By clothing-bag, 18/03/2023

And, because that happened, it seems like this (XXXIX)

Perhaps the most important invention of the human being has been to become aware that collaboration improves the chances of survival in any circumstances. But, the common effort, without more, is not remarkable; It is, however, the collaboration in the transmission of knowledge as well as the promotion of learning that appears among the characteristics of the human being.

As far as we know, no story ends, especially not that of invention, although, like everything else, any invention can have two sides.

Nothing stops at the border of a century, neither the ability to create, nor the viciousness to destroy, nor dreams, nor hopes, even though the human disposition to desire is far superior to the talent to satisfy the ambitions it unleashes.

Confidence in progress is not an idea or a discovery but rather a constitutive belief of humans, as well as useful in its proper use.

Undoubtedly, technical, scientific and technological knowledge have been a necessary condition to solve the most varied problems, however, they do not have the surprises that are found in history inspired by ingenuity without any conditions or hidden behind the crazy ambitions that they can seduce the most refined societies.

Ingenuity, that is, technique, science and technology have become part of culture and civilization in such a radical way, as to be able to avoid, in principle, the impacts of avoidable and unfounded fears.

Transportation in the past

Primitive human groups of the past were nomadic, which meant that when resources were scarce in one territory, there was no alternative but to move to another. The beginning of agriculture led to a sedentary lifestyle, making a 180º turn with the appearance of transport, from which it can be deduced: that transport has been linked to the process of culture and civilization.

What's more, humans who travel have invented the roads, even on many occasions at the cost of suffering and the risk of endangering their own lives, because traveling requires money, time, patience and, always, strength of mind. cheer up.

For centuries there were safe roads, the least, and in fact the degree of civilization of a region or place is measured by the confidence that a person or a group of people can have when making a trip.

Some ancient thinkers, given their concept of the Polis-State, such as, for example. Aristotle, could have wondered: "Why isn't there a road or road that leads from Athens to Sparta? To which the same thinker answers us: And why do we want a road that leads to Sparta, if we have nothing to manage in Sparta?" .

In any case, the internal roads of European countries, until the end of the 18th century, were not used to being up to the needs of their trade.

The open canal routes did not have sufficient capacity or extension either and could, in any case, be acceptable in the Netherlands, but not in the United Kingdom.

An economic analyst as relevant as Adam Smith, 18th century, and author of the work: "The Wealth of Nations", came to consider, among other reasons, that communications, roads, canals and rivers They were expansive engines of the economy, at the same time that they made transport cheaper, since hauling on the back of mules could make a good part of the items more expensive, reaching the point of representing two thirds of the price that the final consumer had to pay.

Thus, it can be understood that, if the canals were not flexible enough, if the navigable rivers were not so abundant as to guarantee transportation from any point from one place to another, the only remedy was to build roads or, failing that, have to condition even the old Roman roads.

But, for millennia humans have moved on the ground or on the surface of the water with rudimentary procedures. Perhaps the oldest means of transportation may have been the waterways, using rafts and barges.

The development of the chariot, already between the ancient Sumerians and Romans, had important infrastructures such as bridges and communication routes.

The evolution of navigation in the seafaring peoples-Phoenicians, Romans, Vikings, Venetians, Portuguese, Spanish...-, achieved expansion throughout the known world of those territories and at that time.

Commerce has been based on and nurtured by social interaction, but its main task has been and is the distribution of goods.

It is clear enough that, within the small tribes there is little trade, becoming sufficient with the exchange of gifts in most cases.

But it is mainly high cultures and large populations that have been capable of considerable specialization or division of labor and effort among their members. Services and products are then the object of exchange or trade.

However, virtually all societies, large or small, engage in intertribal and international trade, as every society has its own assets or possesses natural resources and can supply materials not available elsewhere or in other regions.

The Ring of Kula

Without a doubt, the most elaborate and perhaps most surprising trading system in the early world is the ring of the Kula in the northwestern Trobriand Islands in Melanesia.

The Kula is a vast complex of trade, magic, ceremonial exchange, sea travel, and pleasure-seeking, involving enterprising individuals from widely separated tribes.

The structure through which the entire organization expresses itself is the exchange of arm rings made of white shells, as well as long necklaces of red shells. Trade takes place following the direction inversely to the needles of the clock, there being no exception to this rule.

The value of goods is determined not only by their material utility and their effective scarcity, but above all by their symbolic qualities.

In any case, value is culturally determined, except in what refers to essential needs, without which existence would be impossible.

POST OFFICES AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES

E-mails have condemned the, in another time, charming and dolled up love, family, news, business letters... which, the fate of the times, has reduced to the modest status of venerable antiquities.

Our grandparents looked at those letters like someone who finds a possible treasure, letters in which, over and over again, they looked, one at the addressee - feeling as if they were constituted as a somebody and not a nobody; Not everyone could wait for a letter, as well as the sender, the stamp, -introduced in Spain in the year 1850- in order to have information, even if brief, from the country in question, the date of the postmark, if they came from Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay, Brazil, U.S.A..., Melilla, Ceuta, Alcazalquivir, of the internal son in the Astorga Seminary or in the Redemptorists, of the uncle Cura in the land of Misiones, in the Parish of Molina Ferrera, in Pobladura de la Sierra. ..

When the salutary girl asked the Postman if he had correspondence and, the Postman answered that the letter had not yet arrived, she was invaded by a peculiar despair, because there is no person so indifferent as to become insensitive to words of love and, because letters had to be guarded lovingly, because It was normal to return them to their owner, in case the love commitment failed: "Give me back my letters, because I do not say my song but to those who go with me."

The news of the father displaced to Villablino for work reasons, of the friends who do military service in the Protectorate of Morocco, of the adventures beyond the seas of those unfortunate emigrants, of the terrible disease - misserere colic - of the son who does the military in Valladolid, of so much affection and heartbreak..., and even the well-concocted lies, to get out of trouble, like the one devised by Plácido-Pótrola - to his pretended, Fefa Marentes who, from Puerto Rico, a country where he had emigrated as a sugar cane cutter, and that he did not bring more silver than a box of matches, since the ship capsized shaken by a terrible storm, they had to, if they wanted to save their skins, by order of the Captain, launch the trunk with silver and other squalid belongings.

All correspondence, no matter how modest, can even change, for better or for worse, a whole life.

The Epistolary Genres have enjoyed the ability to transform beliefs and ideas and, therefore, consciences, and even serve as an exemplary model in the writing of letters and missives.

