Metadata: Duchy of Frias (2.1)
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/2.1//FRIAS,F.1
- Title:
- Duchy of Frias (2.1)
- Title (official language):
- Ducado de Frias (2.1)
- Creator/accumulator:
- Duchy of Frias
- Date(s):
- 745/1955
- Language:
- Spanish; Castilian
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- Good
- Scope and content:
-
The Archive of the Duchy of Frias is a rich collection, since it gathers documents belonging to various aristocratic houses with a decisive political and social influence in Spanish history. The archive constitutes a source of research for the history of the territorial dominion of the Frias family. It also reflects the government and foreign policy of Spain, beginning in the Middle Ages. It gathers a considerable volume of political documents, among which stand out those of the reigns of Juan II, Enrique IV, Carlos V and the Habsburg dynasty.
This first section of the archive, titled “Ducado de Frias” (FRIAS,F.1), contains documents from the following aristocratic titles (FRIAS,F.1,SF.1-21): Duchy of Frias, County of Haro; Marquessate of Berlanga, Lordship of Arnedo, Lordship of Belorado, Lordship of Briviesca, Marquessate of Cilleruelo, Marquessate of Fresno, Lordship of Gandul y Marchenilla, Lordship of Medina de Pomar, Lordship of Cerezo, Lordship of Herrera del Pisuerga, Lordship of Osma, Lordship of Pedraza de la Sierra, Lordship of Salas de los Infantes, County of Salazar, Lordship of Santo Domingo de Silos, Lordship of Villadiego, Lordship of Villalpando, Lordship of Villerias, County of Castilnovo, Lordship of Valles y Montañas.
The documents are classified in several documentary series according to their type:
1) Genealogy, noble titles, and entailed estate (“mayorazgo”).
2) Nobiliary Jurisdiction.
3) Estate.
4) Estate administration.
5) Private.
6) Staff.
7) Board of pious works (documents related to charitable works and expenses related to religious worship).
8) Collections.
Concerning Jews, the Duchy of Frias section contains royal privileges and orders and purchase-sale documents. Two privileges by Enrique II and Juan I confirm the gift made by Enrique II to the Fernandez de Velasco family of the assets that Yuçaf Picho had in Seville (1379 and 1393). A document of a plot sale to Sento Haim, on behalf of his lord Juan de Velasco, is preserved (1403). In relation to the expulsion of the Jews in 1492, there is documentation about the investigation carried out on the taxes that were paid by the Jews in the customs office of Ciudad Rodrigo (1492) and an order from Isabel and Fernando to the collectors of assets and debts left by Jews to allow the Constable of Castile to take possession of those assets left in his dominion (1498).
In the Lordship of Osma subsection, a privilege of Juan I confirming the grant to Garcia Gonzalez de Herrera of the assets that Çag de Alba owned in Medellin is preserved (1379).
Related to Jews, the County of Haro subsection preserves royal privileges and gifts, letters of payment, and sentences. A privilege by Fernando IV confirms the donation of the castle of Haro and its neighboring estate to the Jewish Aljama of Haro (1304); two privileges by Alfonso XI and Juan I confirm the aforementioned grant, so that the Jews could live according to their traditions and customs (1335 and 1379). There is a letter of payment granted by Abrahen Zabaco, from Herrera, to the Count of Haro for a loan that the former had made to latter (1435). Regarding the expulsion, Isabel and Fernando granted the Constable of Castile the amount of the debts left by the Jews (1496).
In the Lordship of Pedraza de la Sierra subsection, a document is preserved that contains the tax distribution made to the Jewish Aljama of Valverde de la Vera (1453).
In the Lordship of Villalpando subsection, a mention is made of the members of the Jewish community who have received the Count of Haro (1455).
In the Lordship of Medina de Pomar subsection is preserved the investigation initiated by order of the Constable of Castile to find out about the circumcision of a Christian and other alleged crimes committed by the Jews of Medina de Pomar (1430).
