To demonstrate physically and civilly the need and usefulness of the woodlands in a kingdom would amount to wanting to persuade people of an eternal truth which nobody has doubted since the creation of the universe and which originates from God himself, for He ordered the Earth to produce them. Its certainty is undeniable, reason endorses it, the sanctions of any cultivated and uncultivated society confirm it; and experience over the centuries has strengthened the infallibility of this principle.1
âµ
1 Introduction
This sentence, penned at the Naval Department of Cádiz in 1806 by a jurist of the Spanish Armada following the defeat by the Nelsonâs British fleet at the battle of Trafalgar, sums up the core issue of this essay: the Spanish monarchyâs need to safeguard forest masses over the centuries as strategic assets through the triple combination of Godâs work, technical expertise gained through reason, and empirical experience. This protection spanned the period from the second half of the 1500s to the beginnings of the Liberal State and led to the
The reasons for this institutionalization were clear. Forest masses were part of the daily sustenance of the rural societies that were widespread during the Early Modern Age. However, they competed directly with the naval aspirations of the Crown, which required logs and planks to maintain the integrity of its territories and connections between them, since, as historians have aptly summarized, âeverything is wood, from the peasantâs chair to the Kingâs throneâ.2 All the silvicultural management tasks involving various Crown delegates and their related rules underpinned the entire naval framework of a monarchy which, on account of its universality, was forced to protect its peninsular coastline as well as to take measures to preserve its huge territories in Europe, Africa, America and the Pacific.3
2 The Pursuit of Harmony above Silvicultural Exploitation: between the Royal Right and the Cantabrian Local Institutions for Atlantic Naval Policy (16thâ17th Centuries)
Following the abdication of Charles I of Spain (1556), his son Philip II (1556â1598) came to rule over vast territories in Europe, the Americas and Asia, and Spain became the most powerful monarchy on earth. However, as his empire spanned several continents, it clashed with the expansionist interests of other European powers.4 Under these circumstances, in order to maintain the territories he had inherited, the Prudent King â as Philip II was known â decided
Such a programme inevitably involved stepping up shipyard activity and a consequent increase in the stockpiling of timber. For this purpose, a whole forestry management system was put in place in an attempt to harmonize the felling of trees with the planting of new ones throughout the north of the Iberian Peninsula. A prominent role in this system was played by Cristóbal de Barros y Peralta, who brought with him a wealth of experience in nautical matters and who has come to be compared in Spanish historiography with figures such as the Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Colbert or the Englishman Samuel Pepys, except that he was active a century before both.7
Barros was summoned to the Court at the beginning of February 1562 and received instructions to inspect the entire Cantabrian coast from the French border to the Portuguese frontier, since that area was regarded as âthe national shipyard.â8 The records still preserved in the Archivo General de Simancas indicate that he was entrusted with analysing the situation of the existing ships on the Spanish coast â their units, dimensions and suitability for war â as well as enquiring about potential manufacturers of ships useful for royal service, possible ship designs, the economic aspects of the whole operation and the accounting records of all of them. Furthermore â and this is relevant to our study â all the inspections that Cristóbal de Barros carried out were to take into account âwhat concerns the planting of woodlandsâ,9 and not as a minor matter but âbecause of its great importanceâ to Spainâs policy.10 For this reason, Philip II ordered all the local Cantabrian institutions located less than two leagues from the coast or from navigable rivers â whose situation allowed logs to be floated to the shipyards â to collaborate with this royal delegate to give a boost
More specifically, the monarch ordered the municipal institutions â corregidores (royal representatives), jueces de residencia (special judges entrusted with reviewing the conduct of officials) and local justices â to establish and distribute annually to the residents of their municipalities the quantity of oaks that they deemed appropriate to plant in view of the relief, size and quality of their land. These operations were to be paid for out of each councilâs assets and everything was to be recorded in writing and a report submitted âso that we [Philip II] may know how our orders are being fulfilledâ.12 In the event of non-compliance, both the disobedient resident and the negligent local authority would be liable to pay a fine of one real for each tree they failed to plant. One-third of the amount was to be given to the person who had reported it, another to the judge in charge of hearing the case and the last to the royal chamber. The locals were also duty bound to preserve the land given over to planting from the harmful effects of livestock during the early years because, the monarch stressed, it would benefit the âpublic goodâ (bien público). This shows that his measures were designed to reconcile the monarchyâs foreign policy with the needs of the inhabitants of those woodlands.13
At the end of the 1560s a royal councillor, Hernán Suárez de Toledo, joined in Cristóbal de Barrosâs forestry work. The Royal Council of Castile instructed him to take advantage of a reforming visit around the north of the peninsula, where he had been entrusted with inspecting the University of Oñate, to gather as much information as possible about the nautical situation on the coast of the province of Guipúzcoa, as well as on the state of the forest masses best suited to shipbuilding in that enclave in the east Cantabrian region.14 For this purpose, he was ordered to take statements in various municipalities from the most prominent residents of Guipúzcoa about the woodlands in their area and the condition they were in. He was also to ask the residents to give witness
To comply with this royally commissioned task, between 20 and 21 June 1569 Suárez de Toledo drew up two questionnaires (one on forestry matters and the other on naval issues) for interviewing the chosen residents of the places with closest links to the sea and the eastern Basque woodlands. The first contained four questions: what residents knew about the existence of woodlands and, above all, those closest to the coast; in what condition these forests were in; if the interviewee was aware of the existence of forestry measures that could be employed by the Crown; and, lastly, what rules might be drawn up and put in place to increase the supply of wood useful for constructing ships fit for taking on other maritime powers. The second questionnaire had three parts: the number and size of existing ships in their ports; who the shipbuilders in Guipúzcoa were; and, lastly, what treatment they had traditionally received from the monarchy and whether there were any naval construction regulations that might also be useful.17 The answers to these questions were sent to the Madrid Court and all of them reflected the concerns both of the woodland populations and of Philip II about reconciling the protection of forest masses with the need to supply timber to the shipyards.
Que en la Provincia de Guipúzcoa y SeñorÃo de Vizcaya se mande a los Corregidores y Justicias que guarden una Provisión y mandato que en esta conformidad se ordenarÃa, y que ellos sean comisarios de estos PlantÃos, y que en cada Lugar nombren un Comisario por lo que toca à la correspondencia y aviso de lo que se hiciere, y estos serán más a propósito los Escribanos en cuyo poder quedare el registro del repartimiento, y en los Lugares, Puertos de mar los Escribanos de los registros de las Naos, pues es todo una materia y la han oÃdo platicar muchas veces, y porque como hasta aquà las Justicias no han hecho lo que se les ha ordenado como conviene, y de la mesma manera se ha de tener por cierto que lo harÃan de aquà adelante, y ya esta materia no sufra dilación que nombre V. Majestad un Comisario General y Superintendente como se hizo para levantar gente de las Marinas y Sierras del Reyno de Granada, el cual pueda tomar cuenta à los susodichos de como cumplen la dicha Provisión, y ordenarles que repartan más número de PlantÃos en la parte que pareciere han repartido pocos, y que les ordene y haga guardar lo que en esto convenga, y que avise à V. Mag. de lo que cumplen los dichos Corregidores, y dejan de cumplir para que V.M. envÃe ejecutor que les ejecute en la cantidad de dineros que à V. Mag. parezca, y de esta manera pienso que se enmendará mucho el plantÃo de los Montes en estas dos Provincias [Vizcaya y Guipúzcoa], en las cuales no se advierte ni apunta lo que toca a la conservación y corta de ellos, ni à la prohibición del pasto, porque como los plantÃos han de ser gruesos, y altos los ganados no los pueden comer, y porque como es de tanta sustancia el tener montes cada uno los gasta y usa de ellos muy convenientemente, y contra quien se los cortare, según su costumbre pueden proceder como contra ladrón que hurtase otra cosa. En estas partes casi todos los montes son particulares ò Concejiles, à lo menos están en esta posesión, y si à los dichos Corregidores se les diesen cuarenta mil maravedÃs de salario librados en gastos de Justicia por veinte dÃas o pocos más que se han de ocupar en esto, como
tuviesen que gastar harÃan lo mejor, y esto habÃan de cobrar por libranza del comisario general que se la darÃa cuando tuviese satisfacción de lo que habÃan cumplido y hecho, descontándoles lo que de las condenaciones de sus tercias partes hubiesen llevado, con este salario holgarÃan ellos. V. Mag. mandara lo que sea servido.