It is not necessary to remember the Epistles of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, to the Corinthians, but also the exemplary Letters of Marco T. Cicero (106 BC/ 46 BC) which, partially lost during the Middle Ages, were recovered in the Renaissance and served as an epistolary model: "Et ego valeo, si tuvales, bene est"-I'm fine, if you are-.:

“You complain that I write to you less often than I should. And you are right. What more would I like than to be able to send you news of my life more often. But I am always very busy, when the time for the exams approaches, the study presses me so much, that I lack time and humor, to fulfill the most just duties of friendship. But I have been recently at your friend Antonio's house, and I have found out that today he is leaving Carrión for Madrid, and I do not want to miss this opportunity of taking this letter to you (...).

Regarding what you say that you are doing as is in your literary studies, and that you don't like them, because they seem alien to your talent, there is no reason for you to worry. There is no fault in that, unless at the same time that the fans have also lost the will and determination to learn. It is convenient that you have a manly spirit, and think that you have to accommodate yourself to the demands of your honor and dignity (.. .).

Here is a magnificent opportunity for you to show the gratitude you owe to our father, who has sacrificed his property and even his life for your future: Now, finished by age and infirmities, he rightfully claims from you the fruit of so much work.

So we all hope that there will be no inconvenience or difficulty that can keep you from consecrating yourself entirely to your studies.

I can't write anymore; The pressure of time prevents me.

Give my regards to our friend Marcos, who was always so attentive to me, and to César, who I hope will keep all kinds of attention for you.

Try to keep yourself well, and think that I care more about your health than mine.

Goodbye.

(Vid.: Florilegio Latino, vol. III, Letter I.)

Or those other letters from the unfortunate love affairs of Pedro Abelardo and Eloísa, XI/XII.

Pedro Abelardo tells us the story of his loving calamities:

''Madly in love with this young lady, [...] I managed to get her uncle Fulberto to receive me at his home [...]. First we meet at home; then our souls were reunited. Under the pretext of science, we give ourselves totally to love. And the study of the lesson offered us the secret encounters that love desired. [...] There were more kisses than words. My hands went more easily to her breasts than to the books. [...] No range or degree of love was overlooked. And it was even added how unusual love can create. The less we had liked these delicacies, the more ardently we immersed ourselves in them, without ever reaching boredom. And the more dominated by passion I was, the less I could give myself up to philosophy and dedicate myself to classes.

Or the Letters of Madame de Sévigné, 17th century, and even the insensitive, apparently, Napoleon Bonaparte, in matters of love, as cannot be deduced from that Letter to Josephine: ”I have not received a letter from you for two days. It is the thirtieth time that I have repaired to it today ”.

But Love Letters, Filial Piety, Leases or Warnings are as old as the oldest testimony of the written phoneme and, if you ask him, he always seems to answer the same thing, but if you know how to ask him, he won't tell you what same.

I'm sick-the father speaks-: My brother has kicked me out of his house and my son abandons me to my fate. Welcome me into your home, offer me your friendship and keep me until my death. Give me food, ointments and clothes. I will offer you everything I have, including the part I own in common with my brother

Tabtún-the daughter-has listened to her father and has welcomed him into her home.

Love letter, s.V.a C.:

“This is how Gimil-Marduk speaks to his beloved: May the gods keep us in love! Write to me to give me news of you. Look, I went to Babylon and I couldn't see you, and I'm very sorry. Tell me when you will return so that I can recover my joy. I hope you live forever to make me happy!

Apartnership contract for a farm and orchard

Litamés gives Tirakán an orchard and land to cultivate for three years:

“He will have to work the soil under the palm trees well, he will dig channels in the orchard and take care of the flowers and plants. He will leave a part of the land unplanted, he will collect the dates. Litamés will give him the sisunu as a reward” -a part of the dates-

Letter with the Scribe's warnings to his son:

(Anastasius Papyrus, 1500 BC, Egyptian Middle Kingdom)

“Remember the condition of the farmer at the time the harvest tax is demanded. The worms have destroyed half the grain and the hippopotamus has eaten a good part of the rest. What was left on the threshing floor was taken by thieves. When the Tax Scribe arrives saying: deliver the grain, there is none. So they beat him, throw him into the water and chain his children.

The stonemason, when he has finished his work, is exhausted.

The boatman who transports the goods to the delta, works more than he can, riddled with mosquitoes...

The bricklayer is exposed to all the winds and constantly gets sick.

I've seen the blacksmith with hands like the skin of a crocodile, they stank more than rotten fish.

The stonecutter finishes his work with his arms destroyed.

The barber goes from street to street looking for clients and breaks his arms to get something to his stomach.

The weaver curled up with his knees to his chest, drowning in the unbreathable air.

The courier after touring foreign countries and, as soon as he returns home, he has to leave again.

The baker burns his hands with fire.”

HORSESHOE AND RUEDA PATHS

The state of the roads in Spain in the 17th and early 18th centuries had barely changed since the beginning of the 16th century, their state being deplorable, due, among other reasons, to the fact that the maintenance of roads and bridges was the responsibility of each municipality. LaCorona only contributed, from time to time, to its improvement. In general, only a small part of the Municipal Revenues was allocated to the care of the Roads. We must not forget that in the Spain of the time it lived in a time of crisis, where artisans, craftsmen and laborers had to cover other even more urgent needs.

Bad roads, with snow in many cases and considerable heights in others, did not constitute a powerful attraction to start a long journey. Marching on foot for 10 km a day was quite natural at that time, as well as healthy.

To alleviate the weather inconveniences in the mountain passes, there were a whole series of signs indicating where the path continued. In the event of a blizzard or storm, the bells of the villages or places were rung so that, if any traveler was surprised, they could find their way to the nearest shelter.

Other difficulties that discouraged travel was the presence of bandits and highwaymen who swarmed through Europe, and Spain could not be an exception. If traveling by day posed a serious risk, at night it posed a serious danger.

The lack of wide roads prevented, on the other hand, the circulation of vehicles with wheels, therefore, the litter had to lack, for the same reason, wheels. The litter consisted of a carriage with two side rods that were fitted to the backs of two mules, one in front and one behind.

The daring traveler arrived at the inn after a hard day of travel and with fear in his body due to the assault of the bandits.

As for the accommodation, there was everything, being the most sensible thing to go forewarned with provisions, because . "They set the table at the door of the inn, for the coolness, and the guest brought him a portion of the badly soaked and worse cooked cod and a bread as black and filthy as his weapons (...)". The Ingenious Hidalgo, Cap. II, M. de Cervantes.

At the sale, it was generally accessed through the block, and it was still surprising, and not very pleasant, to contemplate how the males and the muleteers slept under the same roof.

The land transport of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries in Western Europe compared to that of Imperial Rome did not make a marked difference, if we take into account that many European roads followed Roman routes and that the Roman bridges arrived in a certain good condition to the age of the railroad and the automobile.

