Archivo General de Indias
Archivo General de Indias
Archivo General de Indias
Archivo general de Indias. Séville, Espagne
AGI
Archivo de Indias
Archivo de las Indias
Archivo General de las Indias
Casa Lonja de Sevilla
Real Decreto de 23 de febrero de 1853 disponiendo que la planta del Archivo general de Indias en Sevilla conste desde el día 1º de Marzo próximo de un Archivero Jefe de negociado con el sueldo de 16,000 rs. Anuales; un Oficial primero con el de 12,000; y un Oficial segundo con el de 10,000. (Gaceta de Madrid, núm. 58; 1853-02-27).
Although damaged and transformed into a tenement house, the former building of the Lonja in Seville would serve a new purpose and become the Headquarters of the General Archive of the Indies in 1781. With the help of the minister José Gálvez, all the Indiano documents would be gathered in the archive at the disposal of Juan Bautista Muñoz, so that he could comply with King Charles’s III request to write the “History of the New World”. Fair enough, since José de Gálvez was aware of the condition of the documents held in the General Archive of Simancas. They were sent to him in order to find the documents, whereby Pope Clement XIV approved the diplomatic work of the Roman ambassador Sir José Miñono throughout the beatification process in the Roman dicasteries. Galvez’s inform refers to the collapse of documents, which were “squeezed together”, “disorganized and confusing”. Thus, once José de Gálvez’s fact-finding mission was accomplished, he returned to the court envisaging an inaccessible archive. Such insight clashed with his vision – that of an expert in facts and rights of the Indies – and he was determined to come up with a realistic solution. The former idea involved an amplification of the Castle of Simancas. However, it was unsuccessful and immediately replaced with the idea of situating the new Archive of the Indies in Seville. The demand for an urgent solution to the collapse of the archives of Simancas was triggered by Jose Galvez’s promotion to the ministry of the Indies, aside from the necessity to formulate an illustrated history, based on sources with original archives, as well as on academic and political convictions, which would also remain faithful to reality of the Spanish Crown. The most distinguished cosmographer of the Indies Juan Bautista Muñoz was in charge of writing the History of the New World. A set of all-important documents were studied in order to gather information and describe this history. It was concluded that the following documents were needed: the documents from the Casa de la Contratación (House of Trade founded by the Real Provisión* of the Catholic Monarchs on the 20th January, 1503 and dissolved in 1790), the Commercial Consulate of Seville (founded by the Real Provisión of Charles I on the 23rd August, 1543), the Consulate of Cádiz (1717), the Cathedral of Seville, among others. José de Gálvez was determined to gather in a single building all the Indiano documents spread across several points in the metropolis (Madrid, Simancas, Cádiz and Seville).
After the building was vacated and restored, Muñoz took on the construction of the shelves and wrote a succinct document, which incorporated technical indications and was regarded as a sort of a modern-day technical requirements section. The appointment of the former archive employees, the superintendent, the archivist and the officials took place on the 29th August. Sir Antonio de Lara y Zúñiga was appointed superintendent. Gregorio Fuentes y Bearert was appointed archivist.
The very first wagons arrived from Simancas on the 14th October 1785, signalling the foundation of the General Archives of the Indies. The documents from Casa de la Contratación were sent in two expeditions in 1786 and in 1791, until its dissolution in 1791. In November 1970, the Council of the Indies sent their documents – labelled as “not frequently consulted” and prior to 1760 – from the Counting House in Madrid. The documents from the government of the Ministry of Perú were sent in 1788, those from the Ministry of New Spain in 1790 and, lastly, those of the Justice of the Notary Chamber.
Antonio Porlier, Secretary of State and of the Department of Grace and Justice of the Indies, planned the ninety-chapter ordinances issued by Charles IV on the 10th January, 1790. The aforementioned ordinances regulated the most crucial aspects of the archive’s functioning, established rules on the organization and treatment of documents, as well as on the preservation, description, access and even incorporated the principle of source.
