scribes.

 

 

Both types of scribes had a decisive influence on the bureaucratization of the daily life of American cities, and, from their privileged position, the scribes, invested with “public trust”, which came from the king, were custodians of the archives of the city as well as the notarial archives. The public scribe was the royal scribe who alone could perform his functions in his assigned jurisdiction. They were trained to bear public witness in two environments: the judicial and the extrajudicial and in both spheres, their powers were very broad. With the judicial public trust would be characterized the activity of scribes related with the acts and determinations of judges. Given that their activity was reduced to the local level, their function was centered on certain activities of the town hall justice, substituting the cabildo because of their absence, and above all, when dealing with legal matters in which chief magistrates and mayors intervened, where they authenticated all the acts and documents of the processes that should pass before them. Through the extrajudicial public trust, the public scribe could authorize the deeds held by businesses and contracts concluded between private persons.

 

The scribes of the old regime were classified in two main professional groups. To the first group belong the “notaries public” (with an assigned territory) and the “royal scribes” (without an assigned territory), both considered to be the forerunners of modern notaries. To the second group were assigned the scribes of the “government and chamber”, “cabildo”, “province”, and those of “visits and audiences”, which were seen of as a sort of secretary who collaborated in judicial processes and supported the government officials in their administrative tasks[2]. The cabildo scribe, by definition, would be the forerunner of the present-day secretary in the municipalities[3].

 

Although this separation is referred to in the legislation and in the legal system, it was common to find notaries public, using current terminology, acting as secretaries of government bodies as well as secretaries of judicial bodies and of notaries. This confusion, which was not solely functional, was recognized and even fomented by institutions. The theoretical division of functions was neither demanded by the authorities nor respected by the scribes.

 

In the same way that the public scribe could substitute for the cabildo scribe, it was common in the Indies that the council scribe was also the public scribe of the city and in general it was very difficult to separate the functions which the scribe of the city (often only one, above all during the founding of the communities) performed as cabildo scribe or as public scribe.

 

The powers of one or the other type of scribe, even with specifically outlined functions, were often confused, but both depended on day-to-day writing. It is these two types of scribes, represented by specific individuals that held the title of public or cabildo scribe, that we will use here so as to verify a notarial practice that made use of an old European tradition, a tradition which in Spain goes back to the 10th century, as from then there are reports of the use of collections of formats called “forms” useful in drafting documents, for educational purposes for those who were interested in the notarial art, or for support purposes for those who already performed as scribes[4].

 

General studies in the Latin-American context are scarce and even more so those that are specifically dedicated to notarial forms from the private libraries of those most interested in making use of them: the scribes. In the panorama of the New Kingdom of Granada, the studies on the different types of existing scribes are still incipient[5]. In accordance with our purposes, the cases of the scribes that we studied (Jacobo Facio Lince, in Medellín; Mariano Bueno, in Cartago; and in the city of Popayán Juan Andrés

Sandoval and Joaquín Sánchez de la Flor), all of whom were practicing during the 18th century, offer proof of the presence of forms, treatises or practical manuals for practicing scribe activities, creating legal application documents, documents related to legal affairs, among which notarial documents produced by public scribes and legal documents in which mayors intervened with legal functions together with their necessary cabildo scribes occupied an important place.

 

The matter of understanding, classifying and defining the field of print, specifically, in this case, that of the notarial literature is related to the way of framing it according to the characteristics and theoretical nuances and methodologies frequently exhibited by historical studies of written culture. The post mortem inventories (IPM, by their acronym in Spanish) we deal with capture a chronological arc which goes from 1765 to 1808; thus, we position ourselves in a notarial exercise in three relevant New Grenadian cities, as were Medellín, Popayán and Cartago in the second half of the 18th century.

 

The classifications, the resulting quantities of the post mortem inventories, matter so as to put into relation the numerical limits with the characteristics that allow the adequate elaboration of an analysis, often because of a lack of general sources. Of course, we do not forget about other methodological and conceptual problems, which we have already expressed on other occasions, at the moment of outlining the history of the book, of libraries or of reading through the post mortem inventories. We cannot derive identical evaluations from the inventories of books gathered together by different individuals who possess, depending on their life or career paths, a social or cultural significance. Precisely for this reason, it is not the objective here to linger over sociological variants related to the possession of more or less of some or other books, nor to interpret the variety of topics or titles. We focus, without excluding those aspects and in a partial manner, in the treatises on notarial practices so as to prove their presence and their functionality, which from an informative and practical reading, were an assistance of the professional practice of the scribes. The coincidences in the possession of those forms or manuals on the part of the scribes, which generally form libraries of rare titles, are a reference so as to grant them a practical-occupational character and offer some general traits.

 

 

Forms that appear in the libraries of the 18th century, in some cases first editions, and their tradition of being sent through the so-called "Carrera de Indias”, dated from long before, for this reason we will also look at some significant works, which edited in the 16th and 17th centuries, were received in the Indies. Beside the notarial literature, the legal literature could also serve to support the notarial functions and from there we have exclusively dedicated ourselves to finding the relation of both types of works, and not others, based on the task they performed and not because of their likes or personal interests for the acquisition of other themes.

 

 

Books and manuals in the written practice of scribes

 

The education of a scribe was attained through the practice of their trade. They worked as scribes or as “minor or major officials” assisting with the work of the head scribe and learning from the practice of the rules of the office, the documental formulas and the legislation to which to turn. The “suitability” of the aspiring scribe had to be demonstrated through an exam, which often used a “question and answer” formula. On 30th July, 1800, the mayor of Santiago de Cali, with the counsel of Joaquín Caicedo y Cuero, lawyer of the Real Audiencia (Royal Audience), made the future notary public, Antonio de Velasco, appear in court. As regards the practical manuals for scribes and later compilations of the same, Antonio de Velasco[6]

 

[…] was asked and asked again by said lawyer about many and diverse articles, wills, tutorials, agreements, and diverse instruments and public deeds, and having answered competently and satisfied all the questions, I agreed to give my approval as I do, with the verdict of said advisor[7].

