LAWSUITS BETWEEN THE COUNCIL OF VILLAFÁFILA AND THE

I MARQUIS OF TÁVARA 1543-1552

BACKGROUND

Bernardino Pimentel y Enríquez, (around 1430-1517 Villafáfila) I Marquis of Távara. Son of Pedro Pimentel y Quiñones, Lord of Távara and Inés Enríquez de Guzmán. Grandson of the Count of Benavente

 Rodrigo Alonso de Pimentel Quiñones, IV Count of Benavente I Duke of Benavente. Husband of Mrs. Constanza de Bazán Osório, marchioness of Távara. Father of Pedro Pimentel y Osorio, II Marquis

of Távara; Mrs. Juana Pimentel and Inés Pimentel y Castro Brother of Ana Pimentel and Enríquez and Leonor Pimentel. The Marquisate of Távara was created in 1541, by Carlos I for Bernardino Pimentel

y Enríquez, Lord of Villafáfila.

On March 31, 1542, Don Bernardino Pimentel Almansa y Quiñones (son of the III Count of Benavente D. Alonso Pimentel), I Marquess of Távara, took possession of the manor of Villafáfila and its annexes

of San Agustín del Pozo and Revellinos by virtue of the purchase that, for an amount of 13,634,186 maravedís, had been made to King D. Carlos I of Austria, as Master of the Military Order of Santiago and

from his Master. Villafáfila and its annexes, henceforth would be "lordship" of the Marquesado de Távara and its neighboring vassals of the same.

This is how the seller made it known:

"and commanded that they receive you and have you and your heirs and successors after you and each one of them forever and ever as lord of the said town and its land and terms, that you

show that ovidence and reverence that vassals deven and are obliged to make your lord, that you kiss your hand and fulfill your orders and commandments, like ours, and you deliver the

rod of justice to you... and obey you and abide as such lord"... "let him fulfill and execute justice on criminals and hear and deliver lawsuits and civil and criminal cases"... "as until now

and the commander could do it" [1] .

Villafáfila from that moment was part of an economic-type manor (the one held until then, with the Military Order of Santiago, was of the encomienda type), in which, the “sir”, was only interested,

above all else, in this appearance.

There was an exception in the purchase due to royalty: the rent of the thirds and alcabalas, forera currency and the supreme appeal of justice (to which Villafáfila went, according to the document that we recorded.

Just one month after the possession, D. Bernardino Pimentel, of his lordship, entered into a lawsuit with his vassals of Villafáfila. He wanted the powers, about it that did not correspond to him, in accordance

with the purchase and with the rights that the neighbors had historically, since the times in the town it was royalty and lordship of the Military Order of Santiago.

POSSESSION OF THE NEW MANOR

Prior to the formalization of the sale, specifically on November 28, 1541 , Mr. Bernardino and Mrs. Constanza Osorio, his wife, made in Távara the foundation deed of an estate in favor of their son , 

Mr. Pedro, of the town of V illafáfila and places of his land [ 2] .

As I mentioned before , on the same day of the dismemberment, a corregidor appointment is made in the name of the king, while the sale is legalized and to appease the spirits of the neighbors

in this transition, in the person of Mr. García deMarron , who was a servant of Don Bernardino Pimentel. On January 14 , 1542 "the very noble Mr. Licentiate Garçía de Marró n ” , accompanied by

a notary, appeared at the town hall of V illafáfila, before the mayors and aldermen and attorney general, displaying the two royal provisions dated in Cartagena on the previous

December 3, one containing the dismemberment of the town and land of the Order of Santiago, and another to take possession of it by his majesty [3] . He also brought a commandment from the Archbishop 

of Badajoz, as sub -delegated judge by the Archbishop of Santiago, and the bulls and briefs of his saints, Clement VII and Paul III. He required the officers of the council to fulfill the royal provisions and 

commandment and give him possession of the town. These, assembled in council, took the provisions and order into their hands and they kissed them and placed each of them on their heads and said that

they obeyed them and were ready to fulfill them.

From the regimental houses they went to the public hearing room of the town and after being received by the corregidor , Ldo. Brown, he sat on the platforms of the said hearing and took the rods of justice

 from the mayors and ordered them not to use their office during the suspension until something else was ordered .

In front of the regiment and many other residents of the town, seated on the dais, he proceeded to exercise justice and heard certain demands that were presented before him and pronounced a sentence

between two neighbors, using the possession of the justice he had received, in the name of their majesties.

Immediately afterwards, he returned to give the rods of justice to the ordinary mayors so that they could use them and exercise justice in the name of their majesties, reserving himself the power to

take residence from their past offices for when he deemed it convenient.

Continuing with the acts of possession , he gave licence , power and empowerment to the previous scribes so that they could continue exercising their offices as scribes on behalf of majesties .