That in the Province of Guipúzcoa and Lordship of Biscay, the Corregidores and Justices be ordered to observe a Provision and mandate that would accordingly be ordered, and that they be commissaries [comisarios] of these Plantations, and that in each Place they appoint a Commissary for the correspondence and notification of what is done. These tasks are most suited to clerks, who shall be in charge of keeping a register of the distribution, and in the coastal places and ports the clerks of the shipsâ registers, since it is one and the same matter and they have heard it discussed many times, and because up until now the Justices have not done properly what they have been ordered to do, and it should likewise be taken for granted that they will do so from now on. And so that this matter is not delayed, Your Majesty should appoint a Commissary General and Superintendent, as he did to remove people from the coasts and mountains of the kingdom of Granada,20 who shall keep check of how the abovementioned comply with the said Provision, and order them to distribute a greater number of seedlings in the part where few appear to have been distributed, and order them and have them observe what is appropriate, and notify Your Majesty of what the said Corregidores comply and fail to comply with so that Your Majesty may appoint an executor to carry them out for the sum of money that Your Majesty deems fit. And I think that that way the planting of the woodlands will be much improved in these two provinces [Biscay and Guipúzcoa] in which there are no reports or records of matters relating to their conservation and cutting, or to the prohibition of grazing, because as the planted trees must be thick and tall livestock cannot eat them, and because, since having woodlands
is so important, everyone uses them very appropriately, and according to custom they can proceed against anyone who were to cut them as against a thief who were to steal something else. In these parts nearly all the woodlands are private or common, having this ownership at the very least, and if the said Corregidores were given a wage of forty thousand maravedÃs paid in legal expenses for twenty days or slightly more, the time they need to spend on this, having money to spend they would do what was best. And they should be paid this on the orders of the commissary general, who would issue payment orders when satisfied with what they had fulfilled and done, discounting the one-third parts of the penalties they had collected, and they would be content with this wage. May Your Majesty give orders for what he deems fit.
This text, together with the urgent need to give impetus to the building of warships, proved effective, and on 7 December 1574 Cristóbal de Barros was officially chosen as the first superintendent (âsuper yntendenteâ or more commonly âsuperintendenteâ) of woodlands and plantations for the whole Cantabrian area.21 This post involved preserving the forests in the north of the Iberian Peninsula and fostering their growth, as well as attending to all the operations needed to supply the shipbuilding industry with materials, it being crucial to secure stocks of trunks and timbers.22 The first words of his letter of appointment made it clear that the deforestation of the area assigned to him (owing, among other reasons, to the existence of forges that consumed enormous quantities of wood) had led to a sharp increase in the prices of those raw
Firstly, he was empowered to analyse the accounting records of the Cantabrian localities that usually claimed to be in economic straits to avoid having to plant new trees. If they were proven to be lying, Barros could impose a specific tax on them in order to raise the capital he needed for his forestry work. In addition, he was authorized to appoint forest guards and to dismiss the local justices if they failed to cooperate. He could also examine cases of infringement of the rules governing the preservation of forests and impose financial penalties in the event that local authorities acted negligently in both the prevention and regeneration of forest stands. He was likewise granted the necessary authority to supervise the corregidores (the monarchâs regional delegates), reporting any wilful or negligent actions to Philip II. In order to be able to perform all these duties, the superintendent was not answerable to any authority other than the king, and both the corregidores and justices were expressly forbidden to obstruct his tasks. Finally, among other powers, he was authorized to make decisions on everything he considered necessary: âregarding whatever you deem fit, you can do and order everythingâ.25 Thanks to this royal delegation of powers in 1575, Cristóbal de Barros developed a set of regulations, which he called an Instrucción. Its tenets laid the foundations for all subsequent forestry organization and remained in force, directly or indirectly, for centuries, regardless of the circumstances and dynasties reigning in Spain. Due to their importance, we will describe them below.26
Los plantÃos que se hacen en las partes bajas y húmedas son los más espesos con que se suben en alto y sus ramas no se dilatan y estos son para tabla y sus dueños los guardan como cosa de mucho valor, y de suyo suben sin que haya necesidad de limpiarlos. Los que se plantan en tierras altas y notales [sic.] se hace en más distancia, unos de otros y estos se hacen más parrados y extienden sus Ramas y son a propósito para maderas tuertas y no se han de podar ni limpiar porque por allà les entra el agua y pudre todo el árbol y esto es ciertÃsimo y se ve en Vizcaya donde hacen esto.
The trees in the low-lying and humid parts are those planted most densely and therefore grow upwards and their branches do not spread out, and these are for planks and their owners guard them as something of great value, and of their own accord they grow upwards without there being any need to pollard them. Those that are planted on high ground and new ground are spaced further apart from each other, and these are more spread out and their branches grow outwards and they are suitable for twisted timbers and must not be pruned or pollarded because water gets in and rots the whole tree and this is absolutely true and can be seen in Biscay where they do this.
Oak trees, for instance, a crucial species for shipbuilding, needed to be allowed to reach a minimum size so that certain ship parts could be crafted from them.
In addition, in order to ensure the growth of the plants, he gave orders for the residents to plant hawthorns and gorse trees as barriers at the boundaries of the plantations to prevent livestock from entering and eating the future trees destined to meet royal needs. He also tried to dissuade arsonists by establishing that âburning and fires must be avoided and punished as Your Majesty has orderedâ.29 Finally, his Instrucción attached great importance to having an accurate record-keeping system, making it compulsory for the authorities of each municipality to continue to have âa book in which the details of the said plantations are recordedâ,30 which would also include the penalties imposed on anyone who breached his orders.
The King of Spain has neer Bilbao sixteen times as many Acres of Copse-wood as are fit to be cut for Coal in one year; so that when âtis ready to he fellâd, an Officer first marks such as are like to prove ship-timber, which are let stand, as so many sacred, and dedicate Trees: But by this means the Iron-works are plentifully supplied in the same place, without at all diminishing the stock of Timber. Then in Biscay again, every proprietor, and other, plants three for one which he cuts down; and the Law obliging them is most severely executed. There indeed are few, or no Copses; but all are Pollards; and the very lopping (I am assurâd) does furnish the Iron-works with sufficient to support them.33
Cristóbal de Barros eventually left the post of superintendent of woodlands and plantations in 1592, after being appointed as the Seville-based purveyor of the Indies fleet by a royal decree of 10 December 1592.34 This change led the territorial jurisdiction of the first forestry superintendency to be fragmented into other superintendencies that held the same powers but operated in a much smaller, and therefore more manageable, area. The aim was to improve efficiency, as the vast expanse of territory that Philip II had assigned to Barros in 1574, spanning from the French to the Portuguese border, made it very difficult
In Guipúzcoa, a crucial province for naval policy because it was home to several shipyards of vital importance to the Spanish monarchy, forestry matters were entrusted around 1597 to Antonio de Urquiola, who had years of experience in shipbuilding.36 Finally, Captain AgustÃn de Ojeda, who is described by the Spanish Royal Academy of History as âperhaps the most important Basque shipbuilder of the 1590s,â37 was appointed in early 1598 as superintendent of woodlands and plantations for the Lordship of Biscay. Nevertheless, although this institution was fragmented into smaller ones and inherited by other superintendents over the decades, all of them continued to act in accordance with the criteria that Barros had established years earlier to meet the Catholic Monarchyâs timber needs, though the intensity of their actions gradually dwindled.