 

The “point of action” indicated shows the importance granted to “ability” based on the practice of the elaboration of different types of documents that normally acquired similar diplomatic structures to those employed by Spanish scribes. The experience of those who aspired to the office, was a quality of much weight before the cabildo members. The experience demonstrated as an official for 3 years in Cali and the skills known by the members of the cabildo in the person of José Vernaza (intelligence, good reputation, obedience, and discretion) made unnecessary, in August 1750, the sitting for an exam to become a scribe of the cabildo[8].  

 

More than the exam, which most of the time, when there was one, was a mere formality without obstacles, apart from the fact that it was carried out after already having the title and appearing before the cabildo, the experience and the reliability of the candidate, who had generally performed as an auxiliary official in the same notarial office or, as the documentation states referring to  José Vernaza, as a “major official of this archive”, were two qualities that weighed more when it came to the approval and appointment of the new scribe[9].

 

Despite their responsibility and influence, the trade was considered more a traditional technique than an elaborate science of complex learning. For that reason, it was possible to learn the trade without attending an institution which taught how to perform it. It was a well-regarded practice. In the New Kingdom of Granada there was not a School of Scribes either. However, there were associations of scribes in New Spain from the 16th century. In 1792, similar to the one established in Madrid, the Royal School of Public Scribes[10] was founded.

 

Notaries had the task of giving answers to set cases through easily read and comprehensible guides. In contrast to scholars (lawyers, narrators and listeners), who did need to learn the theory of law in order to interpret and value its precepts, notaries were treated as simple executors of functional knowledge, though both required similar knowledge. In a highly divided society, the former appreciation made some jobs more noble than others, though both depended on what was learned and assimilated while working[11]. But the daily practice of the scribes was not the only way of learning. It was recognized as a source of the creation of norms capable of creating laws, either for the lack of legal precepts, or for going against them[12].

 

 

Although the term “scholar” was equally used for men with a university degree as well as for other men of letters who could have attended university or not, such as municipal scribes or other officials[13], the difference between scholar (with knowledge in theory of law) and notaries was many times highlighted in the decisions of the members of the cabildo when they did not know how to solve legal matters it was agreed on consulting the “legal counsel Lorenzo Benítez,” or “in order to obtain the best solution a scholar was consulted.[14]” American scholars used to have a degree in both civil and canon law, but unlettered magistrates, officials without a university degree including correctors, mayors, mayors of the Santa Hermandad, and ordinary mayors, with their staff of scribes, attorneys, and lawyers, also participated in the creation of a legal culture and produced a large part of the regulations which constituted the legal universe[15].

The scholar Domingo Ortiz, Court Attorney of the Royal Audience, in 1777, proxy of the scribe Juan José Lotero in the trial that confronted him with Ignacio Mejía, Royal Officer of Medellín, used the work of the jurist from Lima, Gaspar de Escalona y Agüero, Gazophilatium Regium Peruvicum[16], in order to present arguments in his favor.

 

The post mortem inventories, carried out in the city of Popayán in 1782 on José Ignacio Paredo (War Auditor Lieutenant in the city of Popayán) [17]; and in the city of Cartago in 1792, on Miguel de Escobar Ospina (Lawyer of the Royal Audiences of Quito and Santa Fe) [18], show as a whole, as the lawyers and jurists that they were, a high percentage of books on law, apart from the rest of the subjects like religion, humanities, or the sciences. Both libraries are extensive and among the Paredo’s books, as shown, apart from the Recopilación de las Leyes de Indias or Políticas by Bobadilla and Solórzano, it is possible to find Alegaciones fiscales and Decisiones de Granada, by Juan Bautista de Larrea; Opera jurídica, sive Rerum Quatidianorum, by Juan Yáñez Parladorio, the legal work of Antonio Fernández de Otero; De iustitia et iure by Luis de Molina; Colección general de ordenanzas militares, sus innovaciones y aditamientos, by José Antonio Portugués; Vacantes de Indias, by José Álvarez de Abreu; Commentarii Juris Civilis in Hispaniae Regias Constitutiones, by Alphonso de Azevedo; or the Siete Partidas edited and commented on by Gregorio López Tovar. All the above were technical books on law and theory for specialist scholars, generally not found among scribes.

 

The training of the scribes, more than academic, was mainly practical, and compensated those shortcomings with the reading of books on law and other more functional ones on technical aspects of legal matters and notarial practice: practical manuals which included forms with their respective explanations, manuals of the use of Spanish generally written by scribes who in the exercise of their profession, and through their experience tried to facilitate the development of certain tasks. The art of the trade was acquired with practical preparation, initially exerted by the scribes who moved to the Indies, same as with the consultation of diverse manuals or forms. In this way, Pedro Pérez Landero Otáñez (scribe in the city of Lima), who wrote Práctica de visitas y residencias (Naples, 1696), narrates his experience in a document:

 

 

[…] although when I started to exercise this trade I believed that with the study of theory and practice I was able to do any activity; (but), so many difficult, and extraordinary things have happened to me (…) that only with indefatigable study and determination, and consulting many skilled professionals, and using their forms, could I make a reputation[19].

 

 

Through the post mortem inventories of the notaries we have studied, two appreciations, in general, characterize their personal libraries: the scarce presence of volumes and the high proportion of copies of a practical nature, that is to say, the considerable number of notarial literature and legislative compilations. It is about libraries of a more practical than professional nature. In the Mortuoria of Jacobo Facio Lince, a scribe from Medellín between 1772 and 1798, among the only five titles which are mentioned, three are related to the exercise of the notary profession: Gobierno Eclesiástico Pacífico, and Unión de los dos cuchillos, pontificio y regio, by Gaspar de Villarroel; Política indiana by Solórzano and Recopilación de las Leyes de Indias[20]. General law works among which, Recopilación, widely cited by notaries in their works, was a fundamental text that had to be present in their libraries where, at the same time, as is the case of the scribe in the city of Cartago, Mariano Bueno, who would be a scribe at the end of the 18th century, the manuals dedicated to the daily tasks of scribes appeared[21]. 