The post service linked the main roads that went to the most important courts in Europe: Rome, Paris, Brussels..., and then the different Spanish cities.

A horse at pace did 6/7 km/hour and 60/70km in 9/10 hours a day.

THE POSTAL SERVICES

The services of Estafetas or Postas -the horses that are warned or stationed on the different roads at a distance of two or three leagues so that the Post Office and people go with all diligence from one place to another- begin in Castilla around 1,580 , later spreading to other regions. This explains why the mule strings and oxcarts continued to slowly and heavily cross the Plateau.

Already in 1497, the Castilian carreteros formed groups or organizations, one of them called Cabaña Real de Carreteras, which enjoyed a privileged situation on the roads, since it was exempt from paying local taxes and tolls. Barcelona, ​​which was the headquarters of the Brotherhood, which became, already in the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, the center of an International Postal Network that spread to Castile, Portugal, Germany, France and Italy.

At the same time in Castile, already in the 15th century, the Postal Service appeared, which was placed under the direction of an official called Correo Mayor, a position that, from 1505, was occupied by successive generations of a family of Italian origin: the Tassis.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the Posts were at the exclusive service of the King, royalty or royal correspondence, as well as fast trips for important people or simply individuals.

Around 1580 in Castilla, the use of the Postal Service was generalized, being able to use it by individuals and creating the Post Offices, a service that consisted of the postilions-boys who rode in front of the Post Office- moved private correspondence from a Post Office to the next, with which the route of each messenger was much smaller, also organizing on that date the ordinary and periodic mail that transported the mail bags between the main cities of the country.

The Estafetas services, started at the end of the 16th century in Castilla, later extended to Andalusia in 1587 and to Aragon from 1610. At the beginning of the 17th century, the following were linked by the Estafetas system: Valencia, Zaragoza and Barcelona; and from Madrid there was weekly mail and, by the same system, to Zaragoza, using, on average, four days in the transport of the Correspondence, and seven to Barcelona; from Madrid to Valencia it took about four days.

The commercial speeds of the Correspondence transport already reach important values. In the Correo de la España de los Austrias, it is reported, for example, that in the middle of the 17th century, in a Treasury document, there is a note of a trip from Seville to Madrid "in all diligence", which must be done in two days and eighteen hours, since the distance of 83 leagues must be traveled at an average of 30 leagues every twenty-four hours.

It was in the 18th century that we witnessed better coordination between the Postal and Road services, as a consequence of the centralizing policy of the Bourbons, which, on the one hand, incorporated the Office of the Mayor Post Office to the Crown, and On the other, they undertake, charged to the Crown, the construction of the modern road network in Spain.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Spanish Crown decided to directly administer the Postal Service. In August 1716, the Post Office was definitively incorporated into the Crown, and on April 23, 1720, the General Regulations for the Management and Government of the Offices of Post Office and Post Offices in Spain were issued, on trips made .

It is worth underlining the fact that the commercial speed of the Post Office "by stage" in the 18th century corresponded to the quite respectable 30 leagues a day. This Post service could be used by individuals "who ran to their own facilities and not to my Royal Service" who, therefore, could make the same daily speeds, although with certain conditions included in the Regulation of 1720. A few years later, another Postas sobre Ruedas service was established in Andalusia. There are several writings of the time that give this news.

Floridablanca,-18th/19th century- in its Memorial, it says: "The Posta de Ruedas has been established, which was not there, in the hundred and more leagues that there are from the Court to Cádiz, facilitating this very useful resource to that emporium of world commerce, to the immediate ports and to the great cities of Seville, Córdoba, Écija and others of the race. To this end, Post Houses and everything else necessary have been built".

The extensions meant relevant improvements in the service: new routes from Gijón to Avilés, from Almazán to Soria, from Zuera to Huesca and Barbastro, from Lérida to Tarragona and from Almazán to Plasencia and Coria, from Mérida to Almendralejo and Llerena, from Malaga to Marbella, from Granada to Motril, etc.

"The stagecoaches had interior, roundabout and cabriolet seats, and those in the rear department of the car could not be dispatched until a third or fourth of the cabriolet and interior seats had been taken, so that the seating would be as balanced as possible weight of the carriage. 25 pounds of luggage were admitted to each traveler, put in a suitcase, without surcharge on the price of the ticket."

"They left Madrid for Barcelona on Tuesdays and Saturdays at four in the morning; the travelers spent the night the first day in Quintanar de la Orden and, the next day, in the Venta del Conde. They ate in Valencia on Fridays, leaving at one in the afternoon on Saturday to walk all night; on Sunday at noon you entered Vinaroz to sleep in La Venta. On Monday, respectively, in Tarragona and Villafranca, also traveling all night, and you arrived in Barcelona on Tuesdays at four in the afternoon, taking seven days and twelve hours in the casino. The seat cost 800 reales inside, 680 in a cabriolet and 500 in the rotunda; the price of food was 10 to 12 reales; dinner, generally, 10 reales; 4 reales for the bed fee and another 4 reales for assistance."

"On the road from Madrid to Irún, there are also two weekly departures in each direction; he spent the night in Buitrago, Lerma, Vitoria and Irún, investing four days with rest at night, at least six hours. This diligence had a postilion and they only had interior seats and cabriolets, which cost 700 and 600 reales for the entire route, the rate for the inns being the same as that set for the Madrid-Barcelona race."

"There are also two weekly expeditions from the capital to Seville, spending five days on the trip with night rest. The diligences had a saloon, interior and roundabout; tickets cost 1,000, 960 and 500 reales."

"The Itinerary also includes the daily services from Barcelona to Perpignan, from Barcelona to Reus and from Madrid to the Royal Sites."

"The following were established in 1828: the stagecoach from Madrid to Valladolid, and those from the Court to Guadalajara, Badajoz and Burgos via Valladolid; to Toledo via Aranjuez and, in 1829, the race from Barcelona to Zaragoza. In addition to these stages there were many others with periodic service, such as the daily ones from Barcelona to Calella, Arenys, Mataró, Masnou, Grano Ilers, Caldas, Tárraga, Manresa, Igualada, Villafranca, Tarragona, etc., those from Madrid to Vista Alegre and Alcalá de Henares; the one called Arrieros y Caleseros, which served Madrid for the Royal Sites, and the one from Murcia to Cartagena, inaugurated in 1829."

"The service of the Burgos line through Valladolid also reached Santander in 1832, raising the daughters from Vitoria and Tolosa to Pamplona, ​​and the route from Madrid to La Coruña through Medina del Campo, which was later carried by Valladolid and Tordesillas.

