King Carlos IV of Spain
[Madrid, Spain], May 27, 1806
Carlos IV 1806 Doc Re: La Plata A Month Before British Invaded Nearby Buenos Aires
MDS

A 7pp manuscript document in Spanish boldly signed with stamp by King Carlos IV of Spain (1748-1819) as "Yo El Rey" ["I The King"] on the fifth page. The stamped signature is appropriately large and magisterial, measuring approximately 4" x 1.5" alone. May 27, 1806. [Madrid, Spain]. Also countersigned by no fewer than nine imperial functionaries on page 6 and 7. Beautifully inscribed by royal secretary Silbestre Collar on laid string-bound bifold paper. Bearing a hand-stamped royal seal ["Hispaniarum Rex Carolus IV DG"] and letterhead ["Sello Primero, Mil Ochenta y Ocho Maravedis, Ano de Mil Ochoclentos Seis"] on the first page. An embossed wafer seal is detached from page 6 but included. Expected wear including flattened folds, scattered stains, minor foxing, and isolated chipped edges. Else near fine and very legible. 8.25" x 12." Also included is a postcard-sized color book or magazine print illustration of Spain and Spanish lumberjacks. Accompanied by a complete English translation.

King Carlos IV of Spain addressed this document to the Archbishop of the Metropolitan Church of the City of La Plata, notifying him of the proposed royal promotion of Don Francisco Antonio de Areta, currently a canon of the church, to the position of treasurer at the church. The king outlines the terms of the promotion, which included a required interview with the Archbishop, and a timeline for taking office. The king also mentions that the successful candidate must pay a fee equivalent to six months' salary called the "media anata" in order to qualify for the post. Subsequent notations in the document indicate that Don Francisco Antonio de Areta ultimately took the job as treasurer.

La Plata (in present-day Argentina) was then included within the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata, a territory created in 1776 and encompassing parts of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil. La Plata's geographical situation made it an important city in the Spanish Empire in South America, close to the center of action, political, commercial, and military. La Plata is situated approximately 57 km southeast of Buenos Aires and faces Montevideo from across the Samboromb?n Bay. Adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, early nineteenth-century La Plata had immediate access to trade routes and imperial lines of communication, but it was also vulnerable to foreign incursion. In 1806 and 1807, there were two British amphibious invasions of nearby Buenos Aires and Montevideo. A British military attachment occupied the city of Buenos Aires for over six weeks from late June to mid-August 1806. British forces breached Montevideo after a brief siege in February 1807, leading to the Second Battle of Buenos Aires in July of that year.

The king's orders regarding the church promotion--with its reassuring protocol and imperial bureaucracy--were threatened by such outside forces. Paragraph breaks have been added for greater legibility.

Translated in part:

"Don Carlos by the Grace of God King of Castilla, Leon, Aragon, of the two Sicilies, Jerusalem, Navarra, Granada, Toledo, Valencia, Galicia, Mallorca, Menorca, Sevilla, Cerdena [Sardinia], Cordova, Corcega [Corsica], Murcia, Jaen, the Algarbes, Algecira, Gibraltar, the Canary Islands, East and Western Indies, Islands and mainland of the Ocean, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Borgona, Brabante, Milan, Count of [H]Abspurg, Flande[r]s, Tirol and Barcelona, Lord of Vizcaya and Molina, most Reverend in Christ the Father, Archbishop of the Metropolitan Church of the City of La Plata, from my office to our Provisor and Vicar General to give vacancy the Venerable Council in the same Church.

You well know that the presentation of all the dignities, canons and ecclesiastical benefices of the church, and of the rest of the Indies, Islands, and mainland of the ocean sea, belongs to me both by right and by Apostolic Bulls, with respect to which, and with regard to the sufficiency and other good pledges that (as I have been informed) concur in Don Francisco Antonio de Areta, Canon of that Church. I have resolved to present him to the Dignity of Treasurer of the same, vacant by the promotion of Don Mat?as de Terrazas to Council of the same. I ask and require you to do a diligent examination (in which my conscience is entrusted) to find that Don Francisco Antonio de Areta is a suitable person and in whom the qualities that are required according to the council concur, to make him the canonical institution of the aforesaid Dignity and give him the possession, arranging that he be attended with the fruits, rents, proceeds and emoluments that correspond to him well and fully, without lacking in anything, provided that he presents himself personally and not through a Procurator with this title before you in this Council, within fifteen days if he resides in that city, four months if he resides in the remainder of the Parish, and six months if in other places but the same country; all three terms being counted from the day on which he receives his duties; and it is also stated that the collection of the Media Anata, which he must pay for this Presentation, is executed bearing in mind the provisions of the Royal Decree of December 21, 1763.

On the understanding that you will be responsible for any omission and carelessness that is experienced whenever any one of the provided fails to pass or secure his respective Media Anata before taking possession of his Presale; for if any of the aforesaid circumstances are to be made, the institution must do nothing without my presence. And these orders will be taken into account in the General Accounts of the Distribution of my Royal Treasury (to which is added the General Register) of my Council of the Indies and in that of the Consolidation of Royal Vouchers within two months of its donation and if it is not executed in this way, this grace will also be null and void: and it will also be taken by the Ministers of the Royal Treasury of the Savings Banks of that City of La Plata Given in contributions.

May 27, 1806.

[signed] I The King."

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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8.25" x 12"
Ex-R.M. Smythe sale, January 2009.