 

In the classification of libraries proposed by Víctor Infantes through the discovery of inventories of books during the 16th and 17th centuries (practical, professional, patrimonial, and museum library). In the practical library, the book appears as a primary and fundamental good, related with its practical use, basic and immediate, where books are supposed to be conserved for basic use and for usefulness of knowledge. This library establishes a sense of belonging and would not exceed 10/15 bibliographic entries[22]. In Mariano Bueno’s library, same as in that of Facio Lince, the works are also scarce. Out of a total of twelve titles, four refer to religious works, one is Recopilación de las Leyes de Indias and, the rest, seven, are manuals for scribes. His library was, therefore, an acquisition of a practical, useful, and adjusted nature to the performance of a trade which those who had it used to combine with other types

of remunerative activities.

 

In it, there appear forms and texts of notarial literature such as those of Manuel Silvestre Martínez (Librería de jueces, utilísima y universal), Pedro Melgarejo Manrique de Lara (Compendio de contratos públicos), Pedro de Sigüenza

(Tratado de cláusulas instrumentales), José Juan y Colón (Instrucción de escribanos), José Febrero Bermúdez (Librería de escribanos, o instrucción jurídica teórico-práctica de principiantes and Los cinco juicios de inventario y partición de bienes, ordinario ejecutivo y de concurso y prelación de acreedores) and Carlos Ros (Cartilla real teórico-práctica, según leyes reales de Castilla, para escribanos)[23]. Works such as those of Melgarejo, Sigüenza and Colón are also present in the shelves of Juan Andrés Sandoval y Portocarrero, who was a public scribe of the city of Popayán in mid-18th century[24]. In his personal library, a total of 23 titles are found. There are no works of legal literature, the remaining 20 titles are works of history and mainly religious literature.

 

Mariano Bueno’s manuals were the usual works in the Indies. Those of Melgarejo (Granada, 1652) and that of Sigüenza (Madrid, 1646) are among the works classified in the group of the notarial art by Javier Malagón-Barceló. This author, in La literatura jurídica española del siglo de oro en la Nueva España[25], presents a series of notarial arts which appear in the lists presented in the Inquisition of New Spain by bookstore owners and individuals between 1585 and 1694. All of them were sent through the Carrera de Indias, except for Política de las escrituras by Yrolo, edited in Mexico:

 

 

Specialized works of notarial practice in the lists presented to the Inquisition of New Spain

Table 1

 

Author and title

(in their original language)

Trade

No. of lists and years

Argüello, Antonio de. Tratado de escrituras y contratos públicos con anotaciones. Madrid, 1630

Scribe in the city of Toro

2: 1655

2: 1660

Arias, Juan. Práctica eclesiástica para el uso y ejercicio de notarios públicos y apostólicos y secretarios prelados. Madrid, 1603

Born in Plasencia, apostolic notary

1: 1655

2: 1660

Díaz de Valdepeñas, Fernando. Suma de notas copiosas según el estilo y uso destos reinos. Toledo, 1546

Scribe of criminal cases for the Royal Audience and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Granada

1: 1585

Frías Albornoz, Bartolomé. Arte de los contratos. Valencia, 1573

Born in Talavera (Toledo). Doctor and professor from the Universidad de Sevilla. Lawyer in México, doctor and professor in the Universidad de México

1: 1659

Gali, Jerónimo. Opera artis Notariae theoricam simul et practicam eruditionem complectentia. Barcelona, 1684

Born un Gerona, consultant of the Milan Battalion

1: 1690

García, Francisco. Tratado utilísimo de todos los contratos cuantos en los negocios humanos pueden ofrecer. Valencia, 1583

Valencian. He was a member of the Santo Domingo Order, Theology professor in Tarragona

1: 1655

González Torneo, Francisco. Práctica de escribanos. Alcalá, 1640

Notary

1: 1660

1: 1690

González de Villarroel, Diego. Examen de escribanos. Madrid, 1641

Royal scribe

1: 1655

2: 1660

Melgarejo y Manrique de Lara, Pedro. Compendio de contratos públicos, autos de particiones y ejecutivos; con el papel sellado que a cada cosa pertenece. Granada, 1652

From Sevilla. Major scribe from the cabildo of Villa de Olvera

1: 1655

3: 1660

Molino, Micier Miguel del. Formularios de actos extrajudiciales de la sublime arte de la Notaría. Zaragoza, 1516

From Aragon. Lawyer and Capitular Judge in Zaragoza and Lugarteniente from the Court of Justice of Aragón.

1: 1659

Monterroso y Alvarado, Gabriel de. Práctica civil y criminal e institución de escribanos. Alcalá, 1571

Born in the city of Toro, educated in Valladolid

1: 1614

1: 1655

3: 1660

Moreno, Miguel. Avisos para los oficios de provincias y consecuencias generales para otros. Madrid, 1631

Segovian. Scribe of the curia regis, secretary of Felipe IV

1: 1660

 

Ortiz, Salcedo, Francisco. Curia eclesiástica para secretarios de prelados, notarios apostólicos y ordinarios. Madrid, 1615

From Madrid. Public, apostolic and royal notary; narrator of the Council of don Fernando de Asturias; Archbishop of Toledo

3: 1660

1: 1683

Palomares, Tomás de. Estilo nuevo de escrituras públicas. Sevilla, 1645

From Sevilla. Public Scribe from Sevilla

1: 1655

Ribera, Diego de. Primera, segunda y tercera parte de escrituras y orden de partición y cuenta, y de residencia judicial, civil y criminal…Madrid, 1617

Born in Ronda (Málaga). Notary

1: 1604

2: 1614

1: 1655

1: 1660

Sigüenza, Pedro de. Tratado de cláusulas instrumentales, útil y necesario para jueces y escribanos. Madrid, 1646

Born in Ajofrin (Toledo). Lawyer in Yébenes

2: 1660

1: 1683

Yrolo Calar, Nicolás de. Primera parte de la política de las escrituras. México, 1605

From Cádiz. Scribe from the cities of Cádiz and Mexico

2: 1655

1: 1660

 

Table 1. Based on Javier Malagón-Barceló, La literatura jurídica española del siglo de oro en la Nueva España (México: UNAM, 1959), p. 65, 73-74 and 78.