In the Lordship of Arnedo subsection is kept the tax exemption granted to the residents and the Jewish Aljama of Arnedo (1467).
Information on the activities of Yuçe Picho (Chief bookkeeper of Enrique II) is collected in the Lordship of Belorado subsection (1375).
The Lordship of Villadiego (1411-1434) section contains documentation related to the activities of Yuçaf el Nasi, attorney of Pedro Fernandez de Velasco.
In the Lordship of Briviesca subsection is kept the confirmation of the royal privilege that granted the House of Velasco the right to receive the poll-tax from the Jewish Aljamas of Pancorbo and Najera (1392 and 1420). There is also a payment letter granted by the Jews of Briviesca to the Count of Haro for an amount that they had loaned him (1440).
- Archival history:
- Between 1988 and 1997, the Archive of the Duchy of Frias was acquired by the Spanish State from Doña Maria de Silva y Azlor, widow of the Duke of Frias. The archive was then kept at the Castle of Montemayor (Cordoba). The organization and a description of its contents were made by the archivists of the Spanish National Historical Archive, Pilar Leon Tello and Maria Teresa de la Peña; the description was published between 1955 and 1973. In 1987 most of the archive was transferred to Madrid. A small part of it remained in Montemayor, mostly documents from the administration of properties from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries and the confiscation of manors. Several original titles and privileges were also in the hands of the family. In March 1994, the archive was transferred from the National Historical Archive (Madrid) to the Nobility Section in Toledo, now the Historical Archive of the Nobility, a state-owned archive.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The archive is constructed around the Fernandez de Velasco family that since the fifteenth century held some of the most important political positions in the Kingdom of Castile. In 1430, Pedro Fernandez de Velasco received from Juan II the title and estate of the County of Haro. His son, Pedro Fernandez de Velasco, obtained from Enrique IV the rank of Constable of Castile, since then linked to the family up to the eighteenth century. In 1492, the title of Duke of Frias was granted by the Catholic Monarchs to Don Bernardino Fernandez de Velasco, II Constable of Castile, III Count of Haro and Captain General and Viceroy of Granada. Successive marriages linked House of Frias with a large number of titles and properties.
- Access points: locations:
- Arnedo
- Belorado
- Berlanga
- Briviesca
- Castile
- Haro
- Medina de Pomar
- Osma
- Santo Domingo de Silos
- Spain
- System of arrangement:
- This documentary section is classified thusly: 2.1 Frias, ducado de, 745-1955; 2.1.1 Haro, condado de, 1218-1803; 2.1.2 Berlanga, marquesado de, 1370-1902; 2.1.3 Arnedo, señorio de, 1488-1807; 2.1.4 Belorado, señorio de, 1290-1814; 2.1.5 Briviesca, señorio de, 1369-1861; 2.1.6 Cilleruelo, marquesado de, 1412-1843; 2.1.7 Fresno, marquesado del, 1445-1771; 2.1.8 Gandul y Marchenilla, señorio de, 1431-1678; 2.1.9 Medina de Pomar, señorio de, 1201-1883; 2.1.10 Cerezo, señorio de, 1310-1784; 2.1.11 Herrera del Pisuerga, señorio de, 1255-1895; 2.1.12 Osma, señorio de, 1379-1820; 2.1.13 Pedraza de la Sierra, señorio de, 1301-1866; 2.1.14 Salas de los Infantes, señorio de, 1369-1859; 2.1.15 Salazar, condado de, 1469-1877; 2.1.16 Santo Domingo de Silos, señorio de, 1209-1403; 2.1.17 Villadiego, señorio de, 1376-1801; 2.1.18 Villalpando, señorio de, 1332-1854; 2.1.19 Villerias, señorio de, 1409-1822; 2.1.20 Castilnovo, condado de, 1453-1851; 2.1.21 Valles y Montañas, señorio de, 1362-1779.
- 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; April 2020