Variety of Leased Rents on Production and Traffic

ASU HST 200 (Historical Themes) VARIETY OF "LEASED RENTS" ON PRODUCTION AND TRAFFIC Ladero Quesada (1967) released the income reports of the Catholic Monarchs, which demonstrate the range of "rentas arrendadas" (traditional rents) that levied taxes on industry and transportation during the transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern era. The almojarifazgo mayor (by far the most significant), that of the Indies, the alhóndiga, the wood rent, the "tres rentas," the alcabala del aceite, the oil tithe, and the almojarifazgo del pescado are the only values that are documented in the city of Seville. A total of 17,224,240 maravedís (45,931 ducats) were accumulated in 1491 and used to support a situado of 3,487,341 maravedis (9,300 ducats, or 20% of the income). An additional small amount of one million maravedis (6% of the income) was held in reserve in relation to the repayment of loans requested for the Granada war. Some are still absent, like the money from Seville's soap opera. The almojarifazgo, alhóndiga, and major and minor rentals are all documented in separate items in Cordoba. Some sporadic rentals that are not consistently included in the reports are the rent of Valladolid's clothing and jewelry, the rent of Córdoba's pines, the alfolí of Avilés, and the salt mines of Atienza and Espartinas (Ladero Quesada, 1967). Rents and royalties make up the majority of the 317,770,227 maravedis (845,000 ducats) in total money that the Cortes approved for services to provide, which is a relatively small portion. The Catholic Monarchs' infrequent Cortes sessions and the length of time between some of them can be explained by the base on rents and royalties as well as collection methods already in place from the medieval era. Due to the war against France, the Catholic Monarchs only sometimes and briefly increased the service from fifty to one hundred cuentos de maravedis during the two years of 1503-1504, which they gained from the Cortes of Madrid and Alcalá. The service thereafter resumed its regular and unchangeable quota of "fifty cuentos" year until 1517 (Carretero Zamora, 1988). The values of the other ancient taxes and duties, such as the "pedido forero," "martiniega," "infurción," and "marzazga," are unknown, but it is assumed that all direct taxes during this reign, including the extraordinary orders and services rendered during wartime or for infant marriages, would have made up no more than 15%, if not 20%, of the total income in 1504. It is not prudent to try an appraisal of the rentals leased and consequently of the overall revenue in the time of the Catholic Monarchs, given the relations that are accessible, in which certain parties and maybe some rents are missing virtually every year. However, there is general agreement that the Treasury during that time was "modest but balanced," meaning that neither the national debt nor its spending were a burden, unlike what would happen following the change of dynasty. The Crown's costs throughout that reign are documented for a number of years; in 1492, they were 144,223,080 maravedís, and they continued to rise until 1517 (Ladero Quesada, 1967). Regarding income numbers for 1504, Clemencin and Azcona concur that they are somewhat above 300 million maravedís. Based on a revenue horizon of approximately 200 cuentos annually, with the potential to reach 300 cuentos or higher, it can be inferred that the 50 cuentos of the service in 1505 and subsequent years may account for no more than 20% of this balanced Treasury's total revenue, which is significantly less than the rents rented.