SUBASTA DE MAESTROS ANTIGUOS Y ARTE COLONIAL
Granted to Don Antonio de Sandoval y Negrete, Royal Chancery of Granada, year 1578, with 200 pages in kid parchment and the lead seal of Philip II. Finely illuminated on the back cover with the Knight Don Antonio de Sandoval at the feet of the Virgin in the manner of Antonio de Pacheco and the coat of arms of the nobleman on the second. For two centuries, the only Chancery that centralized all major judicial matters was located in Valladolid. Measurements: 32 x 22 x 5 cm. It was the equivalent of the supreme court of that time. However, the Catholic Monarchs themselves had the habit of administering justice themselves, constituted as the highest judicial body. Just as it had been done by monarchs since the early Middle Ages, one day a week. Spain was expanding and forming; hence they decided, in 1494, split the Valladolid Chancery and create a second one in Ciudad Real, to which all the important lawsuits from the southern half of Spain would go, that is, from the Tagus downwards. That location of the Chancery in the Royal Villa of La Mancha had a short-lived life, since in 1505 it was transferred to Granada. The Royal Chancery was initially located in the Alcazaba neighborhood, that is, in the Albayzín. The preparation of an execution book on parchment was very expensive. Keep in mind that, at most, one sheet of paper came out of each goat skin; Each sheet had standardized dimensions of 44 by 32.5 centimeters, which served to write or draw 4 pages. In the case of the book by Alonso González de Argüello, which consists of 128 pages, it was necessary to use 32 lamb skins. To the cost of the parchment had to be added the task of writing and painting, which usually took another two or three weeks. In short, approximately a third of the cost of the judicial process went into preparing the manuscript of the executive letter of a nobleman. The greatest aspiration of a Christian or old Castilian since the 14th century was to be recognized as a nobleman or hidalgo. That important social status was acquired through various means and merits: the noblemen of blood or manors came from time immemorial due to their lineage and warrior deeds of their ancestors; The notorious noblemen did not have a manor house, but were recognized as such by their councils; The noblemen of privilege were mostly rich who had provided some economic service to the king or bought the title; finally, the hidalgos of execution, who are the ones who got it through litigation. Being a nobleman entailed a series of important privileges: taxes were not paid and one could access public office. Provenance: private collection of an important lawyer and collector, Barcelona.