"At the end of the primitive privilege of the companies that introduced stagecoach transit in Spain, new ones were founded such as La Lechuguina, which covered the route from Madrid to Vitoria in 1829, and that of Caleseros, from Burgos, which from the previous year to the service of accelerated galleys to the Court, he also proposed, in 1829, the stagecoach line from Madrid to Vitoria, which extended the route to Bayonne, in 1830. At the same time he established the races from Burgos to Valmaseda, and those from Bilbao to Vitoria and Vergara, which lasted until October 1833, when travel to the Basque provinces was suspended due to the outbreak of the civil war."

"The Parsant y Cía Company installed, in 1831, the stagecoach from Madrid to Zaragoza, later extending the route to Lleida and Pamplona, ​​but they did not last long due to the competition caused by the renters of Pamplona, ​​organizing the Tudela race to Zaragoza, which also suspended traffic, in 1833, due to the civil war".

Vid.: Posts and Post Offices; Tormo Crespo, Mª. Isabel

Posts in the 18th century and early 19th century

From the 16th century until well into the 19th century, the only way to travel fairly quickly in Spain, and in almost all of Europe, was for the post

The Posts were made up of a group of cavalry forewarned or stationed on the main roads and at convenient distances, so that the Post Office and the travelers who used them could change mounts and continue their journey, without having to stop for the rest of the fatigued cavalries.

In Spain there were posts in Roman times, but in the Middle Ages, like so many other things, they disappeared. What did remain were the emails; there were couriers on foot and later on horseback both from the Kings and from some Municipalities and important Corporations such as Universities, Consulates, etc.

The Post Office carried the letter or notice personally from the sender to the recipient. It is clear that there were not many of them, since most of the population did not know how to read and even less how to write. The couriers came and went on behalf of kings, authorities, some merchants and prelates and ecclesiastics.

Already in Alfonso X's Partidas, errand men are mentioned among the Officials of the Royal House: "who bring errands by letters, which are similar to the feet of the ome".

Normally the Post Offices were paid by the employers, and also received some aid per day of travel or distance. From the beginning, the Post Office was protected by the Laws and the Authority of the Kings.

It was in the 18th century that we witnessed better coordination between the Postal and Road services, as a consequence of the centralizing policy of the Bourbons who, on the one hand, incorporated the Office of the Mayor Post Office into the Crown and, on the other, another, undertake, at the expense of the Crown, the construction of the modern road network in Spain.

About a century and a half ago, the following ad appeared in a Missouri, United States, newspaper: “Wanted for slim, resilient youth under 18 years of age. They must be expert riders, preferably orphans and willing to risk their lives every day. A salary of 25 dollars a week is offered." The reason for such an announcement was that sending a letter from the East coast to the West was a real ordeal because the letters took up to six months to reach their destination.

On the highway, the road took forever, and the railway was cut off for a large part of the road by the snowfall. If the letters were to travel by ship, they had to skirt South America. Solution: it was necessary to create a route on horseback from Missouri to the Pacific so that the mail would arrive in a maximum of 8 or 10 days. For this purpose, thin riders, fast and small horses were required, and they would take over over the years. 3,200 km .and this without stopping by night or by day, except at agreed points, where one rider passed the mailbag to the next.

Trips in vehicles, carriages and carriages, became general in the last years of the 18th century, around 1790, and replaced, in part, the trips in cavalry, and almost totally the trips in litter, which had been until that time the usual way of traveling for the wealthy classes. Several factors contribute to this change, the economic development initiated by Fernando VI and continued by Carlos III with its repercussion in the increase in the standard of living, the innovations in vehicles thanks to the nascent steel industry and the improvements in the roads.

The carriages and carriages characterized by their unique frame or beam from which the box was suspended, had made their appearance in Spain at the end of the 15th century from Flanders. In a few years its use was generalized in the important cities; Proof of this is a petition from the Courts of Valladolid, from the year 1555, which requests that its use be prohibited due to accidents, and even excesses, which are attributed to new vehicles. Despite this, their number increases from year to year, since owning a car is a symbol of prestige and good performance, and from Sancho Panza, for his wife, to Torres de Villarrobledo.

Even though in the 16th and 17th centuries, the main use of cars was on the streets and walks of the cities, cars also circulated on the roads. A pragmatic from 1,578 explicitly mentions this road use of the new vehicles when it said : "but we allow that said cars and wagons can be brought on the road with mules and mules, or as each one wishes, as long as going on the road is understood to be a journey of five leagues or more".

And if the novel can serve as a testimony of the realities of each era, in Don Quixote we can read the trips by car, both on the road to Andalusia, as well as that of the Biscayne Lady and the Oidor of the Chancillería de la Nueva Spain and, on the road to Barcelona, ​​the wife of the Regent of the Vicar of Naples; that is to say; that not only the King and the Court were already traveling by car on Spanish roads in the 17th century.

But, despite these antecedents, wheeled vehicles, cars, carriages or carriages, must not have been very abundant on Spanish roads in the 16th, 17th and first half of the 18th centuries, since the roads did not they were suitable, in general, for wheeled vehicle traffic. For these purposes, it is opportune to remember that in the 16th century Road Itinerary, only one of the one hundred and thirty-nine itineraries described is adjectived as carriage road; It is the road that connects Toledo to Valladolid through Olías, Cabañas, El Viso, Móstoles, Brunete, Venta del Molinillo, Guadarrama, Venta de la Tablada, El Espinar, Villacastin, Muñoz de las Posadas, Arévalo, Olmedo and Puente Duero; in total 48 leagues, about 300 kilometers, only.

SALOON

Its name originates from the German capital when there was a 4-wheeled, 2-seater car that made the Brandenburg-Berlin route. Its use and fame reached it in the Paris of Louis XIV and Louis XV and it was a very safe car that had the front and rear sets joined by two rods or arrows that gave it a lot of security in case of breakdown. In Spain, a model with 4 seats and a box was developed, very common in the Madrid of Carlos III, pulled by 2 horses and, sometimes, up to 4 or 5 mules harnessed to the carriage, although there were up to 7 different types of saloons.

In 1786, Townsend made the journey from Barcelona to Madrid. He leaves Barcelona on May 6 and arrives in Madrid on the 19th; In total, 14 days of travel, although on day 12, halfway in Zaragoza, he does not travel, because "it is customary, on long journeys, to give the mules a day of rest in the middle of the road. Happily for me , the one who stopped that day in Zaragoza..." .The trip is made in a four-seater rental car and pulled by seven mules. Upon arriving in Madrid, he comments that the number of cars on the Paseo del Prado is important: "I counted up to 400 cars, on the occasion of certain notable dates; sometimes they need up to 2 hours to cover the space of a mile".