In the mid-seventeenth century â specifically on 9 July 1649 â an individual named Toribio Pérez de Bustamante was appointed as âsuperintendent of factories and plantations of the Cuatro Villasâ (an area roughly equivalent to the present-day autonomous community of Cantabria).38 After inspecting the woodlands in the Cantabrian area, he came to the conclusion that the pre-existing rules from the previous century were in fact being obeyed less and less and therefore drew up a new set of forestry regulations to give fresh impetus to the care of the woodlands that served royal needs. This is how the so-called Instrucción of Toribio Pérez de Bustamante came into being.39 However, Bustamante did not design anything truly new; rather, he largely repeated the main points that Cristóbal de Barros had established the previous century when reflecting on the need to promote the forests under his jurisdiction. Indeed, his regulations were based on a core idea that can be considered a precedent
3 Reconciliation Attempts in Timber Management in Eastern Spain to Address Mediterranean Threats during the Habsburg Rule
The Cantabrian region was not the sole target of the policies promoted by the monarchy to control the forests useful for meeting royal needs. The Principality of Catalonia was also heir to a Mediterranean political, legal and naval tradition that was not only necessary to maintain Spanish hegemony over what the Romans called the Mare Nostrum but also took into account the global interests of a Crown that needed to connect its various territories in the area.42 Philip II, the architect of the great Spanish Armadas, was thus also forced to rely on Mediterranean galley warfare and the organization of naval units, including those of Catalonia, as one of the key aspects of his policy,43 especially in the face of Turkish threats and Barbary corsairs. It was implemented through a government apparatus that sought to control the centralized construction of galleys between the second half of the 1500s and the first half of the 1600s. These vessels had been the main European warships since medieval times and were specifically designed for the intrinsic characteristics
Timber and rigging from this region46 had traditionally been used since the late Middle Ages to supply the naval militia of the Crown of Aragón (a supra-territorial entity to which the Principality of Catalonia belonged). It was stored in the grounds of the Atarazanas of Barcelona, since, in addition to the boatyard, its facilities had large warehouses for storing all kinds of naval equipment.47 However, from the fifteenth century onwards, much of the naval power of the Crown of Aragón on the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula fell into decline and mercantile activity in the Mediterranean dwindled.48 For that reason, by the time Charles I acceded to the throne, the Spanish monarchyâs naval forces in the Mediterranean numbered no more than a dozen units, and attempts were consequently made to reactivate the Barcelona shipyard from time to time during the first half of the 1500s.49 Later on, due to increased Turkish and Barbary threats, this issue was addressed at the Cortes of Monzón in 1552, presided over by the then Prince Philip (the future Philip II), and a set of regulations (Capitol de Corts) was passed prohibiting the removal of any kind of logs or planks except those destined for royal ships. In addition, in the event of infringement, the offender would incur a penalty of one thousand ducats and the loss of the ship and the timber.50
The situation in Catalonia did not improve throughout the sixteenth century, even though Philip II sent instructions from Madrid on 15 June 1574 (the same year that Barros was appointed superintendent of woodlands and plantations for the Cantabrian region), written in Catalan and published in Barcelona on 12 October of the same year.56 They were based on the assumption
In addition, the duty to visit all the useful Catalan woodlands was established, for which purpose the captain general of the principality was given the responsibility of appointing a âdoctor of the Royal Courtâ (doctor de la Real Audiencia). He and other people were âto go to and travel along the eastern and western coasts of the said principality and counties, as far as three and four leagues inlandâ,61 noting not only the existing trees but also how many could be planted âin accordance with the nature and location of the landâ.62 However, despite these intentions, it was clear that the Crown could not easily succeed in its attempt to increase its number of galleys and consequently use large quantities of trees for logistical reasons: since the second half of the sixteenth century there had been signs that the Barcelona Atarazanas did not have sufficient capacity to undertake the project on their own, and this was further aggravated by the depletion of timber stocks.63 In addition, specialised naval carpenters were in short supply.64
Nor did Catalan feelings about the exploitation of their forests calm down after Philip II died. In fact, the captain-general of the principality, the Duke of Monteleon,65 was even forced to publish a proclamation the year of the kingâs death (1598) declaring that it was forbidden to remove any kind of wood or timber from Catalonia under severe penalties. He considered that trees were
For his part, Philip III began his reign with the intention of continuing in the same direction as his father and addressing the war situation on the Mediterranean coast by attempting to carry on reactivating the galley fleet.66 It was at this point that a forestry institution proper was created. We are referring to the appointment in Catalonia of Pedro de Montagut as the first âconservator of forests of that principalityâ (conservador de los bosques de aquel principado), also known as âcommissary of plantationsâ (comissario de plantios), on 28 April 1606.67 To fill this new post, the monarchy needed a suitable person who could safeguard, conserve and increase the number of Catalan trees â which were in a state of âconsiderable damage and a torment to all these Kingdoms of Spainâ68 â available for building the Mediterranean squadrons. Shortly afterwards, on 20 June 1606, the viceroy of Catalonia published an Instrucción on the post of conservator of forests urging âall and any whatsoever officials of justice and war, greater and lesser, royal and seignorial, and any other ministers to aid Montagut in his tasks.69
Later, from the 1620s onwards and during the reign of Philip IV, the kingâs favourite, the Count-Duke of Olivares, attempted to impose a common defence scheme known as the Unión de Armas on all the territories of the Spanish monarchy. However, according to Lynch, the diversity of the different territories, including Catalonia,70 prevented the valido âfrom taxing the periphery by executive means, and raised the issue of royal prerogative versus regional
Habiendo tenido noticia que habÃa grandes excesos en cortar los montes para sacar la madera de este Principado, hice recibir información de ello, y ha constado que sin embargo que por constituciones de este Reino está prohibido el cortar los montes para sacar la madera fuera de él, ha habido tan grande exceso que si no se pone remedio, no se ha de poder fabricar galeras ni otros bajeles del servicio de Vuestra Majestad y en beneficio de esta Provincia, cargando en las playas de estas Marinas muchos bajeles para reinos extraños con grandes cantidades de carbón, pez, y alquitrán, talando y quemando para esto los dichos montes, y bosques, y cortando los árboles a raÃz que en muchos años no pueden volver a ser de provecho. Y asà para reparo de esto he hecho publicar pregones prohibiendo so graves penas la dicha corta sino es para bajeles de Vuestra Majestad y fábrica de galeras.
Having heard news that great excesses were being committed in cutting down trees to take timber out of this Principality, I asked for information about this, and it has been confirmed that although cutting down trees to take timber out of this Kingdom is prohibited by the constitutions, the excess has been so great that if it is not remedied, it will not be possible to make galleys or other vessels for Your Majestyâs service and for the benefit of this Province. On the beaches along these coasts, many ships bound for foreign kingdoms are loaded with large quantities of charcoal, pitch and tar; the said woodlands and forests are felled and burned for this purpose and trees are cut at the roots so that they can be of no use again in many years. Therefore, in order to remedy this, I have made public announcements prohibiting such cutting, under severe penalties, unless it is for seafaring ships for Your Majesty and to build galleys.78
The situation of those woodlands called for a detailed examination of the causes that had led to their destruction and an analysis of the most effective remedies for promoting measures to restore forest stands to an acceptable level. The diagnosis was entitled âAccount of what needs to be done to conserve the forests of Catalonia, with a letter from the bishop of Solsosa of 4 September 1627â.79
the 3rd constitution, title on tributes, made by the Most Serene King Don Jaime the 2nd in the Cortes of the year 1299 and by others, with everything in the same constitution prohibiting and forbidding the extraction of wood, pitch, tar, and other things, and in the same title of the seventeenth constitution made by the then Prince Philip in the Cortes held in the town of Monzón in the year 1547.80
prohibiciones y ordenaciones muy acertadas, sobre lo cual no se puede ordenar, ni disponer más de lo que por dichas constituciones y pragmática está dispuesto, pero el daño procede y resulta de la mala ejecución que han tenidovery appropriate prohibitions and regulations, on which no more can be ordered or provided for than what is provided for in the said constitutions and ordinance [pragmática], but the damage comes from and results from the poor implementation that they have had.83
Su Majestad, que Dios guarde, tiene un oficial que le llaman conservador de los bosques, y plantÃos, con muy buen sueldo, y no carece de mucha culpa viendo este daño, como no lo ha repuntado, y instado con veras su remedio, y según su omisión se puede creer que es la mayor parte de esta devastación y ruina.