 

 

For our New Granada framework, scarcely studied regarding the circulation and possession of notarial arts among scribes of very diverse notary offices, it is convenient to focus on, at least, the works which have been proved to be in existence[26]. The Compendio de contratos públicos, by Pedro Melgarejo, appeared in Granada, in 1652; followed by editions in Madrid, 1689; Valencia, 1707; Zaragoza, 1708; Madrid, 1724, 1728; Barcelona, 1757; Madrid, 1764 and 1791. It is the first work that adds to merely notarial issues, the regulation about stamped paper implanted by the pragmatic in 1636. The compendium is divided into an introduction and four books. In the introduction, there is a summary of the main notarial norms in the style of the old “Introducciones de escrivanos” (Introduction for scribes). The first book is about contracts and public deeds, even with models of wills and some universal clauses of resignation, submission, oath, etc. The second book is about formulas of tutelage and divisions. The third one is about executive trials, with forms of executive type, and of legal resolutions and documents. Book number four is about residence trials, with questionnaires and formulas. The legal quotes and some explanatory annotations are distributed in the margins of the text and most of the formulas are preceded by a theoretical explanation.

 

Tratado de cláusulas instrumentales, útil y necesario para jueces y escribano (Treatise of instrumental clauses for judges and scribes) by Pedro de Sigüenza appeared in Madrid in 1627; and there were later editions in the same city in 1646, 1663, and 1673; Barcelona, 1705; and Madrid again in 1720, 1754 and 1767. Divided into two volumes, the first one contains instrumental clauses for inter vivos legal business documents, and the second one, contains wills. Without discarding the expert quotes of authors, there is direct contact with Spanish legal sources. The work was essential for the notarial practice with a wide range of original samples, which did not copy the classical clause treaties. Due to their specialization based on Spanish law and to not being written in Latin, it could not be part of European literature, in contrast to Prácticas Quaestiones, by Diego de Covarrubias and Tractatus de iuramento conrmatorio, by Juan Gutiérrez[27].

 

The works of Diego de Ribera, Gabriel de Monterroso, Antonio de Argüello, Tomás de Palomares, Pedro Melgarejo, Pedro Sigüenza, Diego González de Villarroel and Política de escrituras by Nicolás de Yrolo, the first edition of the first part of which appeared in Mexico, 1603, were used frequently in Indies[28]. The period of work of our scribes is centered in the 18th century and, in general, the edition of the manuals used are from that century. The first two-thirds were characterized by a lack of productivity in the field of notarial literature due to the fact that in Castilla, as well as in Aragón, Cataluña and Valencia, a slow transformation in the writing of public documents was taking place, tending towards precise and concise writing, which made old forms even more unnecessary, given that their doctrinal side and old-fashioned models were deficient. On the other hand, it was not easy to renew old works and some of them were still used. Thus, in Castilla, the old treatises of such as those of Ribera, Monterroso, or those of Bartolomé Carvajal (Instrucción y memorial para escrivanos y jueces executores, Granada, 1580) and Tomás de Palomares (Estilo nuevo de escrituras publicas, Sevilla, 1645) had been forgotten. Diego González de Villarroel (Examen de escrivanos), sponsored by the Royal Council, introduced a new edition in 1728. In contrast, some practical manuals prevailed, such as Compendio by Melgarejo, which continued to be edited until 1791; the works of Salcedo and Sigüenza, which were edited until long after the mid-18th century.

 

In Cataluña, the work of Jerónimo Galí, and that of José Comes, written in 1694 (Viridarium artis notariatus, reedited in two volumes in Gerona, 1704 and 1706), were valid during the whole 18th century, as they were modern and quality works. Only some works, such as Cartilla real by Carlos Ros, Instrucción de escrivanos (1736; 2nd ed., Madrid, 1761) by José Juan y Colon; or Manual de testar, dividir y partir (1739; 2nd ed. Madrid, 1768), by José Barní, appeared then in Castilla.

 

The Cartilla real teórico-práctica written by the Valencian, apostolic and royal public notary Carlos Ros (1703-1773) incorporated the new modality of a “handbook.” Ros wrote several works and the first one of them was written in Pamplona in 1738, originally denominated Norte y examen de escrivanos públicos, the original of which was sold to a clergyman, who edited it with the title Cartilla real teórico-práctica, según leyes reales de Castilla, para escribanos, under the ficticious name of Diego Bustos y Lisares. It was reprinted in Valencia, Barcelona, and Madrid; in 1816, it was printed in this last city. Due to the great diffusion obtained by Cartilla real in 1762, he published Cartilla real enmendada y adicionada” under his name in Valencia. He adjusted it to Castilian law and its theoretical part was made based on answers with interlayered models as regards contracts and wills, with certain references to legal proceedings.

 

Librería de escribanos and Los cinco juicio de inventario by the Madrid notary José Febrero, appeared in Madrid in 1769 (3 volumes) and 1772 (4 volumes) respectively. Librería de escribanos was edited many times which thickened the volumes with successive reforms, expansions, and renewals which overrun the first half of 19th century and it remained valid, thanks to its last editions, until the issuance of the Spanish Notarial Law of 1862. It had great diffusion in the Indies, even after Independence. At the beginning of 19th century, it became the classic Castilian treaty, used in the notarial and legal fields. It represents an encyclopedia of private Castilian Law and a complete form of deeds and legal acts.