In 1801, Jovellanos was driven into exile from Gijón to Barcelona bound for Majorca, and traveled this road from Zaragoza. The road, indeed, allows the passage of the car in which it is going, but its deficiencies are many.

“From Villafranca del Ebro to Barcelona it takes them 6 days; Jovellanos points out the bad roads, the unpopulated areas of Los Monegros, the deficient inns and the relative traffic, despite this”.

In Villafranca he says: "Shortly after we arrived, a convoy that we had met and overtook on the road arrived. It is from Pamplona Jesuits, who are going to Barcelona dragged by the new decree. Another car followed, belonging to a private gentleman, whom They were called Count. There are also several wagons in the inn; and it is already seen that so many bells, so many mules, so many carriages, so many guests and so many servants, will cause a noise like Barabbas...".

The road is bad; Only when you get close to Barcelona, ​​in San Andrés de la Barca, does a new and good road begin. But first, the conditions of the road make him wonder: "How is it that one of the most important roads in Spain, between two such opulent provinces, is so abandoned, and whose soil, impassable in winter, cries out for a good road?" .

A consequence of the bad road are the accidents that occur, both in Jovellanos' car and in that of the Jesuits, who "proposed to keep company to enjoy the help of our people and troops."

Before reaching Tárrega he writes: "The road, always bad. After a thousand hardships, our predecessor car broke down and the former Jesuits had to dismount, just like us a little further on, chastened in their head. These risks and inconveniences were increased by bad weather."

The next day they leave behind the other car, "which was trying to buy two wheels from a wagon, to continue its journey and which was about to not get out of its quagmire, and they continue their journey: The road always gets worse, and In truth, he lacked nothing to be the worst in the race and even in the Kingdom. The wheels sank in the deep ruts opened by the wagons. Swamps, quagmires, jams, large stones traversed and everything that can increase risk and fatigue Finally, despite the extreme care of the foreman, who was superior to all comparison, the howls of the lad and the help of the troops, in which the graceful Andalusian José González particularly distinguished himself. , we hit the ground with us, and what a first capsize. Fortunately it was without misfortune and, as happens in such a case, it turned into laughter ".

The difficulties of this path, the repeated overturns and the exhaustion of such a long trip, begin to make Jovellanos impatient, who seems to lose his calm in the last paragraphs of the newspaper to which this itinerary corresponds.

In the cities

According to the accounts of the time, cars and carriages owned mainly by the civil and ecclesiastical aristocracy circulated in all major cities, and there were also rental cars in some of them.

Labat, a French religious, thus describes the floats he saw on the streets of Cádiz in 1705: "The floats are drawn by mules; there are very few that are drawn by horses... It is true that (the horses) seem more suitable for the saddle than for the carriage; although they have great strength and vigor, they do not have the strength of our French or Flemish horses, nor their body and height... These carriages have nothing magnificent. Most of them are surrounded and covered with green oilcloth. The horse's straps are made of rope and in their length consists the magnificence and quality of their masters... The coachmen go on horseback, like those of our carriages and our hired carriages. The footmen go to foot and they only ride behind outside the city, because then they lose their gravity and make their mules and horses run as long as they have legs to do it".

The description is very interesting, and even more so if we verify its accuracy by contemplating the accompanying engraving, in which numerous carriages are seen in front of the old Royal Palace of Madrid, which burned down in 1737. It can be seen in the engraving that the floats do not have davits but that the drivers ride on one of the front horses; that they do not have windows, only with a roof and rear curtains, and that the front wheels are smaller in diameter than the rear ones; that indeed, the horse's straps are quite long and that they have little to do with being magnificent.

"The carriages of the 17th century used to be upholstered on the outside, with leather or velvet; the first ones were adorned with an infinity of golden tacks forming drawings and the others with braid, fringes and agramams. There were also some carved and painted boxes, and others They sported chiseled silver ornaments; those of gilded wood arose in the last years of the century. To protect these vehicles from dust and rain, waterproof covers were used, called waxed shells".

In Madrid, cars were part of the patrimony of the aristocracy. In the History of Vicens Vives, the inventory of the main assets, not real estate, of the Marqués de la Ensenada is recounted as follows: "The Marqués de la Ensenada was considered an unprecedented case of wealth and prodigality... According to data published by Rodríguez Villa , we know that Ensenada had gold and diamond jewelry worth 60,000 strong pesos and 276 silverware, worth 3,312 duros, not counting the one he had for his travel service, in addition, four navy uniforms and two generals, twenty-six suits and more than a hundred shirts and other undergarments... Three thousand modern volumes in his bookstore... One hundred and forty paintings by various artists (Rembrandt, Teniers, Rubens, Velázquez, etc.), a four-seater saloon and another two, two gala carriages and three country phaetons, with fourteen liveries with their pointed hats from Spain...”.

During those years, D.Torres de Villarroel writes in his Life that he "got a car" and that the minister D. José Carvajal "has taken him in his car and to his right through the streets and public walks of Madrid", corroborating the generalization of the car by those who had the means to do so, and its use in the streets and promenades of Madrid: "El Prado, a public promenade to the east of the town, is the main distraction on summer nights. It meets there in the afternoon an infinite crowd, both on foot and in a carriage".

"When they have finished -the siesta- they get on the carriage to go and be seen in the Prado where the cars go only by pace. As they move in the same direction, each one looks at the cars that walk in the other sense and greet their acquaintances every time they pass. I counted up to 400 cars on the occasion of certain notable dates; sometimes it takes two hours to cover the space of a mile".

"Car rentals for Madrid, its promenades and surroundings in Calle de Alcalá and in the Red de San Luís, Calle de la Reina and others", followed by this other one about buggies and buggies: "The buggies there are in many streets of Madrid, but those who rent them are usually in their houses, and the waiters and chalanes in the Puerta del Sol, and Plazuela de la Cebada, and the same happens with the carriages, for what will be procured for the greater convenience and see the cattle, be and adjust with the owners, most of whom live in the narrow street of San Bernardo de la Gorguera, Oriente, Peregrinos, Hileras”.

"If this trend were introduced in Madrid by proposal, it seems to me that it would have a good effect, and the public would appreciate it, which would have no difficulty in giving 4 or 5 reales per hour, as is practiced here, and in Paris, instead of 20, if you take it, even if it is only for a while in the morning, or 40, if you want it, for the whole day, which is necessary to pay the renters, and also have to go to look for their houses. It is necessary to take care of the public with conveniences, provide them and put them in plain sight. With this incentive, the renters will earn more, and every neat person with moderate conveniences would sacrifice as little interest to free themselves from the summer sun, as in winter from the annoying cobblestones".