His Majesty, may God preserve him, has an official who is called the conservator of the forests and plantations, with a very good salary, and he is not lacking in much of the blame for seeing this damage and not reporting it, nor has he truly encouraged it to be remedied, and judging by his omission, he may be believed to be the main cause of this devastation and ruin.84
In view of the negative situation described above, the chief official of the principality proposed a series of âconservationistâ remedies. Among others, he recommended inspecting other not yet depleted areas with abundant woodlands containing useful timber and communication routes for the Atarazanas; making repeated announcements declaring that the conservation of the Catalan woodlands was in the public interest and announcing âsevere financial and corporal penaltiesâ85 for those who infringed the law. He also stressed the need for a ban on selling timber or ships to foreigners under the threat of âsevere pecuniary and corporal penalties and the loss of the ships themselvesâ.86 A further recommendation was to restrict the granting of permits for felling trees near the port of Tortosa (a traditional pine forest area) and, if any were granted, to control the felling, thus preventing the number of authorized trees from being exceeded. Regarding the proposals that the owners of woodlands should be paid a fair price for each tree that was cut down, the bishop of Solsona felt that this was impossible, given the Crownâs financial straits: âbecause the cost of a galley would be so expensive that if it currently costs four thousand to make,
Years later, during the second half of the 1630s, the viceroy and captain-general, Dalmau de Queralt y Codina, Count of Santa Coloma, also issued a series of regulations for the protection and growth of trees, adding âthe particularities which have been deemed necessary for the proper management and conservation of the Forests with the desire to fulfil the requirements of the Royal Orders of Your Majesty and my obligationsâ.90 These âparticularitiesâ were set out in a list of regulations drawn up in Catalan and published on 26 October 1638 âin execution of the orders given by His Majestyâ.91 The text was drafted at the end of the 1630s, by which time the Count-Duke Olivares had firmly resolved that the Union of Arms should be consolidated.92 Santa Coloma was fully compliant with Philip IVâs favourite, being willing to promote the war industries in response to the Crownâs requirements,93 disregarding the principalityâs constitutions and institutions if necessary. These regulations included truly strict measures in their articles and were based on the idea that, despite the great abundance of forests in many areas of Catalonia, the captaincy general had been informed that excesses were still occurring that were depleting its forests, and there was no sign of forestry management. Furthermore, they stated that although the old constitutions prohibited the sale of timber and vessels to foreign countries, this practice continued and the
We do not know whether these regulations were implemented in full or in part, because they were issued at a very unstable time in Catalonia and may have been barely enforced, as the Count of Santa Coloma did not enjoy the sympathy of the populace of the principality. In fact, in 1640, he was eventually assassinated by mobs of segadors (insurgent casual labourers) on the day known in Catalan history as the Corpus de Sang (Blood Corpus).96
Lastly, we have found no further archival data on the principalityâs conservators of woodlands after the Catalan revolt against the Spanish Crown in the mid-seventeenth century. Perhaps their non-existence was partly due to the fact that, after that time, the Mediterranean lost importance to land warfare and privateering was promoted, sparing the Monarchy from having to charter squadrons itself, and leading to the evident decline of the Mediterranean fleet.97
4 Forest Management for Naval Construction following the Advent of the Bourbons
Charles II, Spainâs last Habsburg king, died on 1 November 1700. Under his will, the French House of Bourbon came to power, giving rise to a gradual programme of institutional reforms.98 Among the fronts this modifying process had to address were the decline of the Spanish fleets, which had been dragging on since the end of the seventeenth century, and the management of timber for shipbuilding.99 As a result, the first decades of the eighteenth century
One of the milestones of the new French-inspired Bourbon structure that was progressively put in place was the establishment of three naval divisions by means of a royal order of 5 July 1726, with arsenals in El Ferrol (in the north of the Iberian Peninsula), Cádiz (south) and Cartagena (east), as it can be seen in the Figure 3.1.101 The whole naval strategy was organised around these divisions and their territorial jurisdictions spanned vast tracts of forest that were subject to the naval authorities.102
Map of the Spanish Maritime departments in early 19th century
SOURCE: AMN, AHA, E 14-10-9
However, setting up these bodies led to a depletion of forests, spurring the naval secretary at the time, the Marquis of La Ensenada, to promulgate a royal ordinance on the montes de marina (woodlands designated for naval construction) on 31 January 1748, which became the Spanish Bourbonsâ key forestry legislation for supplying the arsenals of all three divisions with logs and planks.103 Structured into 74 provisions, it was aimed at regulating all kinds of measures conducive to the promotion of forests for the construction of ships. Mid-eighteenth-century vessels required enormous quantities of timber that furthermore had to be of excellent quality. But the main issue that needed to be addressed in order to meet this supply target was the âdeclining state which the forests are currently in, especially those close to the sea, due to the cutting,
However, although this royal ordinance was intended to cover all aspects of Enlightenment forestry knowledge, recent research has shown that the Bourbon administration was fully aware of the Instrucción issued by Toribio Pérez de Bustamante (1650), whose legislation has been proven to have largely constituted the backbone of the 1748 regulations. In turn, as we have already shown, in the mid-1600s Pérez de Bustamante had been inspired by the all the regulations designed almost a century earlier by Cristóbal de Barros. This leads us to conclude that over the centuries the legislation drawn up by the Habsburg Monarchy and the regulations developed by the Bourbon monarchy were linked by a common thread.105
There is insufficient space in this volume to expand on the substantial validity of this ordinance, but it should at least be pointed out that as the naval jurisdiction was progressively extended to a large part of the Iberian Peninsula (during the Habsburg period only certain forests in the Cantabrian Sea and Catalonia had been linked to shipbuilding), forestry casuistry became so diverse that there was a constant need to specify or interpret matters not envisaged in the 1748 legislation. This was despite the fact that the 1748 royal ordinance on the montes de marina had been very thoroughly drafted. The proliferation of specific cases that fell outside the scope of the legislation highlighted the need to regulate them, leading to an overregulation that affected compliance. We know this because at the beginning of the nineteenth century the naval authorities in Madrid asked the heads of the three naval divisions to compile and send to Madrid all the forestry regulations drawn up to improve or clarify the 1748 montes de marina ordinance. Once the compilation had been made, the lists of complementary regulations sent from the divisional arsenals were huge â so much so that the very naval officers who compiled them declared that they were unaware of many of them even though they could be found in their archives.106
5 The Beginnings of the Liberal State in Spain and the End of the Montes de Marina System
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Spainâs social structure, like that of other neighbouring countries, was still based on the estates. This system had begun to be challenged by Enlightenment ideology, which advocated as the foundation of society a conception of the individual endowed with the qualities required to achieve happiness and prosperity on the basis of reason. Furthermore, according to this doctrine, the State was merely the consequence of a freely agreed contract established between the individuals who made up society. This idea of freedom spread to very diverse fields of thought, religion and economics.109 And it was precisely this latter realm of new economic conceptions that ultimately had a negative impact on the forestry matters managed since centuries earlier during the ancien regime.
