(PERU) Hurtado de Mendoza Andrés Manuscript ordinance to reg

Sale 2324 - Lot 409

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HARSH CONDITIONS IN THE GOLD AND SILVER MINES (PERU.) Hurtado de Mendoza, Andrés. Manuscript ordinance to regulate the work of the Incas in the gold and silver mines. Document Signed by Hurtado as Viceroy and his secretary. One page, 12 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches, with docketing on verso, in a cramped and copiously abbreviated 16th century cursive hand; deacidified, stitch holes, minor wear and folds. Cuzco, 2 September 1556

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This ordinance was issued barely two months after Hurtado's arrival in Lima as Viceroy, and just a quarter of a century after the first arrival of the Conquistadors. It deals with the sickness and death of workers from the "llanos" or plains, who were unaccustomed to the high altitude and harsh conditions of the gold and silver mines. Concerned with the loss of the tribute or "encomendado," Hurtado proposes that only workers from the mountains work the mines, while those from the plains remain there to grow crops for the mine workers.