 

 

Compendio by Melgarejo and Cartilla real de escribanos by Carlos Ros are books that the “public, cabildo, and government scribe” from Popayán, Joaquín Sáncez de la Flor, owned. He held the position for 30 years, from 1746 to 1776; he was the son of the peninsular Lucas Sánchez de la Flor, merchant of Popayán, and of Jacinta de Huegonaga Salazar. He was related to the social elites, given that he married three times: his first wife was Nicolasa Benítez de Astaíza, the second one Paula de Lucena y Velasco, and the third one was Juana de Ayerbe y Lemos[29]. He had a daughter with his second wife, among other children, Juana Francisca Sánchez, who would also marry a “public, cabildo, and government scribe,” Antonio de Zervera, from Pamplona (Navarra, Spain) and whose father-in-law had left the position to him.

 

The social status of Joaquín Sánchez de la Flor made it possible for his library to have a total of 95 titles; a heritage library which gave him social prestige and was a symbol of wealth, decency and honor with which, in the society of the time, given his status and condition, he should sustain, incurring ostentatious expenses. He had the possibility to establish a vast network of clients by exercising different types of notarial work. He was also dedicated to buying and selling lots, his goods were significant and he owned a ranch with a chapel in Chiribío where, apart from slaves, he had a considerable amount of horses, sheep and cattle[30].

 

In the library of Sánchez de la Flor, humanistic topics are abundant (literature and history above all) and also religious topics. In contrast to other libraries of notaries, where legal literature is scarce, in this one, among the titles which appear, some are closely related to this topic: Ordenanzas Reales de Castilla (el Ordenamiento de Montalvo), two volumes of “Castilian Laws,” the additions of José Manuel Domínguez to Curia Filípica by Bolaños, “Pandectas” by Justiniano, De ratiociniis administratorum by Francisco Muñoz de Escobar, De jure ecclesiastico universo by Agustin Barbosa, “Comunes contra comunes” by Jerónimo Cevallos, and Suma de leyes penales by Francisco de la Pradilla. Along with those, there are works of practical usefulness, such as Curia eclesiástica para secretarios de prelados, jueces eclesiásticos, notarios apostólico by Francisco Ortiz de Salcedo; and “Curia Filípica” by Juan Hevia Bolaños, a text that was a must in the Indies. José Torre Revello registers it in several lists of the Carrera de Indias31 along with manuals dedicated to the style of letters, or notary treaties such as those of Palomares, Melgarejo and Argüellos.

 

 

In addition to these works on legal theory and practice, and the well-known manuals of Melgarejo and Carlos Ros, Joaquín Sánchez de la Flor had “Ripia de testamentos” and the “Martínez or Librería de jueces.” Ripia de testamentos” was known as Práctica de testamentos y modos de suceder (1718) by the royal accountant Juan de la Ripia. Manuel Silvestre Martínez, who was a lawyer of royal councils, attorney in the Royal Audience of Santa Fe del Peru and sub-delegate judge in Guadalaxara of New Spain, was the author of Librería de jueces, utilísima y universal; a work that was first published in 1763, was reprinted numerous times and included forms of practical trials valid for ministers of justice and public notaries.

 

 

Conclusions

 

Those who aspired to be appointed in the position acquired their knowledge through work practice under the direction of someone more experienced. The lack of academic and legal training, and empirical learning, Were the cause of the use of legal forms and works for the writing of instruments, the formulas of which could be copied from the deeds written by other scribes.

 

Within the libraries of the notaries researched it is possible to verify the presence of eight different treatises or forms of practical use. Seven of them were in the possession of the same notary, Mariano Bueno; Melgarejo, Sigüenza and Colón were also in Juan Andrés Sandoval Portocarrero’s library; and Carlos Ros’ handbook is in Joaquín Sánchez de la Flor’s library, which also has two different handbooks Ripia de testamentos and the Martinez or Librería de jueces. The lack of proportion seems to indicate that it was not frequent to have such a number of treaties or compendiums, as Mariano Bueno had.

 

 

Legal literature and treatises of scribes

New Kingdom of Granada, 18th century

Table 2

 

Name and period of exercise

Type of Scribe and city

Work

(in their original language)

Treatises

(in their original language)

Jacobo Facio Lince, 1772-1798

Public scribe, Medelllín

1. Gaspar Villarroel, Gobierno Eclesiástico Pacífico…

2. Solórzano, Política indiana.

3.Recopilación de las Leyes de Indias.

 

Marian Bueno, fines del siglo XVIII

Public scribe, Cartago

1. Recopilación de las Leyes de Indias

1. Manuel Silvestre Martínez, Librería de jueces.

2.Melgarejo Manrique de Lara, Compendio de contratos.

3. Pedro de Sigüenza, Tratado de cláusulas.

4. José Juan y Colón, Instrucción de escribanos.

5. José Febrero, Librería de escribanos.

6. José Febrero, Los cinco juicios de inventario.

7. Carlos Ros, Cartilla real teórico-práctica .

Juan Andrés Sandoval y Portocarrero, mitad del siglo XVIII

Public scribe, Popayán

 

1. Melgarejo, Compendio de contratos.

2. Sigüenza, Tratado de cláusulas.

3. Colón, Instrucción de escribanos.

Joaquín Sánchez de la Flor, 1746-1776

Public, cabildo, and government scribe, Popayán

1.Ordenamiento de Montalvo

2. Repertorio de Leyes de Castilla

3. Adiciones de José Manuel Domínguez a la Curia Filípica

4. Pandectas, Justiniano

5. De ratiociniis administratorum,  Escobar

6. De jure ecclesiastico, Agustin Barbosa

7. Comunes contra comunes, Cevallos

8. Suma de leyes penales, Francisco de la Pradilla

9. Curia eclesiástica, Francisco Ortiz de Salcedo

10. Curia Filípica, Juan Hevia Bolaños

1. Melgarejo, Compendio de contratos

2. Carlos Ros, Cartilla real

3. Juan de la Ripia, Práctica de testamentos y modos de suceder

4. Manuel Silvestre Martínez, Librería de jueces, utilísima y universal

 