Spain could not have begun its transition to the new nineteenth-century Liberal State in a more dramatic and disastrous way. The Napoleonic invasion and the abduction of Charles IVâs royal family in 1808 roused the masses in arms, and the notables of the provinces gradually formed Juntas that generally
Finally, early in 1810, following the entry of French troops into Andalusia, the Central Junta was forced to move further south to the Cádiz area as it was in a more sheltered geographical position than Seville. Months later, on 24 September, the so-called General and Extraordinary Cortes (Cortes Generales y Extraordinarias) were solemnly opened.114 From that moment on, its parliamentarians began an ambitious programme of debates aimed at achieving reforms designed to demolish the foundations of the ancien regime, some of them far-reaching. These changes were not only political and legal but also social in nature, with land (and consequently also forests) being one of the major issues to be dealt with. The members of the Cortes of Cádiz tried to define a new regime in accordance with the demands of a revolutionary bourgeoisie who were socially two sided: on the one hand, they advocated freeing
Primero: La Ordenanza de matrÃculas de mar ¿es útil o perjudicial?
Segundo: En el caso de ser útil, ¿puede seguir del mismo modo que en la penÃnsula en las provincias de Ultramar?
Tercero: ¿Es útil o perjudicial el reglamento de montes?
Cuarto: ¿Son las mismas circunstancias de los montes en las provincias de Ultramar que las de los de la penÃnsula?
One: The Ordinance on naval registers: is it useful or harmful? Two: If it is useful, can it carry on in the same way as on the peninsula in the overseas provinces?
Three: Are the regulations on woodlands useful or harmful?
Four: Are the circumstances of the woodlands in the overseas provinces the same as those of the peninsula woodlands?117
Queda desde ahora extinguida la ConservadurÃa general de montes, y todas las Subdelegaciones y Juzgados particulares del mismo ramo, asà en todas las provincias marÃtimas como en las demás, con todos los visitadores y sus tenientes, auditores, promotores fiscales, escribanos, guardas, zeladores, y finalmente todos los dependientes y subalternos de las mismas Subdelegaciones y Juzgados, qualquiera que sea su denominación. Las denuncias que se ofrezcan se pondrán ante las justicias de los pueblos respectivos, y en apelación entenderán las Audiencias territoriales, como en los demas asuntos contenciosos; pero los jueces que determinen
las denuncias no continuarán recibiendo la parte que hasta ahora han recibido de las condenaciones, la qual se aplicará al fisco.119
The post of conservator general of woodlands is abolished from now on, along with all the regional offices and special courts of the same branch, and in all the coastal provinces and all others, with all the inspectors and their deputies, auditors, prosecutors, clerks, guards, wardens and all the assistants and subordinates of these regional offices and courts, whatever they be called. Any complaints shall be filed with the justices of the respective villages and appeals shall be heard by the territorial courts, as in all other disputes; but the judges who rule on complaints shall not continue to receive the portion of penalties they have received until now, which shall be applied to the prosecutor.
By means of this decree, the liberalism of the Cádiz Cortes took another step forward in its attempt to enshrine its conception of private property as a natural right that constituted civil society and made owners the main guarantors of social order. The forestry regulations established centuries earlier during the Habsburg rule to support the shipyards and strengthened during the Bourbon dynasty were thus abolished in one fell swoop by a decree passed by a liberal parliamentary assembly that had set itself up as the nationâs representative body.
However, these measures were in force for a very short period. After Ferdinand VII returned, having been released from arrest by Napoleon, his absolute rule was re-established in 1814 in a decree of 4 May. By means of this decree, the monarch revoked all the actions of the Cortes of Cádiz, declaring them null and void with no legal effect or value whatsoever âas if such acts had never been passed and were erased from time, and with no obligation for my people and subjects of any class and condition to comply with them and to observe themâ.120 In other words, it was the starting point for a strategy that sought to delegitimize the work carried out since 1810 by the parliamentarians who had met at Cádiz. This process of delegitimization was based on branding these individualsâ efforts as revolutionary and subversive activities that
Nevertheless, the implementation of this royal order was very limited not so much for legal as for political reasons: as the Spanish American nations progressively gained their independence, Spain gradually found itself less and less compelled to connect a large part of its territories by sea. Therefore, although from a purely legal point of view the system of forests designated for shipbuilding was prolonged, in reality it no longer made as much sense as it had done in the past and was eventually dealt a coup de grâce by a royal decree of 9 December 1832 that permanently deprived the Spanish navy of its forestry powers and assigned those wooded areas to the ministry of development.124
6 Conclusions
Despite the limitations of space, this article sets out to show how for centuries the Spanish monarchy attempted to maintain a series of institutions and legislative measures in order to be able to establish a sustainable forestry system. The reason, as David Goodman pointed out, was that âshipbuilding, the principal reason for the policy of conservation, was at the same time a
It would evidently be a mistake to address the forestry issues examined in this study from a present-day perspective based on parameters more in keeping with modern ecologism. On the contrary, the monarchyâs agenciesâ attitude to forest masses was always utilitarianist, driven by the concern not to exhaust timber stocks in order to maintain a steady supply for its shipyards between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and for its arsenals throughout the 1700s and early 1800s. Nevertheless, despite this utilitarianism, it is impossible to deny the conservationist nature of those forestry policies.
In theory, this management system attempted to strike a balance between naval requirements, which were subject to international events triggered by other maritime powers, and the daily needs of the rural societies that relied on forests for their daily sustenance. In practice, however, agreements and disagreements between the Crownâs agents and local communities were frequent. After all, the forestry policy that favoured shipbuilding for maritime warfare often attempted to encroach on the powers that local institutions had enjoyed since medieval times over the surrounding woodlands from the second half of the 1500s until the first third of the 1800s.
The period witnessed a succession of systems of plantings, interaction with the local communities, preservation of forest stands from the pernicious action of livestock, systems of pruning and felling in accordance with a calendar, and guided growth of particular trees to obtain suitable parts for shipbuilding, among other measures. In other words, it can be affirmed that there was a common thread running through all these forestry matters starting from the original system designed by Cristóbal de Barros, and that by and large its essence was maintained until 1832, when it was abolished as a result of conceptualisations of private property more in line with nineteenth-century liberalism.
Abbreviations
AGI: Archivo General de Indias
AGMAB: Archivo General de la Marina âÃlvaro de Bazánâ
AGS: Archivo General de Simancas GyM: Guerra y Marina
CCA: Cámara de Castilla; CED: Libro de registro de cédulas
AHU: Archivo Histórico Nacional
AMN: Archivo del Museo Naval de Madrid
Guerra y Marina: GyM
Cámara de Castilla: CCA, Libro de registro de cédulas (CED)
BUS: Biblioteca de la Universidad de Sevilla
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âDemostrar fÃsica, y civilmente la necesidad, y utilidad de los Arbolados en un Reino, serÃa querer persuadir una verdad eterna, que desde la creación del Universo nadie ha dudado, y que trae su origen del mismo Dios, pues mandó a la Tierra los produjese. Su certeza es innegable, la razón la aprueba, las sanciones en toda sociedad culta e inculta la confirma; y la experiencia por todos los siglos ha afianzado lo infalible de este principio.â Sentence transcribed from Alfredo José MartÃnez González, Francisco Mier y Terán: vida y perspectiva de un jurista de la Marina y de la Real Audiencia de Canarias en la transición del Antiguo al Nuevo Régimen; (Granada: Comares, 2021), 210.
âde la silla del labriego al trono del Rey todo es maderaâ, José Luis Urteaga González, La tierra esquilmada. Ideas sobre la conservación de la naturaleza en la cultura española del siglo XVIII (Barcelona: Ediciones del Serval S.A. â Madrid: C.S.I.C., 1987), 115.