In other words, the cars were rented either for half a day at 20 reais or for a full day at 40 reais. Paret's painting, titled: Party in the Botanical Garden, shows, in addition to the large crowd of cars, gentlemen and people on foot, the evolution of cars. Those that can be seen are sedans, characterized by the fact that the frame is formed by two parallel resistant elements on which the box is supported by means of an elastic suspension; Paret, who was, in addition to being a painter, Secretary of the Board of Architecture, of the Academy of San Fernando established for the examination of public works projects in the reign of Carlos III, died in 1799, thus the period to that corresponds to the painting coincides exactly with the period that we analyse. Other innovations in the vehicles are noteworthy: the windows that act as stoves and the position of the driver on the box and not on one of the horses as in the vehicles of the middle of the century.

The royal stables, built by Sabatini - Isabel Turmo continues telling us - could house up to 500 cavalries; They had an infirmary, stables for fodder, a hot and cold bath, forges, a blacksmith shop and a first-aid kit, and even, in the time of Fernando VII, they were extended with another new building-garage-.

Deed of Lease of the Estafeta of this town of Ponferrada

(Estafeta: the ordinary mail that goes on horseback from one place to another. Also, the house where letters are received to take them to the General Post Office).

In the town of Ponferrada, on the 20th day of September 1711, before me, a Notary Public, and witnesses, Mr. Jerónimo Parra, a resident of this town, appeared and said:

That he was obliged and obliged with his person and movable and real estate, existing and to be had, to give and pay and that he will actually pay D. Manuel Álvarez Lorenzana, Governor of the Bishop's Office of the city of Astorga and Correo Mayor de la Estafeta of said city and the districts of the towns of Benavente, Villalpando, Villagarcía, this one of Ponferrada and Villafranca, and a neighbor of the city of Astorga, by virtue of lease, seat and obligation that he has made with S.M.- may God save.- and in his name to D. Juan Francisco de Doindeche, General Post Office of the Post Office of the town of Villafranca or, to whom his power and right may have, that is, 8750rs. of current fleece currency at the time of the payments, which are due to the fact that the grantor receives a lease from D. Manuel Álvarez de Lorenzanala Estafeta of this town for time and space of 5 years that began to run on the first day of next August of this present year of 1711 and ends at the end of July of the next year of 1716, which is the same time in the that D. Manuel Álvarez is in charge of the Post Office and Post Office of the antecedent parties.

And in each of the five years Mr. Jerónimo Parra forced himself to pay 1,350 rs. in current fleece currency, at the time of the payments in three thirds and equal payments, at the end of November, at the end of March and at the end of July of each of the five years, placing and paying the amount in the city of Astorga in the power of Mr. Manuel Álvarez, or whoever has the right, execution penalty and collection costs, and the Correos Estafeta receives it for rent with the following conditions:

1.-That, due to any accident or fortuitous event that occurs, as well as the delay of the Post Office caused by floodwaters or any arrest, as well as the fact that the enemies that are operating against the Crown of Our Catholic King enter and enter these places, not for being that, has to put any discount on the rent payment.

2.-Item, that even if Mr. Manuel Álvarez Lorenzana dies, his wife's and heirs must not remove or list the use of this lease. D. Jerónimo Parra must not be able to remove this lease by D. Manuel, his wife or heirs, because during the 5 years, both for one and for the others, they must be and go through what is contained in this Deed.

3.- Item, that Mr. Jerónimo Parra has to pay and anticipate at the beginning of each of the 5 years, 875 rs. of fleece, which is half of the 8,750 rs. of fleece that must be paid each year and the amount must be paid in the city of Astorga to Mr. Manuel Álvarezo to whom his power may be, on the first day of August of each of the 5 years, plainly, penalty of execution and collection costs and 400 mrs. of wages to be paid by any person who came to her for each of the days she was employed, plus the return trips, to which the grantor was bound with his person and personal and real property, existing and to be had, and be subject to the aforementioned conditions and clauses and the others contained in the Deed that, due to the Post Office and Estafeta, has been granted by Manuel Álvarez in favor of Mr. Juan Francisco de Doindeche, General Inspector and Post Office of the Kingdoms of Spain and, as regards the Post Office of this town of Ponferrada.

And to all of which he was obliged in a proper way and, to fulfill it, he gave power to the Justices of S.M. competent authorities received it by judgment passed in res judicata, renounced all the laws, privileges and rights in his favor, in whose testimony he granted it before me Notary Public, being witnesses D. Antonio de Baeza Monroy, Francisco de Castro and José Fernández Sastre, residents of this town and the grantor, whom I attest to, signed it.

Before me,

Francisco de la Plaza

Without any right

Obligation in favor of the Real Renta de Correos

In the town of Ponferrada, on December 25, 1776, before me, Notary Public, and witnesses, Francisco Domínguez, resident of the town of Castro de Valdeorras, appeared as principal, and Francisco Taboada of this same neighboring town as guarantor and principal payer, and together in common at the voice of one and each insolidum, renouncing as they renounce the laws of duobus res divendi the authentic present of via de fide uxoribus and more of the commonwealth as in them and each one is contained in Scripture, they said:

They were obligated with their movable and real estate, already and to have, especially Francisco Domínguez as such principal driver and who will drive and carry the suitcase and Letters of correspondence from the town of Castro to the town of Viana del Bollo and, from the latter to the former twice every week on Mondays and Thursdays for Viana, and Tuesdays and Fridays for Castro in the four-year speech that will begin and contrary from January 1, 1777 that will come and will end on the last day of December of the coming year of 1780, for each year with another 4 years for the salary of 6,000 fleece reals paid in three thirds completed and served: the end of April, the end of August and the end of December that have to be paid, whose payment has to be obligated in the Post Office of this town of Ponferrada to whose payment the current Administration must be obliged by itself and on behalf of the others that succeed or replace it and, in the event that due to carelessness or negligence or lateness these grantors have a delay in the handling of the bags or they are lost Some of them consent to be responsible for the damages and losses that follow the aforementioned Real Renta de Correos and the public..., and to this be executed, compelled and forced by prison and more rigor of law and without obligation.

Mortgage:

The aforementioned Francisco Domínguez for the security and firmness of what was related, a meadow to give three loads of grass to the site of Parda and dezmario of San Sebastián de Piñeiro and to find the meadow of Ángel López and to the West with the grove of Pedro Rodríguez, residents of the Castro, a sale of 16 wages in the lot of the Modorrón of that decimary of Sobrado de Trives that borders on the East with one of Pedro Rodríguez and on the West with one of Pedro López and, to the North, with another of Pedro Jáñez, a neighbor of the Castro, whose assets belong to the aforementioned Domínguez, free of all charges, as he swears by God Our Lord and a Cross in the form of Law, which he will not sell or dispose of in any way, penalty that if he If the contrary is done, it is null and void of any value or effect, because they remain as they are bound by the provisions of this Deed.

