Casa de Contratación
Spanish crown agency controlling colonial trade and navigation.
The Casa de Contratación, also known as the House of Trade of the Indies, was a crown agency established by the Crown of Castile in 1503 in Seville. It functioned until 1790, overseeing trade, navigation, and legal matters for the Spanish Empire. Before the Council of the Indies was created in 1524, it held broad authority over overseas affairs.
Quick Facts
- Established
- 1503
- Location
- Seville (transferred to Cádiz in 1717)
- Abolished
- 1790
- Founder
- Queen Isabella I of Castile
- First treasurer
- Dr. Sancho de Matienzo
- First contador
- Jimeno de Bribiesca
- First factor
- Francisco Pinelo
Facts from the source article.
Establishment
The Casa collected colonial taxes and duties, approved voyages, maintained secret trade information, licensed captains, and administered commercial law. In theory, no Spaniard could sail without its approval, though smuggling occurred. Created by Queen Isabella I of Castile in 1503, it was the Spanish counterpart of Portugal's Casa da India. Ochoa Alvarez de Isasaga was named factor for the Crown in 1509. The first treasurer was Dr. Sancho de Matienzo, the first contador Jimeno de Bribiesca, and the first factor Francisco Pinelo, who soon controlled the economic development of Hispaniola.
Operation
A 20 percent tax, the quinto real, was levied on all precious metals entering Spain. Other taxes ranged from 10 to 40 percent, funding naval protection or encouraging investment. Each ship employed a clerk to log all goods and transactions. The Casa produced and managed the Padrón Real, the official secret Spanish map, constantly improved from 1508. It also ran a navigation school training pilots. Trade was handled by the Consulado de mercaderes guild in Seville, working with the Casa, and physically controlled through the Flota de Indias and Manila galleons.
Reductions
By the late 17th century, the Casa had fallen into bureaucratic gridlock, partly due to Spain's inability to finance both continental war and a global empire. Riches from Manila and Acapulco were often signed over to creditors before the Manila galleon made port. In 1717, the Bourbon kings moved the Casa from Seville to Cádiz. Charles III further limited its powers, and Charles IV abolished it in 1790, ending the Spanish treasure fleets.
Mapmakers
The cartographic enterprise at the Casa was critical to voyages of discovery. It employed many cartographers, navigators, archivists, and administrators to produce and manage the Padrón Real. Amerigo Vespucci worked as a pilot there until his death in 1512, and in 1508 the position of piloto mayor was created for him to train new pilots. His nephew Juan Vespucci inherited his maps and instruments and, with Andrés de San Martín, was appointed to Amerigo's former position. In 1524, Juan Vespucci became examinador de pilotos, replacing Sebastian Cabot. In the 1530s and 1540s, principal mapmakers included Alonso de Santa Cruz, Sebastian Cabot, and Pedro de Medina. Diego Gutiérrez was appointed cosmographer in 1554 after his father's death; in 1562 he published the map "Americae ... Descriptio" in Antwerp because Spanish engravers lacked the skill. Other cosmographers included Alonso de Chaves, Jerónimo de Chaves, and Sancho Gutiérrez. In the late 16th century, Juan López de Velasco, as Cosmógrafo-Cronista Mayor, produced a master map and twelve subsidiary maps of the Spanish empire, representing the apogee of Spanish mapmaking.
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