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âlo que toca a las plantaciones de los montesâ.
âpor lo mucho que importaâ.
All this information was recorded three months later in an âYnstruizion que se dio a Xrobal de Barros sobre lo de los navios; Madrid, 6 de mayo de 1563.â Archivo General de Simancas (AGS), Guerra y Marina (GyM.), leg. 347, doc. 15.
âpara que nos [Felipe II] sepamos cómo se cumple nuestro mandato.
David Goodman, Poder y penuria. Gobierno, tecnologÃa y ciencia en la España de Felipe II (Madrid: Alianza Universidad, 1990), 110; AGS, GyM, leg. 347, doc. 19.
MarÃa Rosa Ayerbe IrÃbar, âUniversidad de Sancti Spiritus de Oñate. Fuentes y lÃneas de investigación,â in Universidades Hispánicas. Modelos territoriales en la Edad Moderna (II): Valencia, Valladolid, Oñate, Oviedo y Granada, ed. by Luis Enrique RodrÃguez San Pedro Bezares and Juan Luis Polo RodrÃguez (Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 2007), 108.
Xabier Alberdi Lonbide, âConflictos de intereses en la economÃa marÃtima guipuzcoana. Siglos XVIâXVIIIâ (PhD diss., Universidad del PaÃs Vasco, 2012), 438.
Alfredo José MartÃnez González, âBosques guipuzcoanos para la construcción de navÃos y recopilación normativa por el Real Consejo de Castilla (1569),â Tiempos Modernos. Revista Electrónica de Historia Moderna 39, no. 2 (2019), 330.
Both questionnaires are housed in Madrid, specifically in the Archivo Histórico Nacional (AHN), Consejos, 15651, exp. 1.
Cerezo, Las Armadas de Felipe II, 106. The author dates the document to 1573, but does not cite the source or explain how this date was deduced.
Archivo del Museo Naval de Madrid (AMN), Colección Navarrete nº XXII, doc. 28; fols. 86 rº and vº.
This is an allusion to the population depletion in the kingdom of Granada following the expulsion of the moriscos (Muslim converts) as a consequence of the Rebellion of the Alpujarras against Philip IIâs policy. The revolt began in 1568 and led to the deportation of tens of thousands of moriscos to other parts of Spain in late 1570. Their expulsion triggered a huge economic decline in that area in the southeast Iberian Peninsula and led the monarch to seek new settlers. There is evidence that Cristóbal de Barros was involved in recruiting Basque families willing to move to this formerly morisco area. AGS, Cámara de Castilla (CCA), Libro de Registro de cédulas (CED) 259, doc. 75 Letter of Philip II, Madrid, 24 March 1571.
ASG, GyM, leg. 347, doc. 57. Real Cédula de Felipe II (Tanto del titulo de xÏtobal de Varros. Para los Plantios de rrobles su besita y de montes y dehesas). Madrid, 7 September 1574.
David Goodman, El PoderÃo naval español. Historia de la Armada del siglo XVII (Barcelona: Ediciones PenÃnsula, 2001), 109 and 111.
Gómez Rivero states that âthe word superintendent arose in France. The first superintendent who appears in the French central administration is that of finance. From the fourteenth century in France royal finances were divided into ordinary and extraordinary, which were administered by the treasurers and the generals. [â¦] From 1552 one of those intendents came to be called superintendent of finances: the actual head of the financial administration who was in charge of all the services and ordonnance toutes de dépenses de lâEtat.â See Ricardo Gómez Rivero, âAproximación a la Superintendencia en Guipúzcoa (s. XVII),â in Centralismo y Autonomismo en los siglos XVIâXVII, ed. by Aquilino Iglesia Ferreirós and Sixto Sánchez-Lauro (Barcelona: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Barcelona, 1989), 161 (footnote 2).
Ricardo Gómez Rivero, âLa Superintendencia de construcción naval y fomento forestal en Guipúzcoa (1598â1611),â Anuario de Historia del Derecho Español 56 (1986), 594â95. Ãlvaro Aragón Ruano, El bosque guipuzcoano en la Edad Moderna: aprovechamiento, ordenamiento legal y conflictividad (San Sebastián: Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi, 2001), 47.
AGS, GyM, leg. 78, docs. 108 and 377. Madrid, 7 December 1574. Casado, Los barcos españoles del siglo XVI, 113.
Goodman, El PoderÃo naval español, 109.
en lo que os pareciere convenir podais vos hacer y ordenar todoâ, ASG, GyM, leg. 347, doc. 57, edict (cédula) issued by Philip II, 7 September 1574, Madrid.
We do not know whether the original Instrucción document has survived to the present day because, despite being searched for, it has yet to be found. We have succeeded in reconstructing part of its contents thanks to two manuscripts written nearly twenty years later, to which we will return in due course. These are:
AGS, GyM, leg. 403, doc. 97; 9 July 1594. This is a copy made under the superintendent who was Cristóbal de Barrosâs successor, and is dated 25 October 1575 and specifically aimed at the municipality of Comillas.
AGS, GyM, leg. 403, doc. 102. Report by Cristóbal de Barros, dated 11 October 1594 in Seville, on his actions as superintendent of woodlands and plantations which, among other things, reflects much of what was mentioned in his Instrucción of 1575.
âde alto del suelo para arriba de tres varas de media y del grosor de un venablo, poco más o menosâ.
âpara que la yerba y otras malezas no les llevasen la virtud de la tierra y el agua se detuviese más estando la tierra cavada y les fuese de más provecho con que ganen tiempo en el medrar y crecer.
âlas quemas e incendios se han de evitar y castigar como Vuestra Majestad lo tiene mandadoâ.
âun libro en que se asiente lo tocante a los dichos plantÃosâ.
John Evelyn, Sylva, or discourse of Forest-Trees and the propagation of Timber in his Majesties Dominions (London: Jo. Martyn & Ja. Allestry, Printers to the Royal Society, 1664), http://www.archive.org/details/sylvaordiscourse00eveluoft.
John Nisbet, Sylva or a discourse of Forest Trees: by John Evelyn F.R.S. with an essay on the life and works of the author by John Nisbet (vol. I) (London: Published by Arthur Doubleday & Company Limited at York Building Adelphi, 1908), http://www.archive.org/details/sylva00eveluoft.
Evelyn, Sylva, or discourse, 110.
Archivo General de Indias (AGI), Contratación 3263.
AMN, Colecc. Guillén, Ms. 1294, fols. 1â2.
In relation to the role played by Antonio de Urquiola, see AGS, GyM., leg. 484, doc. 54, and 490, docs. 106, 123 and 127.
Lourdes Odriozola Oyarbide, âAgustÃn de Ojedaâ (Madrid: Diccionario Biográfico de la Real Academia de la Historia), available at https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/72037/agustin-de-ojeda.
AMN, Col. Guillén LXXXVII, doc. 9, fols. 118â19, and Ms. 1294.
Its full title was Instrucción que han de guardar los Lugares del Corregimiento de las Cuatro Villas de la Costa de la mar que estuvieren dos leguas distantes de ella y de los rÃos navegables a ella, en el aumento y conservación de sus Montes y PlantÃos desde ahora para adelante y mientras Su Majestad, que Dios guarde, no mandare otra cosa de la cual se da copia autentica a la Justicia y Procurador de cada Concejo Para que no puedan alegar ignorancia. AGS, GyM, leg. 3309. Santander, February 1650.
âno puede haber lugar bueno sin montes; y si los pasados no los hubieran conservado, no los gozaran los presentes; y si los presentes no los conservaren, no los tendrán los veniderosâ.
Lourdes Soria Sesé, Derecho municipal guipuzcoano. CategorÃas normativas y comportamientos sociales (Bilbao: Administración de la Comunidad Autónoma de Euskadi, 1992), 260.
