Abstract
Castilian law, in its early sixteenth-century version, proved to be largely unsuitable for the Indies due to the cultural differences to Europe. The geographic and cultural diversities between different regions within the New World added to the difficulty of applying a homogeneous code of common law. A shortage of legal literature and jurists with proper legal training precipitated a reduction in the level of formality within the legal practice that manifested itself in the use of natural law and casuistry regarding common law. The discussions regarding mining regulations presented in this chapter offer some examples: The parable and the fable feature as guides to policy, in line with natural law, but without the formality and rigor of late scholastic literature. Casuistic arguments justified solely by forms of reasoning such as precedence, analogy, necessity, and consensus can be found in documents that shaped the governance of mining activities and silver trade in early modern Zacatecas.
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Notes
- 1.
“Dize [sic] Aristoteles admirablemente en el 5 de las Ethicas, que lo q[ue] da valor y precio a todas las cosas terrestres, es nuestra necessidad [sic]. Que si no las uviessemos [sic] menester, no las mercarian ni apreciarían. Esta es la medida y peso de su valor”.
- 2.
Merchants supplied miners with currency on credit at a 5% p.a. interest and miners were due to repay within a period of 40–50 days. Silver merchants received silver (bullion) with a higher degree of purity, as the legal price of the mark was 65 reales, and they received purer silver that was worth 67–78 reales. The “rate of discount”, or commission charge was 12.5%. Taking into consideration transport costs and minting charges, merchant profit was of about 15% on average.
- 3.
Mine owners used the service of merchants because it was more convenient for them than taking their bullion to the mint. Authorities sometimes acted upon mine owner complaints against merchants, although the measures taken were not effective.
- 4.
“…digo que conviene que vuestra majestad advierta que la oveja que se sale de la manada, o la come el lobo, o pone al pastor en gran trabajo por buscarla y riesgo de las demás…” (Enciso Contreras 1997, p. 247).
- 5.
Report by Francisco de Ybarra y Caval (Council of the Indies) on Zacatecas, April 4th, 1604: AGI, México 325 fs. 1r-3v.
- 6.
“… de la fuerza y necesidad han venido a hacer liberalidad, y la costumbre como en muchas partes de España que sólo por ella sin otra bula ni privilegio se come grosura los sábados ha hecho esto permitido y lícito”.
- 7.
“Y viéndose damnificados por ambos, echarían de ver que les sucedió lo que a las Ranas y que en pena de haber ofrecido lo que no es suyo les cuesta su hacienda…”.
- 8.
The original fable was by Phaedrus.
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“Petición de Baltasar de Bañuelos a la Corona, Zacatecas (02-04-1587): AGI, Guadalajara 30, f. 331r.
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Jefferies, C. (2023). A Parable and Ancient Fables: Shaping the Governance of Mining Activities and the Silver Trade in Late Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth-Century New Spain. In: Hyden-Hanscho, V., Stangl, W. (eds) Formative Modernities in the Early Modern Atlantic and Beyond. Palgrave Studies in Comparative Global History. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8417-4_10
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