(MEXICAN MANUSCRIPTS) Enríquez de Almanza y Ulloa Martín Ord

Sale 2517 - Lot 294

Price Realized: $ 750

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500

(MEXICAN MANUSCRIPTS.) Enríquez de Almanza y Ulloa, Martín. Order to Spanish officials to treat Indian leaders more leniently. Document Signed by Enríquez as Viceroy of New Spain, and by one other. One page, 12 x 8 1/4 inches; moderate dampstaining, worn with minor loss to signatures and laid down on paper at an early date, with subsequent worming and additional wear. Mexico, 17 June 1577

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This viceroy's order was directed to the Spanish magistrate of the Indian town of Cuautitlán (today a city in the State of Mexico). The viceroy had received word from the Indians of the nearby town of Zumpango that some officers had been extorting money by charging excessive commissions and duties on even small transactions. Viceroy Enríquez, considered to have been particularly sympathetic to the Indians, ordered his subordinates to ignore the "negocios livianos" or small dealings carried out by members of the Indian town council of Cuautitlán. They were to only charge fees on the most "graves cuestos" or major transactions. In this way, they could still extract some wealth from Cuautitlán without arousing major discontent or hostility. As this document shows, Viceroy Enríquez understood that, while the balance of power obviously favored Spaniards, accommodation and appeasement with Indians was often more profitable in the long run than severe coercion and extortion.