Table 2: Elaborated by the author

 

The absence of legal works among Juan Andrés Sandoval’s belongings and the titles on the topic found in Jacobo Facio Lince and Mariano Bueno’s libraries, indicate that it was normal that scribes used works of a general nature to consult on normative or legal aspects, works such as Recopilación de las Leyes de Indias, in the possession of the last two notaries mentioned. Works such as those of Solórzano and Gaspar Villarroel, in the possession of Facio Lince, or works like the repertoirs of Castilian laws or Curia eclesiástica by Ortiz de Salcedo and Curia Filípica by Hevia Bolaños, which belonged to Joaquín Sánchez de la Flor.

 

In the city of Popayán, the appointment of a scribe, giving him the possibility to work in different notarial fields at the same time, could be the cause for which notaries like Joaquín Sánchez de la Flor were in possession of a larger number of legal works, although the case of this notary is an exception. In addition, Popayán, as opposed to Villa de Medellín, was a colonial center of great geopolitical and administrative relevance for the Crown and, for this reason, trade and the circulation of books there was greater, as the possibilities of purchase were higher.

 

The archive of the cabildos of the cities of Medellín, Popayán and Cartago show that in their bureaucratic exercise, the same way of proceeding was repeated, the same established formulas in the different types of documents (acts, letters, deeds, wills, etc.) that were found in the document registry books or in the protocols of their predecessors. Thus, the archive became an example of varied and multiple acts that could be imitated or changed, according to convenience. The continuity in the writing practices following, in general, the teachings of the outgoing notary, and the dependence on models accumulated in the cabildo archive caused that the formulas and classic structures of the documents remained the same during all the colonial period.

 

 

But compared to an activity that in most scriptural cases could be reduced to a formulistic and routine task, considering the coincidences in the discoveries of legal literature and notarial treaties within the belongings of the scribes, these works would have an auxiliary function, the formulas of which could be consulted as a novelty to be put into practice, or as a reinforcement to those already formalized in documental registries.

 

 

Documental sources

 

Archivo Central del Cauca (Popayán)

Archivo Histórico de Cali

Archivo Histórico de Cartago

Archivo Histórico de Medellín

Archivo Histórico Judicial de Medellín

 

 

Bibliography

 

Arboleda Restrepo, Gustavo. Diccionario biográfico y genealógico del antiguo Departamento del Cauca. Cali: Centro de Estudios Históricos y Sociales “Santiago de Cali” / Gerencia Cultural de la Gobernación del Valle, 1996.

 

Bono y Huerta, José. “Los formularios notariales españoles de los siglos XVI, XVII y XVIII”. En Anales de la Academia Matritense del Notariado [Tomo XXII, Vol. I]. Madrid: Editoriales de Derecho Reunidas, 1978.

 

Burns, Kathryn. Into the Archive: Writing and Power in Colonial Peru. Durham: Dake University Press, 2010.

 

Calvo, Julián. “El primer formulario jurídico publicado en la Nueva España: La política de Escrituras de Nicolás de Irolo (1605)”. Revista de la Facultad de Derecho de México, núm. I, 3-4 (1951): 41-102.

 

Colón, José Juan. Instrucción de escribanos en orden a lo judicial [Edición      facsímil de la sexta edición impresa por Gabriel Ramírez en Madrid,     1769. Introducción de Antonio Agúndez Fernández]. Valladolid: Editorial Lex Nova, 1993.

 

Extremera Extremera, Miguel Ángel. El notariado de la España Moderna. Los escribanos públicos de Córdoba (siglos XVI-XIX). Madrid: Calambur, 2009.

 

Guajardo-Fajardo Carmona, María de los Ángeles. Escribanos en Indias durante la primera mitad del siglo XVI. [Tomos I]. Madrid: Colegios Notariales de España, 1995.

 

Herzog, Tamar. “Sobre la cultura jurídica en la América colonial (siglos XVI-     XVIII)”. Anuario de Historia del Derecho español, núm. 65 (1995): 903-911.

 

Herzog, Tamar.  Mediación, archivos y ejercicio. Los escribanos de Quito (siglo XVII). Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann, 1996.

 

Icaza Dufour, Francisco. “Nicolás de Yrolo Calar y su obra”. Cuadernos del      Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas. Literatura histórico-jurídica mexicana, núm. 4 (1987):19-30.

 

Infantes, Víctor. “Las ausencias en los inventarios de libros y de biblioteca”.     Bulletin Hispanique, núm. 1, t. 99 (1997): 282-285.

 

Luján Muñoz, Jorge. “La literatura notarial en España e Hispanoamérica, 1500-1820”. Anuario de Estudios Americanos, núm. 38, (1981): 115-116.

 

Luján Muñoz, Jorge. Los escribanos en las Indias occidentales. México DF: UNAM/Instituto de Estudios y Documentos Históricos, A.C., [1964] 1982.

 

Luján Muñoz, Jorge. “La literatura jurídica notarial en Hispanoamérica durante la colonia”. En Anales de la Academia Matritense del Notariado [Tomo XXVIII]. Madrid: Editoriales de Derecho Reunidas, 1987.

 

Luque Talaván, Miguel. Un universo de opiniones. La literatura jurídica indiana. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Historia, 2003.

 

Malagón-Barceló, Javier. La literatura jurídica española del siglo de oro en la Nueva España. México: UNAM, 1959.

