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Race and Labor in Sixteenth-Century Seville through the Prism of Accounting Books ( Hijuelas ) from the Reales Alcázares

2018; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 71; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1086/700858

1935-0236

Lauren Beck,

Historical Studies on Spain

Abstract Hijuelas furnish scholars with more than account balances and bills paid: ledgers such as the ones that detailed the expenses of Seville’s sixteenth-century Alcázar also yield important insight into the facility’s work environment. These hardly studied ledgers describe the workers’ backgrounds, including their wages and any special accommodations they required, as well as the transaction of material goods, which in this period included slaves. The following examination of hijuelas uncovers the racial and labor realities of a royal property. These documents also challenge established scholarly observations about working life in early modern Seville in important ways.