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Author: Suárez de Carvajal, Juan
Title: Document issued by Juan Suarez de Carvajal, Bishop of Lugo, of the King's Council, ordering that all the Mercury from the Almadén mines be sent to the Indies to be used in the extraction of silver from ore
Place Published: [Seville?]
Publisher:
Date Published: 1559
Description: Manuscript in brown ink, on first page of 4-page conjugate. "El Rey" inked in top margin, indicating it came with the authority of the King. 30.5x21.4 cm (12x8¼"). May 12, 1559.Highly significant document requiring the shipment of all mercury produced at the Almaden mines in west-central Spain, one of the world's richest mercury-producing regions, to Spanish-ruled silver mining regions in the New World, notably Potosi in what is now Bolivia. The Spanish realm was flush with the riches looted from their domains in the western hemisphere, and native labor kept the mines producing vast amounts of silver ore. But turning the ore into silver was accomplished by the patio process with the use of Mercury, developed in Mexico in 1557 for the Pachuca-Real del Monte mines. The patio process was the first process to use mercury amalgamation to recover silver from ore. But there was a shortage of Mercury in the Indies, and the advisor for the council of the Indies, Juan Suárez de Carvajal, was compelled to order that all Mercury from Almadén be sent to America to be employed in the extraction of silver. The beast of greed must be fed.The abundance of silver and the wealth generated through the patio process further motivated colonial expansion and made colonial America a critical player in the global economy. European powers sought to establish and maintain control over regions rich in silver deposits, leading to the colonization and exploitation of vast territories in the Americas. Silver became a vital medium of exchange, and its flow connected the Americas, Europe, and Asia in intricate trade networks.
Besides treating of key aspects in the production of silver in the mines of Spanish-dominated South America, the document is underpinned by features of the governing society of Spain and the role of Conversos (Jews who converted to Catholicism) in the government, economy and religious heirarchy, which were all intertwined.
Juan Suárez de Carvajal (1485 - October 6, 1584), Bishop of Lugo, was born to Conversos Catalina de Carvajal and Pedro Suarez. He served as the Council of the Indies and as an advisor to King Phillip II. His younger brother Illan Suárez de Carvajal (1503-1544) was a Spanish conquistador and official who participated in the Civil War between the conquerors of Peru.
The Carvajal and the Santa Maria Converso families of Plasencia, as a united family confederation utilized their domination of the Cathedral of Plasencia and influence on the city council to actively guard the Jewish Community. They guided and implemented local governing policies relating to tolerance of Jews. These two critical families maintained and promoted the city's traditional residential pattern that was characterized by both Jews and Christians living side by side in the city as well in the Jewish Quarter Itself. They succeeded in rising to the pinnacles of power within the church hierarchy in Spain, even to the point of contesting the succession to the papacy and overseeing the Inquisitorial investigation and execution of extended family members, including Luis de Carvajal "The Younger" and most of his immediate family during the 1590s in Mexico City.
PBA is grateful for information on this document received from Roger Louis Martinez-Davila, Ph.D., M.P.P., an expert on the Carvajal family.

A few creases and minor edge wear, very good or better.