1 . Medinaceli, being in the diocese of Sigüenza, obviously came under the patronage of both Tapia and Medinaceli.

2 . Person under whose charge runs the financial administration of a bishop or a person who represents litigants in an ecclesiastic court.

3 . Diocesan judge, named by the bishop, with whom form a tribunal and exercise ordinary power over ecclesiastic matters.

4 . Person named by the judge, from those chosen by the bishop, whose mission is to find evidence and give it to the judge.

5 . In each diocese the bishop received tithes from his diocesans. In every village one house would pay the tithe to the king and therefore by excused paying it to the bishop. This ‘tax’ was referred to as the excusado.

6 . Here we can see another of friar Pedro’s constant themes: the mis-use of public funds. Towards the end of his life this would lead him to the controversial protest against the millones of 1654. See Biblioteca Nacional MS 7.345 Nicolás Antonio, Protesta de fray Pedro de Tapia desde Córdoba.

7 . As we shall see further on in the text, friar Pedro and Oviedo had great difficulties with this Mayordomo.

8 . The expense involved in travelling to cash the pension would decrease its value to Zapata.

9 . Like all bishops, having so much of their income tied up in pensions, limited their ability to use the money for the glory of God - helping the poor, maintaining the church, etc.

10 . It is possible that this paper - seemingly so important - was connected to the affair of doña Antonia de Mendoza which we will see develop later in the text. See also my article “ Los usos políticos de la reputación”.

11 . The lack of authorization for taxation on the Church formed the crux of friar Pedro’s later protest. The Pope authorized taxation on the Church for monies to be used in justifiable wars, i.e. wars which protected christendom. The money from the millones, therefore, was meant to be used exclusively for the war effort. In fact from a measure passed in 1644 to raise 4,000,000 ducados from millones tax, well over half was used on the ordinary running expenses of the monarchy. AHN, Consejos, Lib. 1.532, f.36.

12 . These are the treaties we saw mentioned over Lérida in January.

13 . The quantity of goods which were disembarked while the ships were out at sea and thus avoided the customs was notorious.

14 . Ceding rights to a pension was a common way of attaining ready cash. The people to whom they were ceded, as we can see here, were usually much more efficient in collecting them than the title holder.

15 . This is illegible.

16 . Possibly a premonition? It was to be shortly after his arrival in Zaragoza in October that Baltasar Carlos was to die.

17 . I have been unable to find any reason why the two should not have been able to work together.

18 . This was the anniversary of the death of the Duchess of Medinaceli.

19 . He refers to the price of silver.

20 . This was a false rumour.

21 . Before going to Andalucía Medinaceli served in Valencia from 1641 to 1643.

22 . Goods which, having been acquired with ecclesiastical money, reverted to the Church when the cleric who purchased them died intestate.

23 . This event was to cause considerable uproar, as we shall see in the following letters.

24 . I am not sure if this word is from dividir or devedar.

25 . This inclination for arms was shared with Medinaceli’s friend Infantado.

26 . It was known to all in the seventeenth century that favour from the Monarch was only gained whilst in his presence.

27 . The worry that one’s letters would be intercepted was a constant theme in the seventeenth century. It often seems from this correspondence that they wrote as if they expected someone else to read their letters.

28 . We shall see more about this tax later. See Juan Martínez, Discursos theológicos y políticos, Alcalá de Henares, 1664. for a complete discussion of the affair.

29 . The person who pays the money order.

30 . Rudeness.

31 . Press gang people.

32 . This refers to the planned marriage of Medinaceli’s second son Tomás de la Cerda with Cardona’s second daughter Francisca de Aragón y Sandoval. This marriage was never realised as Tomás married María Manrique, 11th Countess of Paredes and Francisca married Francisco de Benavides, 9th Count of Santisteban.

33 . Medinaceli’s habit of treating things in a high-handed manner was often criticized in the correspondence.

34 . If the weight was defective.

35 . See Luisa Isabel Alvarez de Toledo, Duquesa de Medina Sidonia, Historia de una conjura, Cádiz, 1985. for an account of the Medina Sidonia affair.

36 . Juros were loans made to the king, rather like modern treasury bonds. Holders had virtually no rights to exact payment of interest, and they were increasingly unpopular after 1634. Many were held by the church. The media anata was a fiscal measure when the king decreed that he would only pay half the interest falling due on the juros in that year.