Metadata: Archive of the Dukes of Osuna (1)
Collection
- Country:
- Spain
- Holding institution:
- Historical Archive of the Nobility
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archivo Historico de la Nobleza
- Postal address:
- Calle Duque de Lerma 2. 45003 – Toledo
- Phone number:
- +34 925 210 354
- Email:
- nobleza@cultura.gob.es
- Reference number:
- ES.45168.AHNOB/1
- Title:
- Archive of the Dukes of Osuna (1)
- Title (official language):
- Archivo de los Duques de Osuna (1)
- Creator/accumulator:
- Duchy of Osuna
- Date(s):
- 943/1939
- Language:
- Spanish; Castilian
- Extent:
- 7,581 boxes; 259 files; 110 volumes
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- Good
- Scope and content:
-
The Archive of the Dukes of Osuna is composed of seven different archives gathered together through the accumulation of titles by the Tellez Giron family, especially during the eighteenth century. This group of documentary fonds is the largest in the Historical Archive of the Nobility and the most important aristocratic archive in Spain regarding information about medieval Jews. It has 7,581 boxes, which contain abundant and varied information on topics and places in Spain, in addition to many other territories and countries, due to the power that this family accumulated over time. It is a relevant collection for the history of Spain from the twelfth to the nineteenth centuries.
The collection keeps the archives, or in some cases significant documentation, of the following titles: Duchy of Osuna, Duchy of Arcos, Duchy of Bejar, Duchy of Benavente, Duchy of Gandia, Marquisate of Medina de Rioseco, and Duchy of the Infantado.
The documents are classified in several series according to their type:
1) Genealogy, noble titles, and entailed estate (“mayorazgo”).
2) Nobiliary jurisdiction: This series gathers all the documents generated or related to the exercise of nobiliary jurisdiction: granting of lordships or jurisdictional rights and the transfers, agreements and lawsuits over them; support of the seigniories to the Crown of Castile, especially in military matters; and jurisdiction over vassals in aspects of government, justice, or taxation.
3) Estate: It contains all the documents related to the familial estate and its administration: managing of assets, domain transfers, delimitation, and increase or decrease of patrimony (through dowries, marital capitulations, etc.). It is, together with the section of estate administration, the largest documentary series and occupies a large part of the collection.
4) Estate administration: This series includes those documents generated or received by the administration of the estate: maintenance and use of properties, estate inventories, accounting, and payment of taxes. Documents produced by the archival activity are also included in this series. The documentation, which occupies a huge volume, is organized by manorial administrations with geographical criteria and deals with correspondence between the administrators and the head of general administration, accountability, and expenses. Otherwise, the documentation produced by the general administration itself includes sumptuary and household expenses, in addition to the record books.
5) Private: This series contains the personal files of each of the family members: for example, work-related, academic, and professional documents; non-hereditary appointments and honors, such as decorations, membership in associations and Military Orders, and appointments for offices and positions. Documents produced for familial celebrations and social meetings are included.
6) Staff: tasks performed.
7) Board of pious works (documents related to charitable works and expenses related to religious worship).
8) Collections.
Concerning Jews, see the following Yerusha collections: Duchy of Osuna; Duchy of Arcos; Duchy of Bejar; Duchy of Benavente; Duchy of Gandia; Duchy of the Infantado.
- Archival history:
- At the end of the nineteenth century Don Mariano Tellez Giron, last Duke of Osuna, died and in 1894, a “Comision Ejecutiva de Obligacionistas” seized all assets of his house, including the archive, to pay off the debts left. In 1917, the aforementioned commission deposited the documentary collection in the Spanish National Historical Archive in Madrid. Thanks to the contribution of an anonymous sponsor, the Archive of Osuna was acquired in 1927 by the Spanish State. In 1995, the archive was transferred to the Nobility Section, now the Spanish Historical Archive of the Nobility. In 1998, an additional archival set was acquired from Duran Auctions, which contained documentation on the Lordship of the towns belonging to the household: Arroyo del Puerco, Talaban, Serrejon, El Bodon and its aggregates.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Archive of the Dukes de Osuna is a set of seven ducal archives gathered for the accumulation of titles in the Tellez Giron family. The House of Osuna first appeared with Pedro Giron, Master of Calatrava, under the protection and favor of Enrique IV. In 1562, Pedro Giron de la Cueva, V Count of Ureña, received the title of Duke of Osuna. In 1568, his son obtained the title of Marquis de Peñafiel. In 1771, the ducal titles of Arcos, Bejar, Benavente and Gandia were incorporated into the House of Osuna. In 1836, the title of Duke of Medina de Rioseco went to the XI Duke of Osuna. This same person inherited the title and patrimony of the Dukes of the Infantado, after the death without heirs of his uncle, the XIII Duke of the Infantado.
- System of arrangement:
- The archive is classified thusly: 1.1 Osuna, ducado de, 943/1910; 1.2 Arcos, ducado de, 1176/1920; 1.3 Bejar, ducado de, 1095/1891; 1.4 Benavente, ducado de, 1015/1928; 1.5 Gandia, ducado de, 1199/1931; 1.6 Medina de Rioseco, ducado de, 1198/1907; 1.7 Infantado, ducado del, 943/1917; 1.8 Comision de Obligacionistas de la Casa de Osuna, 1493/1939; 1.9 Fondos inconexos, 1400/1888.
- 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; May 2020