City Council of Madrid

Collection

Holding institution (official language):: Archivo General de la Villa de Madrid

Scope and content:: The City Council of Madrid documentary fonds contains documents produced and received by the city council of Madrid from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. The documentary fonds is classified in the following sections: “Gobierno” (Government), “Administracion” (Administration), “Servicios” (Public Services), and “Hacienda” (Finances). This collection is based on the medieval documentation preserved in the Public Services and Finances sections:

“Servicios” (Public Services). In this section there is information on municipal and private works, consumption and trade, maintenance, cleaning, religious activities, festivities, censuses, and military recruitment. The attention given to the basic needs of citizens is evidenced by the series related to Charity and Public Health; Public Order; Education and Supplies, specifically regarding fighting poverty; preventing epidemics; and trading and monitoring of food. A series concerning Auto-da-Fé and provisions related to Jews (1347-1819) stands out.

“Hacienda” (Finances). The economic series related to income and expenses of the town council takes up a significant amount of documentation. The accounts date back to the Middle Ages and contain data on income from municipal taxes, administration of assets and properties, fines and other penalties, as well as personnel expenses and payrolls.

Archival history:: This archive was first mentioned in a Royal Provision by Charles V (1525), although the so-called three keys ark, a medieval repository for official parchments and documents, is repeatedly mentioned in the city council minutes beginning in the fifteenth century. The Archive was finally set up in the eighteenth century. The first professional archivist was appointed in 1748. The first regulations and operating instructions for the archive were approved in 1753, and it became a Public Office by virtue of a Royal Decree (1781). This Institution was opened for research in 1844. It has transferred its headquarters several times: the Tower of San Salvador Church and Monastery of Santo Domingo (fifteenth-seventeenth centuries), the first City Hall of Madrid (seventeenth century-1868), second City Hall “Casa Panaderia” in Plaza Mayor (1868-1987), and Conde Duque cultural center (currently). The custody of the materials was never interrupted, not even during either the Peninsular War (1808-1814), or the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).

Administrative/biographical history:: Madrid joined the Crown of Castile in 1085 during the campaign that culminated in the conquest of Toledo. The granting of the “Fuero” (City Charter) in 1202 brought about the consolidation of the city council, an open municipal institution in charge of the administration, the government, justice, and the finances of Madrid and its municipal boundaries. In 1346, a royal decree issued by King Alfonso XI restricted the popular participation in the town council that would be composed of 12 members (“regidores”) for life. Isabel I and Fernando V added a new permanent public position: the “corregidor” or royal representative that presided over the city council.

Access points: locations:: Alcalá de Henares; Ávila; Carabanchel; Castile; Illescas; Madrid; Segovia; Spain; Toledo

Access, restrictions:: Free access regulated by the current legal evironment on access to Spanish historical archives (law 16/1985 of Spanish Historical Patrimony).

Finding aids:: Indexes based on this collection are available online and at the archive. Data on the collection are also available at the website of the Spanish National Archives (PARES).

Links to finding aids:: http://www.memoriademadrid.es; https://pares.culturaydeporte.gob.es/inicio.html