We also know that in 1675 an Instrucción was likewise issued for the kingdom of Galicia, which reiterated the forestry measures of Cristóbal de Barros and Toribio Pérez de Bustamante, AMN, Ms. 2137â4. Copia Dela Rl. Ynstrucion dada pr. la Reyna Governadora para la conservacion y aumento de los Montes de este Reyno en 19 de Mayo de 1675.
Miguel Ãngel de Bunes Ibarra, âLa defensa de la cristiandad; las Armadas en el Mediterráneo durante la Edad Moderna,â Cuadernos de Historia Moderna. Anejos 5 (2006), 77.
Irving A. A. Thompson, Gobierno y administración en la España de los Austrias, 1560â1620 (Barcelona: CrÃtica, 1981) 201.
Bunes Ibarra, âLa defensa de la cristiandad,â 84.
The name atarazanas originates etymologically from the Arabic dár-as-sána, which strictly means âhouse of industry.â See Pablo Emilio Pérez-MallaÃna Bueno, AndalucÃa y el dominio de los espacios oceánicos. La organización de la Carrera de Indias en el siglo XVI (Seville: Fundación Corporación Tecnológica de AndalucÃa, 2010), 22; Geoffrey Parker, La revolución militar. Innovación militar y apogeo de occidente (1500â1800) (Madrid: Alianza, 2002), 122.
Ramón Carande, âLa navegación y el comercio en el Mediterráneo durante el siglo XVI,â Estudios de Historia nº1, Temas de historia de España (Barcelona: CrÃtica, 1989), 321.
Antonio Campmany de Montpalau, Memorias históricas sobre la Marina, Comercio y Artes de la antigua Ciudad de Barcelona (Madrid: Imprenta de D. Antonio de Sancha, 1779), 28 and 258.
Ibid., p. 29.
Goodman, Poder y penuria, 117; John Lynch, Los Austrias (1516â1700) (Barcelona: CrÃtica, 2000), 149, 595.
Jaime Carrera i Pujal, Historia polÃtica y económica de Cataluña. Siglos XVI al XVIII (Barcelona: Bosch, 1947), vol. 2, 362.
AGS, GyM, leg. 953. Relacion de lo q se reduce â¦; Carrera i Pujal, Historia polÃtica y económica, part II, 362â63.
Irving A. A. Thompson âLas galeras en la polÃtica militar española en el Mediterráneo durante el siglo XVI,â Manuscrits: Revista dâhistòria moderna 24 (2006): 249.
Goodman, Poder y penuria, 117; Cesáreo Fernández Duro, A la mar madera. Libro Quinto de las Disquisiciones Náuticas (Madrid: Imprenta de Aribau, 1880), 23.
Juan Carlos DomÃnguez NafrÃa, El Real y Supremo Consejo de Guerra (siglos XVIâXVIII) (Madrid: Centro de Estudios PolÃticos y Constitucionales, 2001), 87.
Thompson, Guerra y decadencia, 204.
AGS, GyM, leg. 953, Relación de lo que se reduce disponer para la conservación de los montes de Cataluña, con carta del obispo de Solsona. 4 September 1627; Carrera i Pujal, Historia polÃtica y económica, part II, 363.
Capmany de Montpalau, Memorias históricas, 258.
AGS, GyM, leg. 399, doc. 79. Instrucciones al Maestre de Montesa. Madrid, 15 June 1574. AGS, GyM, leg. 953.
ânostre principat de Catalunya y condats de Rossello y Cerdanyaâ.
âdefendarse de tants y tant poderosos enemichsâ.
âhan dexat de sembrar y plantar arbres com soliââ.
âconsiderant tambe q quanta se ha de fer alguna fabrica de galeres redunda en benefici i utilitat publica i particular de dits nostres vassalsâ.
âvajen, y discorreguen per las costas de lleuant y ponent del dits principat y comtats, fins a tres y Quatre llegues dintre terra.â
âconforme a la naturala y dispositio de la terra.â
Thompson, Guerra y decadencia, 220.
Thompson, Guerra y decadencia, 220.
Héctor de Pignatelli y Colonna, Duke of Monteleón, was viceroy and captain-general of Catalonia from 19 May 1606 to 5 November 1610. See Jesús Lalinde AbadÃa, La Institución Virreinal en Cataluña (1471â1716) (Barcelona: Instituto Español de Estudios Mediterráneos, 1964), chronological chart of viceroys.
Thompson, Guerra y decadencia, 220.
AGS, GyM, leg. 1088. Appointment of Pedro de Montagudo by Philip III. Ventosilla, 28 April 1606.
âen tan notable daño, y de tormento de todos estos Reinos de Españaâ.
âa todos y quales quier officiales de Justicia y guerra mayores y menores Realengos y de Señorio y a otros qualesquier ministrosâ. AGS, GyM, leg. 1088. âInstrucción del Duque Ende Monteleon Virrey de Cataluña para el ejercicio de Conservador de los Bosques de aquel Principado.â Barcelona, 20 June 1606.
Eulogio Zudaire Huarte, El Conde-Duque y Cataluña (Madrid: Escuela de Historia Moderna â C.S.I.C., 1964), 37 and 351.
Lynch, Los Austrias, 523. Quoted from the original English edition Spain Under the Habsburgs: Spain and America, 1598â1700 (Oxford: B. Blackwell, 1967), 95.
Mateo Ballester RodrÃguez, La identidad española en la Edad Moderna (1556â1665). Discursos, sÃmbolos y mitos (Madrid: Tecnos, 2010), 439.
On the beginnings of the Catlan parliamentary pacts from the reigns of Peter the Great to Alfonso the Benign, see Jaime Sobrequés Callicó, âLa práctica polÃtica del pactismo en Cataluña,â in El pactismo en la Historia de España, (Madrid: Instituto de España â Cátedra âFrancisco de Vitoria,â 1980), 55â57.
Juan Vallet de Goytisolo, âValor jurÃdico de las Leyes Paccionadas,â in El pactismo en la Historia de España (Madrid: Instituto de España â Cátedra âFrancisco de Vitoria,â 1980), 84â85.
Eva Serra i Puig, âLa vida parlamentà ria a la Corona dâAragó: segles XVI i XVII. Una aproximació comparativa,â in Actes del 53è Congrés de la Comissió Internacional per a lâEstudi de la Història de les Institucions Representatives i Parlamentà ries, coord. by Jaume Sobrequés i Callicó et al., vol. 1, 501â36, (Barcelona: Parlament de Catalunya-Museo dâHistòria de Catalunya, 2005), 518 and 525.
Ibid., p. 504.
Zudaire, El Conde-Duque y Cataluña, 62.
AGS, GyM, leg. 953. Barcelona, 24 April 1627.
âRelación de lo que se reduce disponer para la conservación de los montes de Cataluña, con carta del obispo de Solsona de 4 de sept. de 1627â. AGS, GyM, leg. 953. Barcelona, 7 September 1627.
âla constitución 3ª, titulo de vectigals hecha por el serenÃsimo Rey don Jayme el 2º en las Cortes del año 1299 y por otras, con todo en la misma constitución prohibe y veda la saca de la madera, pez, alquitran, y otras cosas, y en la constitución 17 del mismo titulo hecha por el inclito don Philipe entonces Principe en las Cortes celebró en la Villa de Monçon el año de 1547â.
âeste daño viene ya amenazando de muchos años atrásâ.
âla tierra es tan montuosaâ.
Ibid. The Relación began with âla constitución 3ª, titulo de vectigals hecha por el sermo. Rey don Jayme el 2º. en las Cortes del año 1299,â furthermore citing as precedents the various constitutions of 1547, 1564 and the pragmática of 1574.
AGS, GyM, leg. 953.
âgraves penas pecuniarias, y corporalesâ.
âgraves penas pecuniarias y corporales y perdición de los mismos navÃosâ.