By Circular Royal Order issued by Isabella II in 1844, the Government documents and the remaining historic archives became subject to public investigation. From thereon, they depended on the Ministry of Public Education and the team of archivists, librarians and archaeologists.
A number of important consignments from the Council of the Indies, the State Departments and the Department of the Indies arrived from Madrid between 1827 and 1863 and completed the corpus of the aforementioned (the papers from the Court of Arribadas and the Department of Taxation had already arrived from Cádiz during the three-year period in Riego). The documents from the Ministry of Overseas Territories arrived between 1864 and 1887, more specifically those regarding the General Direction of the Post Office (along with the documentation concerning the regular naval post between Spain and the Indies, created in 1764 and incorporated to the royal Navy in 1802). The so-called documents from Cuba, Louisiana and Florida, which came from the General Capitancy of Havana, were the only archives developed and generated in the ultramarine colonies that were brought to Spain in 1888-1889. The Under-Secretary of Public Education allowed the archive to detach from its Indiano generality character in order to boost the National Historic Archive, which ended up incorporating the sections of Overseas and Chamber Clerkship.
Last but not least, it is worth mentioning that the archive also comprises documentation obtained through the State’s private purchases, because this documentation is directly linked to the American continent and the Philippines. The following archives stand out: the holdings of Duke of Veragua, the private archives of the Commander Camilo García de Polavieja (Captain-general in Cuba and then in the Philippines), and those of the viceroys Fernando Abascal y de Sousa (Perú) and Miguel José de Azanza (México), on top of the reception of the historic archive from the Royal Factory of Tobacco. All of these bodies and collections encompass more than 43,000 files, which are currently held in three deposits housed on the first store of the Lonja after the restoration and amplification works. The Archive presently counts with the space of the headquarters in Cilla, which allowed for a more suitable reformation and relocation of their facilities.
*The Real Provisión was a legal and administrative provision used in the Kingdom of Castile between the 13th and the 16th centuries. Its main aim was to regulate governance and administrative acts and tackle public issues.
En 1781 se decide utilizar el antiguo edificio de la Lonja de Sevilla, ya degradado y convertido en casa de vecinos, con un nuevo cometido, ser la Sede del Archivo General de Indias, de la mano del ministro José Gálvez, quien decidió concentrar aquí toda la documentación indiana que sería precisada Juan Bautista Muñoz para cumplir con el encargo del rey Carlos III de escribir la "Historia del Nuevo Mundo". No en vano, José de Gálvez había conocido el estado de la documentación en el Archivo General de Simancas, ya que fue enviado a él para buscar los documentos que autorizasen la labor diplomática del embajador en Roma, don José Miñono ante el papa Clemente XIV en el proceso de beatificación en los dicasterios romanos. En el informe de Gálvez, éste hacer referencia al colapso de los documentos que estaban "apretados" en "desorden y confusos". Por ello, José de Gálvez cumplida su misión indagadora, retorna a la corte con la visión de un archivo inaccesible, lo cual chocaba con su visión de hombre experto en hechos y derechos de las indias, y con la mente puesta en hacer una propuesta realista de solución. En principio esta idea fue la de ampliar el Castillo de Simancas, pero la idea no cuajó y en seguida se cambió por la de la fundación en Sevilla del nuevo Archivo de Indias. La urgencia de dar solución al colapso del archivo simanquino, vino forzada por el ascenso en 1776 de José Gálvez al ministerio de Indias y la necesidad de dar salida a una historia ilustrada, documentada en fuentes de archivo reales, por convenciones académicas y políticas, pero que también sería actual de la Corona Española, encargando al cosmógrafo mayor de indias, Juan Bautista Muñoz la confección de la Historia del Nuevo Mundo. Se estudió la documentación necesaria para conocer y describir esta historia, concluyendo que serían necesarios los papeles de la Casa de la Contratación (fundada mediante real provisión de los Reyes Católicos el 20 de enero de 1503 y desaparecida en 1790), el Consulado de Mercaderes de Sevilla (fundado mediante una real provisión de Carlos I, el 23 de agosto de 1543), el Consulado de Cádiz (1717) los de la Catedral de Sevilla y otros, convenciendo a José de Gálvez de la necesidad de juntar en un único edificio todos los documentos indianos dispersos en varios puntos de la Metropoli (Madrid, Simancas Cádiz y Sevilla).
