1. 28.12.1645

2. AHN, Cons. Lib. 22, f.38 shows the total of pensions granted against the diocese of Sigüenza to be 8,772 ds. of a total income of 34,166 ds.

3 . The porvida is a pension granted to a person for his/her life time and is not hereditary.

4 . Luis was Oviedo’s eldest son, Luis González de Oviedo. Oviedo was hoping to get a habit of Santiago for his son. See my article: ‘Un hábito para Luis: el funcionamiento del sistema de patronazgo en la Corte de Felipe IV’.

5 . Luis de Haro went to Andalucía in December 1645 to supervise the arrival of the treasure fleet. This was to be the last time he performed this ‘menial’ task.

6 . This ending is common to all Oviedo’s letters to friar Pedro. In the rest of the letters it has been omitted.

7 . Any religious was theoretically unable to will goods to others. In order to be able to testate he/she needed permission from the Pope.

8 . In the Catholic Monarchy in the seventeenth century there were two circulating currencies: plata and vellón. Philip II introduced the vellón coinage into Castile as a fiscal measure. Instead of being pure silver the coins were a mixture of silver and copper. From 1621 onwards the vellón ceased to contain any silver but was made with pure copper. The government thus produced a coinage with a face value of 19,728,000 ds. at a cost of only 6,576,000. As vellón had an intrinsic value of only one third of its face value, the value it represented depended on the confidence of the user. In the eyes of seventeenth-century “economists” the value of vellón was changeable. In 1628, in order to curb inflation the government halved the value of vellón. In 1641 the process was reversed, with an incredible inflationary effect. In 1642 the vellón was once again devalued. This situation created financial chaos, with every transaction having to be accounted for twice: once in vellón and once in hard currency. See Antonio Domínguez Ortiz, Política fiscal y cambio social en la España del siglo XVII, Madrid 1984.

9 . As seen above plata was circulated at a premium above vellón.

10 . We can see quite clearly friar Pedro’s opinion of Borja’s pension. The opinion expressed here that the rich should dedicate their efforts to the defence of the realm is a constant theme of friar Pedro’s.

11 . The movement of money in the Catholic Monarchy was a tortuous process. Apart from the danger involved, the physical transportation of money was largely impractical due to its prohibitive weight. By kilo vellón was worth less than cheese. The system of letras was therfore widely used and would be similar to a cheque today. The difference being that the letra was payable on a certain day by a certain person. See James C. Boyajian, Portuguese Bankers at the Court of Spain, 1626-1650, New Brunswick, 1983, for details.

12 . The Dutch conflict came to a conclusion at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, ending the so-called Thiry Years War.

13 . El cierzo is a type of wind either from the east or the west.

14 . Friar Pedro was having a life-size sculpture of Jesus as a boy made him by the Portuguese sculptor. This statue is often referred to in the correspondence as “el niño”.

15 . See Boyajian, opcit. The asentistas were bankers, often of Jewish origen, who collected taxes on behalf of the crown at a discount. In England in the seventeenth century they were known as tax farmers.

16 . Castrillo was a member of the Chamber of Castile resonsible for royal appointments. From this statement we can see that Colmenero has been elected in large part due to friar Pedro’s influence.

17 . The Pope granted the King the total quantity of pensions charged against a diocese by Papal Bull, not the individual pensions to specific persons. Borja would therefore have needed royal not papal authority to re-assign his pension. This practice can be seen in the following letter written to the Count of Siruela, the papal embassador, upon friar Pedro’s election to Sigüenza. “Supliquéis a Su B[eatitu]d mande se le despachen sus bullas en la forma que se acostumbra, adbirtiendo que si de aquí a que se le passe al dicha Igl[esi]a vacare alguna de las pensiones que están cargadas sobre ella la e de bolver a cargar de nuebo, y despacharé por pensión nueba, como se acostumbre también.” AHN, Cons., Lib. 22, f.38.

18 . One of the pensions left by Borja was in Plasencia where the Inquisitor General, Diego de Arce y Reinoso was bishop.

19 . One of the only ways to achieve promotion in the seventeenth century was approaching all one’s contacts in order to use their influence.

20 . This is a reference to the lesson to be learnt from Borja’s will.

21 . The subsidio was an extraordinary tax granted by the Church to supplement the Crown’s income.

22 . The first part of this letter from Oviedo is missing. It is obvious that friar Pedro refers here to the proposed election of Cardenal Sandoval as Archbishop of Toledo.

23 . Friar Pedro maintained regular correspondence with Catalina Fernández de Córdoba until her death in October 1647.

24 . Catalina Fernández de Córdoba had bought a statue of Saint Joseph commissioned from Pereira.

25 . Loeches, to the east of Madrid, was the home of Olivares. His wife continued to live there until her death in 1647.

26 . One of these other reasons may have been the possibility that if Sandoval refused the position friar Pedro may have been elected.

27 . It is interesting to note here that Inés de Zúñiga is also referred to as “privado” along with here husband. It was widely felt whilst Olivares was still alive, that the continued presence of his wife at Court indicated a grave danger of his return.

28 . The Count of Altamira was also the Marquis of La Puente.

29 . As the days progress Oviedo’s annoyance with Sebastián Vicente becomes more and more obvious.

30 . I am not certain to whom this is a reference.

31 . From this statement it would seem that Catalina Fernández de Córdoba had a collection of different saints made by Pereira.

32 . This is an obvious reference to the war with Cataluña but I am not sure what the treaty in question was.

33 . Here we can see one of the main utilities to persons like friar Pedro and Medinaceli, living in the provinces, of having a reliable Madrid correspondent.

34 .This type of promotion from oidor in Granada or Valladolid to a place as Alcalde in Madrid was one of the most common avenues of access to the central administration.

35 . We can see from friar Pedro’s reply to this statement that the deduction is correct.

36 . A barefoot member of the order of San Francisco.

37 . The Prince was to marry his cousin the Archduchess Mariana of Austria. After Baltasar Carlos’ death in October it was decided Mariana should marry Philip.