âporque serÃa tan caro el coste del buque de una galera, que si ahora se hace con cuatro mil entonces con treinta mil no se harÃaâ.
âsiempre suele haber muchos inconvenientes por las negociaciones y provechos de particularesâ.
âla del Sr. Rey don Phelipe 2º. del año de 1574 con los apuntamientos referidos en esta relaciónâ.
âlas particularidades que han parecido necesarias a la buena dirección, y conservación de los Bosques con el deseo de acertar lo que piden las Reales Ordenes de V.M. y mis obligacionesâ. AGS, GyM, leg. 1250. Letter from the Count of Santa Coloma to Philip IV. Barcelona, 11 November 1638.
âen executio dels ordens donats per sa Magestadâ, AGS, GyM, leg. 565, doc. 59; AGS, GyM, leg.1250. Announcement by the Count of Santa Coloma, Barcelona, 26 October 1638.
John. H. Elliot, La rebelión de los catalanes (1598â1640) (Madrid: Siglo XXI de España Editores, 1977), 454. Zudaire, El Conde-Duque y Cataluña, 147.
Zudaire, El Conde-Duque y Cataluña, 142â43. Elliot, La rebelión, 454.
âper lo seruey de sa Magestad y benefici publicâ.
AGS, GyM, leg. 565, doc. 59.
Joan Reglà , Els Virreis de Catalunya (Barcelona: Vicens-Vives, 1980), 115â16; Elliot, La rebelión, 393â97.
Thompson, âLas galeras,â 116 and 119.
DomÃnguez NafrÃa, El Real y Supremo, 161.
Emilio de Diego GarcÃa, âEstructuras y Organización Naval: Departamentos y Arsenales Peninsulares,â XXVI Jornadas de Historia MarÃtima âArsenales y Construcción naval en el siglo de la Ilustraciónâ, ed. by Instituto de Historia y Cultura Naval, 41 (2002), 15â17.
Josep Juan Vidal and Enrique MartÃnez Ruiz, PolÃtica interior y exterior de los Borbones (Madrid: Ediciones Istmo, 2001), 173.
Ana Crespo Solana, âLas reformas del comercio gaditano a comienzos del siglo XVIII en el contexto europeo de las polÃticas navales y comerciales,â in La Casa de la Contratación y la navegación entre España y las Indias, coord. by Enriqueta Vila Vilar, Antonio Acosta RodrÃguez and Adolfo Luis González RodrÃguez (Sevilla: Universidad de Sevilla-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientÃficas, 2004), 186.
Manuel DÃaz Ordóñez, Amarrados al negocio. Reformismo borbónico y suministro de jarcia para la Armada Real (1675â1751) (Madrid: Ministerio de Defensa â SecretarÃa General Técnica, 2009), 129.
Its full title was Ordenanza que su Magestad, (Dios le guarde) manda observar para la Cria, Conservacion, Plantios y Corta de los Montes, con especialidad los que està n inmediatos à la Mar, y Rios Navegables. Metodo, y Reglas que en esta materia deben seguir los Intendentes de Marina, establecidos en los tres Departamentos de Cadiz, Ferrol y Cartagena, of 31 January 1748, enacted by Ferdinand VI at the Buen Retiro. We examined the copy held in the AMN, F006â41.
Emilio de la Cruz Aguilar, La destrucción de los montes (claves histórico-jurÃdicas) (Madrid: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Complutense, 1994), 84.
âdecadente estado en que están presentemente los Montes, con especialidad los inmediatos à la Mar, à causa de las cortas, que indebidamente se han hecho con mucha frecuencia, talas y quemas, y el ningún cuidado, que se ha tenido, y tieneâ. Urteaga González, La tierra esquilmada, 126 and 129.
Alfredo José MartÃnez González, âLa Ordenanza de Montes de Marina, de 31 de enero de 1748, y sus fuentes jurÃdicas durante los Austrias,â in Estudios jurÃdicos e históricos sobre navegación en la Edad Moderna: visiones cruzadas, ed. by Alfredo José MartÃnez González (Granada: Comares, 2021), 102â32.
Archivo General de la Marina âÃlvaro de Bazánâ (AGMAB), Montes, 4222. Ãndice que contiene un extracto de todas las reales órdenes adiciones a la ordenanza de montes del año de 1748 hasta 1 de mayo de 1802 que se remiten a la Dirección General de la Armada consecuente la orden de 13 de febrero último.
Biblioteca de la Universidad de Sevilla (BUS), B Res.002652.
Francisco Gil de Lemos reporting to the directorate general of the navy Manuel Godoyâs decision on the return to the 1748 ordinance. Aranjuez, 10 February 1805. AGMAB, Montes, 4222.
José Sánchez-Arcilla Bernal, Historia de las instituciones polÃtico-administrativas contemporáneas (1808â1875) (Madrid: Dykinson, 1994), 1.
Mario OnaindÃa, La construcción de la nación española. Republicanismo y nacionalismo en la Ilustración (Barcelona: Ediciones B, 2002), 305.
Sánchez-Arcilla Bernal, Historia de las instituciones, 9.
The word Cortes is the name by which the parliamentary institutions were historically known in the Spanish kingdoms.
José Manuel Nieto Soria, Medievo constitucional. Historia y mito polÃtico en los orÃgenes de la España contemporánea (c. 1750â1814) (Madrid: Akal, 2007), 149.
Sánchez-Arcilla Bernal, Historia de las instituciones, 13â14.
Bartolomé Clavero, Pedro Ruiz Torres and Francisco J. Hernández Montalbán, Estudios sobre la Revolución Burguesa en España (Madrid: Siglo XXI de España Editores, 1979), 35â6.
There is only one, brief reference on 4 October 1811, that âthe time of twelve noon was set in a public session, for the naval minister to inform HM on matters pertaining to his branch.â Cortes de Cádiz, Actas de las sesiones secretas de las Cortes Generales extraordinarias de la nación española, que se instalaron en la Isla de León el dÃa 24 de setiembre de 1810 y cerraron sus sesiones en Cádiz el 14 de igual mes de 1813, Madrid: Imprenta de J. Antonio GarcÃa, 1874, 429.
Cortes de Cádiz, Diario de Sesiones de las Cortes Generales y Extraordinarias, no. 368, Cádiz: Imprenta Real, 1811, 1994.
âla Marina no fue otro que el de aprovecharse de las maderas criadas en los montes de la corona para emplearlas en construir los navÃos de guerra, persuadiéndose que asà las maderas serian mucho más baratas que si se comprasen; ¡pero quanto engaño ha padecidoâ.
Cortes de Cádiz, Colección de Decretos y Ãrdenes de las Cortes de Cádiz (Madrid: Publicaciones de las Cortes Generales, 1987), vol. 1, 344â45.
âcomo si no se hubiesen pasado jamás tales actos y se quitasen de en medio del tiempo, y sin obligación en mis pueblos y súbditos de cualquiera clase y condición a cumplirlos y a guardarlosâ, Sánchez-Arcilla Bernal, Historia de las instituciones, 28.
Nieto Soria; Medievo constitucional, 173.
âlos males que está sufriendo el Estado por las escandalosas talas, incendios y destrozos de toda especie que experimentan los montes del Reyno, y amenazan su total ruinaâ.
âlas cosas al ser y estado que tenÃan en el año 1808 en quanto á los montes comunes y realengos de la comprensión de la Marinaâ, copy of the royal order enacted a few days later, on 27 September 1814. AGMAB, Montes, 4223.
Ana MarÃa Vigón Sánchez, GuÃa del Archivo Museo âD. Ãlvaro de Bazánâ (Viso del Marqués: Instituto de Historia y Cultura Naval, 1985), 324.
Goodman, El PoderÃo naval español, 120. Quoted from the original English edition Spanish Naval Power, 1589â1665: Reconstruction and Defeat (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 79.