Tras el desalojo y la rehabilitación del edificio, además de la construcción de las estanterías, Muñoz redactó un pequeño documento con indicaciones técnicas (considerado prácticamente como un pliego de prescripciones técnicas actual). El 29 de agosto se nombran los primeros funcionarios de archivo, el superintendente, el archivero y los oficiales. Para el primer cargo se nombró a don Antonio de Lara y Zúñiga. Como archivero se nombró a Gregorio Fuentes y Bearert.
El 14 de octubre de 1785 llegan las primeras carretas procedentes de Simancas, quedando finalmente fundado el Archivo general de Indias. La Casa de Contratación envió posteriormente dos expediciones en 1786 con su documentación y en 1791 el resto tras haber quedado suprimido en 1791. El Consejo de Indias, en noviembre de 1970, desde Madrid, envío sus papeles de Contaduría, de consulta "no frecuente" y anteriores al año 1760. En 1788 los del gobierno de la Secretaría del Perú, en 1790 los de la secretaría de Nueva España y por fin, los de Justicia de Escribanía de Cámara.
Antonio Porlier, durante su ministerio de Secretario de Estado y del Despacho de Gracia y Justicia de indias, planificó las ordenanzas promulgadas el 10 de enero de 1790 por Carlos IV, conformadas por 90 capítulos. Éstas regulan los aspectos más importantes del funcionamiento del archivo, dan reglas sobre la organización y tratamiento de los documentos, sobre la conservación, sobre la descripción, sobre el acceso e incluso incorporan claramente entre su articulado el principio de procedencia.
En 1844, por Real Orden Circular de Isabel II, al igual que el resto de archivos históricos sus documentos se abren a la investigación pública y pasan a depender del Ministerio de Instrucción Pública, como todos los del Estado, quedando servido por el Cuerpo Facultativo de Archiveros, Bibliotecarios y Arqueólogos.
Entre 1827 y 1863 recibieron de Madrid importantes remesas del Consejo de indias, de las Secretarías de Estado y del Despacho de indias, que completan el cuerpo de las anteriores (anteriormente, en el trienio liberal de Riego, ya vinieron de Cádiz los papeles del juzgado de Arribadas y Comisión Interventora de la Hacienda Pública). Entre 1864 y 1887 ingresan los papeles del Ministerio de Ultramar, en concreto los referentes a la Dirección General de la Renta de Correos (con la documentación referente al correo marítimo regular entre España y las Indias, creado en 1764 e incorporado a la Real Armada en 1802). En 1888-1889 llegaron los llamados papeles de Cuba, la Luisiana y la Florida, procedentes de la Capitanía General de La Habana, única documentación traída a España de archivos formados y generados en las colonias ultramarinas. La Subsecretaría de Instrucción Pública permitió que el archivo perdiera su carácter de generalidad indiana a favor de engrosar el Archivo Histórico Nacional, a donde fueron las secciones de Ultramar y escribanía de Cámara.
Por último destacar que los fondos del archivo también cuentan con documentación que entra mediante adquisición del estado a particulares, por ser documentación relacionada directamente con el continente americano y Filipinas. Destacan el fondo del Duque de Veragua, los archivos particulares del general Camilo García de Polavieja, capitán general primero en Cuba y luego en Filipinas, y los de los virreyes Fernando Abascal y de Sousa (Perú) y Miguel José de Azanza (México), además de la recepción del archivo histórico de la Real Fábrica de Tabacos. Todos estos organismos y colecciones conforman más de 43.000 legajos, instalados en la actualidad en tres depósitos preparados tras obras de rehabilitación y ampliación, en el planta baja de la Casa de la Lonja. En la actualidad el Archivo cuenta con el espacio de la sede de la Cilla, lo que ha permitido remodelar y reubicar sus instalaciones de forma más adecuada.
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