[MANUSCRIT]. [SPAIN]. [CARTAS EJECUTORIAS]. - Lot 226

[MANUSCRIT]. [SPAIN]. [CARTAS EJECUTORIAS]. Ejecutorias de hidalguia [Confirmation of nobility granted to Juan Castañon, "vecino" of Carrión-de-los-Condes and Tabanera-de-Valdavia]. In Spanish, illuminated manuscript on parchment. Spain, Carrión de los Condes [Castile-Leon], 1601 With a large illuminated composition, coat of arms of the Castañon family 93 ff. preceded and followed by paper endpapers, a large illuminated composition with coat of arms, large initials painted in silver or liquid gold on a dark red background with gray arabesques and scrolls, round chancery script in brown ink. Wooden aisle binding, covered with very worn red velvet, boards detached and loose (good candidate for restoration). Dimensions: 298 x 200 mm Carrión de los Condes is a Spanish municipality in the province of Palencia in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. The Spanish term "reales cartas ejecutorias" (enforceable royal letters) refers to legal documents issued by Spanish authorities containing the resolution of legal proceedings, including criminal cases, land disputes and claims to nobility status. Cartas ejecutorias are issued by the monarch himself, using his image and name, but they are documents that resulted from legal disputes - often lasting several decades - involving witnesses. The term used for these proceedings is "pleito" (or pleyto in our document). The outcome of these "pleitos" was "royal and final" and therefore supposed to be "executed" quickly, hence the name "cartas ejecutorias". A key document in Spain, the "Carta executoria de hidalguia" is a first-rate source for researchers, genealogists and heraldists, containing a wealth of information on a wide range of social, material, economic and iconographic issues. See E. Ruiz García, "La Carta ejecutoria de hidlaguia: un espacio grafico privilegiado", La España medieval, 2006, pp. 251-276.