On the same day, exercising his office as corregidor, Ldo. Brown dictated and ordered the proclamation by voice of Juan Mielgo, public crier , a series of commandments, among which are the prohibition

of hunting in any way in snowy weather or during closed seasons and the obligation to close the silos that had been opened in the close, without being able to remove land from it.

On the 16th, the corregidor , taking with him the ordinary mayors, two aldermen and the attorney general, proceeded to inspect the apothecary, accompanied by the town doctor , where he verified that

the medicines, waters and oils were in good condition. Next he went to the village butcher shop, checking the weights , proceeding in the same way to visit the grocery store and fishmonger and the

greengrocers in the plaza.

He took and appointed Donis de Melgar, a gentleman of the town, as chief bailiff of the town , to execute his commandments.

That same day he ordered the jury , aldermen and attorney of San Agustín to appear before him , taking the rods of justice from them . He then proceeded to return the rod of justice to the jury and 

ordered him and   the aldermen and procurator to use his offices on behalf of his majesties, to which he took an oath. The same procedure followed with the Revellinos officers.

The new corregidor tried not to raise new suspicions among the residents of the town and villages , keeping the same ones who held the offices of justice and regiment and s write to us . AND Waiting 

to definitively take possession from Don Bernardin , he continued to exercise his judicial functions [ 4 ] . On January 19 , he visited the Maes e V illegas inn , where he did not find the price list , for 

which he was penalized 100 mrs .

In his writs of justice , there is a condemnation of Diego Sobrino , a resident of V illafáfila , for a debt he owed to Don Bernardino for the herbage of 134 heads of sheep that had grazed on the said

mountain , at the rate of 12 mrs. the head On the same day the widow of T Omé de Ledesma, who also owed the Lord of Távara 1,546 mrs., gave a guarantor , agreeing to pay him.

In his actions as corregidor on the 18th he went to visit the town 's public jail , he made an inventory of what was in it , apart from two chairs, a table and a bench, there was a stocks, a torture rack ,

two iron chains , two pairs of shackles and five padlocks.

On January 27 , he publicly proclaimed in the plaza and in the streets an order from the corregidor and from the ordinary mayors and aldermen so that no one dared to wash clothes in the drinking well , 

neither in the sinks nor in the troughs, under penalty. of 600 ms.

On the 11th of March , Juan de V ega , a resident of V alladolid , appeared in the hall of the regiment of the village , in the name and with power of don Bernardino , with the letter and _ royal provision of March 4

, which came with the royal signature and seal , 

requiring the corregidor to comply with it . Mr. Garcí a deMarron , with the usual formalities  After putting it on his head and kissing it , he ordered the mayors , aldermen and procurator to go down to the 

courtroom , where they handed over the rods of justice to him .sent from don Bernardino , who began to act as a corregidor , turning it into a dare so that they would exercise justice in the name of that one :

“ Guarding the service of God , and the Majesty of Mr. Bernaldin or Pimentel ” .

In the act of delivery and return of the rods , the officers stated that they did so without prejudice to the rights of the town , as a safeguard of e future s claims . In a public hearing , the new corregidor

 had His Majesty 's letter of sale read and published , requesting with it the officials of the council , that the I put n on their heads s and they obeyed it , requesting a transfer of it for its fulfillment .

In addition to sentencing some lawsuits , he proclaimed that no one interfered with the plowing or destroying the landmarks that served as boundaries between the surrounding towns.

With the same formalities as on the previous occasion , he took the rods of the jurors from San Agustín and Revellinos, who had been sent for , and gave them to them again, urging them to exercise justice

in the name of Don Bernardino. On the 14th he left for V alladolid, with Mr. Brown remaining as mayor, now on behalf of the new lord of the town, whom he really served since he was mayor.

WILL CONTINUE IN PART 2...

Author:

Elijah Rodriguez Rodriguez.

Manuel de la Granja Alonso.

Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez. (combination of jobs) .

Biography:

Authors -Texts:

Elias Rodriguez Rodriguez:

The sale of Villafáfila to the Marquis of Tábara: beginning of an anti-lordly lawsuit in the 16th century.

Brigecio: magazine of studies of Benavente and its lands ,  ISSN  1697-5804,  Nº 13, 2003 , pp. 91-120.

https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=1399577.pdf

Manuel de la Granja Alonso:

Villafáfila: History and actuality of a Castilian Leonese villa. 1996. pp. 151 to 161. Title IX. Villafáfila: Lordship of the Marquis of Tábara. Lawsuit between Villafáfila and the Marquis of Tábara.

Photographs:

Elijah Rodriguez Rodriguez.

Alonso of the Farm.

Wikipedia.

Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez.

Transcription and montage:

Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez.

All text, photographs, transcription and montage, their rights belong to their authors, any type of use is prohibited without authorization.

All text and photography has been authorized for storage, treatment, work, transcription and assembly to José Luis Domínguez Martínez, its dissemination on villafafila.net, and any other means that is authorized.