[GUATEMALA, Audiencia de los Confines].

@Collection of 56 royal decrees signed by Philip III (some with a stamp) to the Audiencia of Guatemala. Manuscripts on paper, various places (Valladolid, Madrid, San Lorenzo, etc.) from

      , , @18 May 1600 to 15 June 1628. Folio, 100 leaves carefully removed from a bound volume and now stored in mylar sleeves in a blue cloth slipcase. In very good condition. The documents represent a remarkable, unpublished source for the history of the High Court of Guatemala during the first quarter of the seventeenth century, covering such subjects as the conquest and pacification of Indians in Honduras, granting of encomiendas, diversion of royal monies, establishment of missions and convents and disciplining of politically active priests. They illustrate local customs and call attention to previous decrees that the Court had ignored. The documents are from the presidencies of Dr. Alonso Criado de Castilla (1598-1611), D. Antonio Pérez Ayala Castilla y Rojas (1611-26) and Dr. Diego de Acuña (1626-33).More detailed description and calendar available upon request.@