Metadata: Municipal Archive of Alcala de Henares (Historical Section)
Collection
- Country:
- Spain
- Holding institution:
- Municipal Archive of Alcala de Henares
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archivo Municipal de Alcala de Henares
- Postal address:
- Plaza San Julian 1. 28801 - Alcala de Henares
- Phone number:
- +34 918 770 884
- Web address:
- www.ayto-alcaladehenares.es
- Reference number:
- ES.28005. AM/1
- Title:
- Municipal Archive of Alcala de Henares (Historical Section)
- Title (official language):
- Ayuntamiento de Alcala de Henares (Division Historica)
- Creator/accumulator:
- City council of Alcala de Henares
- Date(s):
- 1200/1988
- Language:
- Spanish; Castilian
- Extent:
- 11,971 boxes; 1,570 volumes
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- Good
- Scope and content:
-
The “Division Historica” of the Municipal Archive of Alcala de Henares gathered historical documents produced and received by the city council of Alcala de Henares from the thirteenth through the twentieth centuries. The documentation contains information on the exercise of the functions of the city council over the centuries. The fonds is classified in the following sections:
1.1. The “Gobierno” (Government) division (1200/1988) includes provisions regarding the internal administration of the city council, city council minutes, agreements of meetings, drafts, etc. It also contains privileges, ordinances, pragmatics, royal instructions, provisions, orders and letters, lawsuits, executive decrees, and requirements related to the city council government. Both the official correspondence of the city council and that of the Secretary have been gathered together, since it has not been possible to create a Secretary section. For this reason, certificates, instances, and requests are contained in the section.
1.2. The “Administracion municipal” (Municipal Administration) section (1436/1988) is composed of 16 subdivisions that contain documentation regarding all the functions and activities of the city council, such as the administration of the city council supplies (“abastos”) and assets (“propios”), boundaries of the city, personnel and positions, and health and social assistance. The aforementioned subdivisions where medieval documents are preserved are the following: “Apeos, deslindes y amojonamientos” (1475/1891); “Personal y cargos” (1455/1943); “Propios y arbitrios” (1440/1936); "Sanidad y asistencia social” (1391/1952).
1.3. The “Hacienda” (Finance) section (1435/1977) is composed of three subdivisions that contain documents regarding municipal finances and taxes. The type of documentation is varied: letters of payment, account books, budgets of expenses, and municipal income, etc. As for municipal taxes, there are documents on deeds, accounts, receipts, tax-collection lists, lawsuits on sales tax (“alcabalas”), “sisas”, “portazgo”, tithes, and other ordinary and extraordinary taxes. The aforementioned subdivisions where medieval documents are preserved are the following: “Hacienda municipal” (1435/1957) and "Impuestos” (1460/1943).
1.4. The "Elecciones" (Elections) section (1684/1975).
Concerning Jews, there are royal letters containing information on the participation of Jews, such as Zag de la Maleha and Abrahem Abenxuxen, in the farming of royal taxes (folder 6). The accounts of the economic manager on the city council assets ("bienes propios") (1462-1464) record the farming of municipal taxes by some Jews, such as Abraem Arevalo who farmed the "peso" tax, or Jaco Frances who farmed the fish market tax. There are also references to the payment made by the city council to Jews who worked at the service of the city, such as Aser, a blacksmith, or Abrahem el Levi, surgeon (leg. 422/1). City council orders addressed to Jews are preserved, such as the order that compels Mose Quito, surgeon and tax farmer, to pay the alms granted by the Monarchs to the San Francisco de Alcala Monastery (1485) (leg. 1097/1). Records on fifteenth century properties of Jews in the city are also preserved.
- Archival history:
- The Municipal Archive of Alcala de Henares (Archivo Municipal de Alcala de Henares), in different locations, has always been in charge of the documents of the city council of Alcala de Henares. Between 1978 and 1983, the documents of the "Division Historica" (Historical Section) were deposited at the National Historical Archive in Madrid, in order to carry out an inventory.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- Alcala de Henares was taken by Christian troops in 1118, and the city council was created at the beginning of the twelfth century. In the Middle Ages, the city council was made the assembly of citizens with municipal autonomy. During the Modern period, the municipality lost its autonomy, becoming an administrative organ of the centralized state. From the nineteenth century until the 1978 Constitution, the state of Spain did not grant autonomy to local authorities, establishing various controls on them.
- Access points: locations:
- Alcalá de Henares
- Castile
- Spain
- Toledo
- Subject terms:
- Privileges
- Professions
- Professions--Crafts
- Real estate
- Taxation
- System of arrangement:
- This collection is composed of the following sections: 1. Ayuntamiento de Alcala de Henares (Division historica); 1.1. Gobierno; 1.2. Administracion Municipal; 1.3. Hacienda; 1.4. Elecciones.
- Access, restrictions:
- Free access regulated by the current legal environment on access to Spanish historical archives (law 16/1985 of Spanish Historical Patrimony).
- Finding aids:
- Data on the collection are also available at the website of the Spanish National Archives (PARES).
- Links to finding aids:
- https://pares.culturaydeporte.gob.es/inicio.html
- Yerusha Network member:
- Spanish National Research Council
- Author of the description:
- Marina Girona Berenguer; ILC, CSIC; July 2020
