Page 87 - Latent Defect or Excessive Price?Exploring Early Modern Legal Approach to Remedying Defects in Goods Exchanged for Money - Bruijn
P. 87

EARLY MODERN CASTILIAN LAW
era, the Royal Chancery of Valladolid. The cases, or pleitos, treated by judges who had the last word over disputes in the Castilian territory, offer revealing concrete examples of how legal issues concerning latent defects were dealt with in early modern Castilian practice.
Beginning as an institute to which kings in the 14th century delegated part of their royal prerogatives to seal decrees and grant privileges, but also to burn invalid royal documents, the Chancery gradually evolved into Castile's court of final instance.30 A first step toward developing the Royal Chancery into Castilian's most important Court took place by turning it into a Court for persons who were previously held to appear before the king.31 Above all, the Chancery's importance became significant in the reign of King John the First (1379-1390). It was him who coined the name Royal Chancery, made it the tribunal of last instance from which judgements it was not possible to appeal and appointed professional scribes, escribanos, to register all cases that were dealt with in court.32
During the reign of los reyes Católicos (the catholic kings) Ferdinand II and Isabel I (reigned: 1474-1516), the Royal Chancery's position was further consolidated.33 The co- rulers enhanced the Royal Chancery's prestige by the decree that it was only possible to appeal to the Chancery, if the sum of what was at stake exceeded 3000 maravedís.34 Furthermore, according to an ordinance given in Córdoba in 1485, once a process had been concluded, its files and writs of execution should be stored in a room particularly destined for that purpose.35 Thus started what would later be turned into the Archivo de la Chancillería Real.36 Until its dissolution in 1834, the Royal Chancery would hoard its treasures, which can be consulted up to this day.
During a four-months stay in Vallodolid, I consulted the files of 37 lawsuits (pleitos) fought out over sales gone awry.37 I located pertinent cases by consulting the Chancery's electronical database on the website of Spain's department of Education, Culture and Sports.38 The length of the pleitos varies from a couple of folia to more than one hundred.
30 Mendizábal, Investigaciones, p. 2; SP 3.20.6, in: Los códigos, vol. 3, p. 272: 'E por esto la llaman Cancelleria, porque en ella se deven quebrantar, e cancellar las cartas que fueren mal fechas'.
31 Varona García, La chancillería, p. 117.
32 Mendizábal, Investigaciones, p. 14.
33 'procuramos con toda solicitud y cuidado proveer y reformar la dicha nuestra abdiençia e corte e
chancillería como la cosa más principal e más eçelente de la administración e eseçucion de la justicia
que aya en nuestros reynos...', quoted in Varona García, La Chancillería, p. 54.
34 A maravedí was a Castilian monetary unit the value of which differed in accordance with time, whether it was made of copper or silver and whether or not it was used nominally. See the entries in S. de Covarrubias, Tesora de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid, 1611 and in the Diccionario de la lengua castellana compuesta por la Real Academia Española, Madrid 1780. Both can be consulted
online via the Royal Academy of Spain's website <http://ntlle.rae.es/ntlle/SrvltGUISalirNtlle>.
35 Varona García, La Chancillería, pp. 59, 230.
36 Varona García, La Chancillería, p. 63. For further information about this archive see the website of
Spain's department of education, culture and sports: </www.mecd.gob.es/cultura-mecd/areas-
cultura/archivos/mc/archivos/acv/portada.html>.
37 See appendix A for a detailed overview of all pleitos studied for this study.
38 <http://pares.mcu.es>
 75















































































   85   86   87   88   89