 

Merchán Fernández, A. Carlos. Gobierno municipal y administración local en la España del Antiguo Régimen. Madrid: Tecnos, 1988.

 

Rey Fajardo, José del. La biblioteca colonial de la Universidad Javeriana de    Bogotá. Caracas: Miguel Ángel García e hijo, 2001.

 

Rojas, Reyes. “La literatura notarial de ida y vuelta. Los primeros formularios notariales en América”(capítulo 3). En El nervio de la República. El oficio de escribano en el Siglo de Oro. Madrid: Calambur, 2010.

 

Rubio, Alfonso. Los escribanos de la Villa de Medellín, 1675-1819. La representación de un oficio en la escritura de su archivo. Medellín: Universidad de Antioquia, 2015.

 

Rueda, Pedro. “Escrituras de navegación a las Indias: El Estilo Nuevo (1645) de Tomás de Palomares” (capítulo 3). En El nervio de la República. El oficio de escribano en el Siglo de Oro. Madrid: Calambur, 2010.

 

Torre Revello, José. El libro, la imprenta y el periodismo en América durante la        dominación española. México DF: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 1991.

 

To cite this article:

Rubio Hernández, Alfonso. «The Treatises on Notarial Practice in the Libraries of 18th Century Scribes of New Granada». Historia Y MEMORIA, n° 13 (2016): 19-46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19053/20275137.5198

 



[1] Professor of the History Department of the Humanities Faculty of the Universidad del Valle (Santiago de Cali. Colombia). Bachelor’s degree holder in Hispanic Philology from the Universidad de Zaragoza (Spain) and Doctor of the same university in the Information and Documentation Systems Program from the Department of Documentation Science and the History of Science. Member of the research group Nation, Culture and Memory. Areas of expertise> Written Culture, Archival Science, Palaeography, and Diplomacy. Recent publications: La escritura del archivo. Recurso simbólico y poder práctico en el Nuevo Reino de Granada. Santiago de Cali: Universidad del Valle/Faculty of Humanities, Department of History, 2014. ISBN: 978-958-765-096-9. Los escribanos de la Villa de Medellín, 1675-1819. La representación de un oficio en la escritura de su archivo. Medellín: Editorial Universidad de Antioquia, 2015. ISBN: 978-958-714-624-0. Email address: alfonso.rubio@correounivalle.edu.co

[2] Tamar Herzog, Mediación, archivos y ejercicio. Los escribanos de Quito (siglo XVII). (Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann, 1996), 9.

[3] María de los Ángeles Guajardo-Fajardo Carmona, Escribanos en Indias durante la primera mitad del siglo XVI. [Tomos I] (Madrid: Colegios Notariales de España, 1995), 148 and 158. A detailed relation of specific and differentiated functions between council scribe and public scribe, in pages 137-221.

[4] Francisco Icaza Dufour, “Nicolás de Yrolo Calar y su obra”. Cuadernos del Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas. Literatura histórico-jurídica mexicana, No. 4 (1987): 23.

[5] A general historiographic panorama can bee seen in Alfonso Rubio, Los escribanos de la Villa de Medellín, 1675-1819. La representación de un oficio en la escritura de su archivo (Medellín: Universidad de Antioquia, 2015), xxii-xxv.

See also, Kathryn Burns, Into the Archive: Writing and Power in Colonial Peru (Durham: Dake University Press, 2010).


 

[6] Notarial manuals edited in the period, such as the Examen y práctica de escribanos (Exam and Practice of Scribes) (First edition, Madrid, 1641), by Diego González de Villarroel, were aimed at aspiring scribes who intended to take the exams. El Compendio de contratos públicos (The Compendium of Public Contracts) (First edition, Granada, 1652), the well-known work by Pedro Melgarejo Manrique de Lara, with which counted, as we will see, the public scribes of the cities of Cartago and Popayán, Juan Andrés Sandoval and Mariano Bueno, respectively. It also dedicated a section to the development of the exam. Miguel Ángel Extremera Extremera, El notariado de la España Moderna. Los escribanos públicos de Córdoba (siglos XVI-XIX) (Madrid: Calambur, 2009), 71.                                                                          

[7] Historical Archive from Cali (AHC, from now on, by its acronym in Spanish), T. 31, fol. 232r.

[8] A.H.C., T. 18, fol. 239 v.

[9] Rubio, Los escribanos de la Villa, 113-114. On this topic, see all of Chapter 4. «Habilidad y examen», pages 96-114.

[10] Jorge Luján Muñoz, «La literatura notarial en España e Hispanoamérica, 1500-1820», Anuario de Estudios Americanos, no. 38 (1981): 115-116. In addition to the School, an academy opened which, for a 6-month period, the future notary had to attend. Notwithstanding, this did not imply the elimination of professional practices with scribes.

[11] Once the Crown verified the need to have councilors for advice as regards American law suits, the number of councilors increased and royal bureaucracy required officials, experts in the Law. They were highly regarded socially speaking and the profession of the scholar offered possibilities for promotion in the administrative scale. Miguel Luque Talaván, Un universo de opiniones. La literatura jurídica indiana (Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Historia, 2003), 153-154.

[12] Tamar Herzog, Op. cit., 33-37.

[13] A. Carlos Merchán Fernández, Gobierno municipal y administración local en la España del Antiguo Régimen (Madrid: Tecnos, 1988), 170.

[14] Historic Archive of Medellín (AHM, from now on, by its acronym in Spanish), T. 38, f. 18v. and T. 84, f. 141v. After the conquering process was established, the scholars acted as the consultants of the governors and the cabildos to solve the most complicated governmental issues. These consultancies became even more important in the 18th century when a compulsory scholarly verdict was established in civil and criminal cases, resolved by mayors (Víctor Tau Anzoátegui, and Eduardo Martiré, Manual de Historia de las instituciones argentinas (Buenos Aires: Macchi, [1975]), 109; cited in Luque Talaván, Un universo de opiniones, 154.