And, with Pedro Hernández, current Administrator of the Real Rent of this town, being present, aware of the agreement in this Deed, as such Administrator and name of the Real Rent and, by virtue of this, they will remove Mr. José Antonio López, General Administrator of the de la Cruña on the date of next November 25, this Deed will pass in everything and for everything, according to and in accordance with what is expressed in it, its consequence is obliged and obliged to give and pay and that it will really give and pay and with effect to the aforementioned Francisco Domínguez the expressed 600 rs, of fleece to be received in this Administration from his hand or from the person who in it and employment substitutes a pay if necessary, will consent to be executed, compelled and coerced by all rigor of law and, for rather comply with each part for what it touches, with everything that is expressed, they gave power to the Justices of S.M. of their competent jurisdiction and with special subjection to the jurisdiction and jurisdiction of the Judges, Administrators and Justices of the Royal Mail and Post Office Income-group of cavalries that were stationed on the roads at a distance of 2 or 3 leagues so that the shots, belts ...could be renewed -from inside and outside the Kingdom so that this is the responsibility of her as by a sentence passed in res judicata and they renounced the laws, privileges and rights in their favor, with the general in shape.

And I, Notary Public, warned them of the taking of reason in the Mortgage Office, penalty of rendering this Deed invalid in terms of persecuting the assets declared and defined therein.

And in this agreement they granted it, being witnesses José Quiroga, a resident of Villanueva de Valdeorras, Miguel Santín and D. José Valcarce, residents of this town and, the grantors, whom I know and attest, signed the one who knew and for those who said they did not know, one of the witnesses did so, at their request, and I signed. Before me,

Jose Verea

Note:

Expenses collected by Mr. Francisco González Carbajo in the Curatorship of the minor Mr. Juan Antonio Rodríguez, a native of Villar de los Barrios and a student of the Jesuit College in Villafranca del Bierzo:

In the year 1766, and for transportation to Villafranca del Menor, 26 rs.

19 rs. of the size of sending the minor to Villafranca for the first leg.

In the year of 1,768.4 rs. for the bearing of bringing the minor's clothes to fix it.

Item, 8 rs. for the cost of taking clothes to Villafranca for the cost of returning.

Power of attorney from the Council of Foncebadón to Mr. Pedro Abella, Prebendary, and Ignacio Piñeiro and Lucas del Palacio.

In the place of Foncebadón, on April 15, 1784, before me, Notary Public of the King Our Lord, and witnesses, the neighbors and the Council summoned by summons of the Attorney General, as they have it, appeared together present in the usual place for special use and, notably, Mr. Bartolomé Martínez, Ordinary Judge, Lucas Fernández, Councilor, Ventura del Río, Trustee, Lucas del Palacio, Ignacio Piñeiro, José Otero, Tomé Fernández, Manuel del Río, Jerónimo de Juana, Pascual Fernández, Pedro del Palacio Calvo, Julián Martínez and Lázaro Castro, all residents of this place that is presently in it, which I, Notary Public, certify and, for the absent sick and legitimately handicapped who have not been able to gather, lent voice and security in the form de ratto gratto, pacto iudicatum solving that they will be and will go through what was said and granted by those present, under express obligation that they made of the assets and income of this common, and thus together in agreement they said:

That, due to the fact that this town is located at the entrance of the most dangerous part of the Port and Camino Real, with the greatest concourse where the downspouts of the Kingdoms of Castilla and Galicia necessarily travel, with the frequent winters and excessive snow, several Sometimes misfortunes in its term, finding some passengers buried in the snow, some passengers, and drowned by the rigors of time and streams, with which many residents are forced by Justice to guard the corpses for two or three days in the mountains. , with the same danger of perishing everything to refute that the beasts destroy them, because the roads and sidewalks are covered with great abundance of snow, it is not possible to find a Notary to attend the proceedings that, in such a case, They must be executed and that when they arrive after a few days, the bodies of the corpses are found to be corrupted before they are buried with the danger of infection to the attending neighbors, in addition to causing these expenses and costs in the payment of salaries of the Notary, travel, consultancies and other rights that originate, for whose remedy,

They grant that they give all their fulfilled and necessary power, plus and may be worth to Mr. D.Pedro Abella and Alfonso, Prebendary and Parish Priest of this place and to Ignacio Piñeiro and Lucas del Palacio, to all three and, to each one in solidum, with an express clause that they can be replaced and sworn in by the person or persons they deem, and the times they wish to revoke the substitutes and appoint others, again especially and notably so that in the name of the Council and neighbors they appear before H.M. and Gentlemen of their Royal and Supreme Council and other Courts that may be necessary and convenient in relation to what is expressed here and more than the case leads, request that they order that, from now on, the current Justice will come to the people and the successors in their employment have the power, without incurring any penalty, to lift and carry the corpses to the town that were found in their district with the assistance only of the Faithful of Dates and three or four witnesses of the town, putting by faith of the Faithful of Dates the statements that said witnesses and these corpses being with the most diligence, until giving them ecclesiastical burial in order to avoid by this means the serious damages and expenses referred to.

Other yes, give and grant equal power to the aforementioned and with the same clauses of their good so that regarding the Titled Abbot of Foncebadón appoint a Governor or Judge of Appeal who is on the pretext of such, comes to take Residence without attending to the short number of neighbors, who do not exceed 20 and only in order to bring him with his Notary and audience high salaries being prohibited by Royal Laws similar residences that in this town for being alone without any other addition and of no common utility does not have to bear the expenses that they cause unless it is by distribution in which all are included, depriving themselves of their own food from the territory with extreme poverty due to the uselessness of the territory appear before said Lords of the Royal and Supreme Council and ask them to free their Royal Provision for the appointed Governor and any other to refrain from such residences and that there is no room for this, at least the visit that they carry out without official notice, without any salary as is practiced in other jurisdictions with an even greater number of residents and until obtaining both instances present the petitions, testimonies, memorials and more documents necessary than the special power of attorney and enough that for everything referred to and its incidents the same is required, they remain to the attorneys and to each are given with free frank and General Administration, obligation to assets and bond in the form.

And so they firmly granted it with power to the Justices of S.M. of their competent jurisdiction and jurisdiction, submission to them force of sentence and waiver of laws, before me, Notary, being witnesses Dictino de la Fuente, a native of the place of Acebo, Patricio Marqués, a native of Fabero and D. Juan Martínez Cepedano, a native of the place of Foncebadón.