[15] Tamar Herzog, “Sobre la cultura jurídica en la América colonial (siglos XVI-XVIII)”, Anuario de Historia del Derecho español, No. 65 (1995): 903-911.

[16] A.H.M., T. 24, fol. 184r.-228v.

[17] Central Archive of Cauca (ACC, by its acronym in Spanish), Popayán - Colombia, Colonia, JIII-20 su., 10581.

[18] Historical Archive of Cartago (AHCar, by its acronym in Spanish), J/M/24-2.

 

[19] Jorge Luján Muñoz, “La literatura jurídica notarial en Hispanoamérica durante la colonia”, in Anales de la Academia Matritense del Notariado [Tomo XXVIII] (Madrid: Editoriales de Derecho Reunidas, 1987), 14.

[20] Historical Archive of Medellín (AHJM, by its acronym in Spanish), Mortuoria of Jacobo Facio Lince, 1799, Doc. 3703. The two remaining titles are related to his religious devotion («obras del Padre Señeri») and botanics («Dioscorides»). With Dioscórides they are referring to the work of the Greek Pedacio Dioscórides Anazarbeo (c. 40 – c. 90) named De materia médica, a treatise of pharmacopeia which collects the therapeutic virtues of different plants. The Segovian humanist Andrés Laguna (1511-1559) was the author of the translation into Spanish of the most important work of Dioscórides named

Acerca de la materia medicinal y de los venenos mortíferos; published in Amberes in 1555, it was edited ten times from that date until the 18th century.

 

[21] A.H.Car, J/M/251, Mortuoria de Mariano Bueno, 1808.

[22] Víctor Infantes, “Las ausencias en los inventarios de libros y de biblioteca”, Bulletin Hispanique, No. 1, t. 99 (1997): 282-285.

[23] The use of the term «instruction» in titles was a custom of the time to «reflect the content

of practical matters and annotations of doctrinal criteria, as it was done in the Tribunals, as regards style »

(Introduction by Antonio Agúndez Fernández to the work of Juan José Colón, Instrucción de escribanos en orden a lo judicial [Facsimile edition of the sixth print edition by Gabriel Ramírez in Madrid, 1769]

(Valladolid: Editorial Lex Nova, 1993), 8.

[24] A.C.C., Colonia JI-22 su. 8809. Inventory of goods, 1766.

[25] Javier Malagón-Barceló, La literatura jurídica española del siglo de oro en la

Nueva España (México: UNAM, 1959), 65, 73-74 and 78. These 17 works are also mentioned by Jorge Luján Muñoz, Los escribanos en las Indias occidentales (México: UNAM/Instituto de Estudios y Documentos Históricos, A.C., 1982), 75-92. Later, with slight changes, the same author repeats them in «La literatura notarial», pages 101-116; and «La literatura jurídica notarial», pages 7-26. Pedro Rueda also reproduces the scheme with only 14 works, which appear in the Appendix «XII. De arte notaria Specialitater» from the text by Malagón-Barceló, pages 73-74 (Pedro Rueda, «Escrituras de navegación a las Indias: El Estilo Nuevo (1645) by Tomás de Palomares», in El nervio de la República. El oficio de escribano en el Siglo de Oro, edited by Enrique Villalba and Emilio Torné (Madrid: Calambur, 2010), 421-444.

 

 

[26] José Bono y Huerta, «Los formularios notariales españoles de los siglos XVI,

XVII y XVIII», Anales de la Academia Matritense del Notariado I, Volume XXII, (1978): 287-317. Here it is possible to see the structure of the works mentioned in Table 1 in more detail, the year of their edition and reedition, as well as the nationality of their authors, all of them lawyers or notaries). Bono divides the works of Spanish notarial literature, which in the Middle Ages assimilates the doctrine of the Ars notariae, in three phases: continuity of the medieval tradition, first half of the 16th century; integration of the national Law of each kingdom, from the second half of the 16th century to the end of the 17th century; and the simplification and rationalization of the discipline during the 18th century. Regarding some of the manuals that appear in the same table, see also Reyes Rojas, «La literatura notarial de ida y vuelta. Los primeros formularios notariales en América», in El nervio de la República. el oficio de escribano en el siglo de Oro, edited by Enrique Villalba and Emilio Torné (Madrid: Calambur, 2010), 401-420.

 

[27] The works of Melgarejo and Sigüenza can also be found in Jesuit libraries. José del Rey Fajardo, La biblioteca colonial de la Universidad Javeriana de Bogotá (Caracas: Miguel Ángel García e hijo, 2001), 705 and 731.

[28] There were two editions of Yrolo’s work in Mexico City, that of 1603 and 1605, but there was not a second part. It presented outlines on how to formulate deeds, trying to reform the archaic expressions with diverse additions for « extraordinary cases and issues » (Luján Muñoz, La literatura jurídica, 18). On Yrolo see Julián Calvo, «El primer formulario jurídico publicado en la Nueva España: La política de Escrituras de Nicolás de Irolo (1605)», Revista de la Facultad de Derecho de México, nº I, 3-4 (1951): 41-102.

 

[29] ACC, 10636, Colonia, J II-22 su, Causa mortuoria, 1787-1790. On the social origins of his wives, see Gustavo Arboleda Restrepo, Diccionario biográfico y genealógico del antiguo Departamento del Cauca. (Cali: Centro de Estudios Históricos y Sociales «Santiago de Cali» /Gerencia Cultural de la Gobernación del Valle, 1996).

[30] ACC, 10636, Colonia, J II-22 su, Causa mortuoria, 1787-1790, ff. 42r.-45r. (1788); and ACC, Notaría 1, T. 1, ff. 3r.-5v. (1749). About the notaries who were introduced into the environment of customs and conventions in the aristocracy through wealth, see Rubio, Los escribanos de la Villa, 128-131.