Of the grantors that I am aware of, Notary Public, signed those who knew and, for those who did not, a witness at their request. And in faith thereof, I signed it

Before me,

Ignacio Pineiro

Deposit in favor of the rent of the Post Office of this town in Ponferrada

In the town of Ponferrada, on October 18, 1821, before me, and undersigned witnesses, Mr. Ceferino Montenegro, Postmaster of it and its District, appeared present and said:

It has been officiated by Mr. Post Office Administrator of Benavente on the 17th of next September, having approved the General Directors of Revenue, the auction of the Parada de Cubillos and held in the town of Benavente on the previous August 30 in D. Nemesio Fernández, of this neighborhood, in the annual amount of 14,000 rs., ordering him to immediately guarantee the good service of the Stop, under the following conditions.

Plan Conditions:

1.-Conditions to serve the post stop located in Cubillos del Bierzo:

In the Deed it will be said that the obligation of this Postmaster is to serve the Parada under the conditions that will be stated below:

That the stop must be served for three years that will begin on the day the General Directorate approves the Deed, for which obligation the amount of 14,000 rs. annual. Condition will be that the Post Stop located in Cubillos must have six horses and three Portillions, with all the necessary equipment for the service of this Stop

The horses must be capable of performing the service to the satisfaction of the Administrator or his successors.

That the horses must be well maintained so that they can carry out their duties and by not doing so, the Administrator may fine the Postmaster, depending on the offense committed.

That any horse that is not useful or acquires some defect or incurable disease, must be replaced with another for service purposes.

That all the time that the replacement takes to be verified, what corresponds will be reduced from the allocation, executing the same if, pretending to have the obligatory horses, the lack of any is found out, so that if not in contingent misfortunes there will be no dissimulation and faults regarding dissimulation will be punished and faults related to carelessness and little diligence in amending them will be punished.

That they must have all the necessary tack to carry out their obligation and a Portillion for each of the horses.

That they must continuously have two horses in the manger for whatever may happen and on the days the Post leaves the necessary ones so that there is not the slightest neglect when they leave, so important to the national service.

That for no reason or pretext should they request extraordinary cost aid or bother the General Post Office with representation, but rather that they have to comply exactly with everything that is stipulated.

The horses that comprise the Parade must be of the necessary age and strength in which the Principal Administrator will pay the greatest care and attention, giving himself the power to discard or make shed any that are not appropriate for the attempt and otherwise Otherwise, the Master of Posts will compensate the damages and losses that originate from them, also repeating against the Administrator if due to his omission in the recognition he had suffered negligence or fault.

So that the things that are expressed in the Scriptures have due compliance, the Post Master who contracts again will give the competent bonds that will be up to the amount needed to buy the horses that comprise the Parade and their maintenance by means or in cash and double in real estate, and at the end of the auction will present a rooted person who strengthens the bankruptcy.

And lastly, that if in the acknowledgment made by the Administrators in the terms expressed, they notice that the horses are bad or incomplete, that there is no stock and number of horses for their maintenance or that they are in short supply and, in a word, that contravenes any of the conditions of the contract, they will have the discretion to repeat against the Master of the Gate and the goods and signed by all rigor of law to enforce it or to proceed to a new contract, paying the damages for the non-observance cause the novelty.

This stall has six horses and three gates.

Solórzano: and using the faculties conferred by the aforementioned official letter to Mr. Ceferino Montenegro, once again informed Mr. Nemesio Fernández of the plan of conditions, who having answered that he was, to his satisfaction, I attest, said: I was soon to constitute the obligation and guarantee that is proposed and putting it into execution by the tenor of the present and in that way and form that there is more place in Law and firm is, as principal and D. Pedro Piensos likewise of this neighborhood as his guarantor and main payer and obligated doing as he does of foreign debt and business of his own, jointly and jointly with express waiver of the laws of joint venture and bond, division and excursion of assets and the authentic present of ita de fide uxoribus, with most of the commonwealth and movable property, real estate, existing and to be had, to which D. Nemesio will comply promptly and exactly with all the conditions that have been exposed above and where not D. Pedro Piensos, as such his guarantor and main fulfiler, for what is put in the proper place of law and advance, and Mr. Nemesio wants and consents common person to understand how many steps should be with him for being instructed to his satisfaction of the conditions of the auction of the Post that he gives here to be inserted and repeated as if they were to the letter, so that they harm him according to his tenor and form,

And without the just obligation that he has made of his person and property, repeals or harms the space company or, on the contrary, one of the other, but rather that both rights and resources can be used in the aforementioned clause.

1. Pedro Piensos, mortgages the insurance of the Parada de Postas and to the observance and fulfillment of its conditions the free real estate: a new house with two storeys and its warehouse in the Plaza Mayor de la Encina, with whom it adjoins to the East and to the North with the house of D. José Vicente Casal and to the South with another of D.ª Teresa de Castro, both of this town with the foral charge of 100 rs. which are paid to the Ecclesiastical Council of the latter, reduced by 30,000 reales de vellón.

Another house on Calle del Santo Cristo of this aforementioned high and low town with a cellar, orchard and well that adjoins to the West with said street, to the South with the house of D. Eugenio Valcarce, a neighbor of hers and to the North with another of the Sanctuary of María Santísima de la Encina, being for free its value 14,000 rs., whose houses are their own and as such the Mortgage with the main observation and compliance of the Post Office of the town of Cubillos, according to the inserted conditions, which it will not sell or dispose of in any way, nor this lien and the one specified above that does not have any other, penalty that the Deed o Deeds are null and void of any value and effect.

And to comply, the principal and guarantor give powers to the Justices of S.M. of her jurisdiction competent of her that compel and press her as by sentence passed in authority of res judicata, they renounce the laws, privileges and rights of her favor and the general in form.

And so they grant it before me, Notary Public, being witnesses Mr. José Antonio González Rodríguez, Mr. José Ortiz and D. Antonio Rey, her neighbors, the grantors that I attest to know signed it, Likewise, having warned them of the obligation to make a copy of this Deed and take account of it in the Mortgage Office of this Party in accordance with the Royal Pragmatics of the matter in the term provided in it under the penalties that it includes.

Before me,

Manuel González Varela

Registered in the first book of fixed rights, fourth class, article nine, number 66.

On the back of the eighth folio of the book, he paid 20 rs.

Ponferrada, October 26 of 1821.

I received,

Fernandez Tapia

Deed of Mail Obligation from this town to Castro de Valdeorras

In the town of Ponferrada, on December 17, 1769, before me, a Notary Public, and witnesses appeared on the one hand Mr. José Juárez Pimentel, neighbor and Post Office Administrator of her and, on the other, Mr. Francisco Castro and Ossorio, a neighbor of Molinaseca, and said:

That, since Mr. José has an order from Mr. José López, General Director of the Post Office of the Indies and General Administrator of the Post Office of the Kingdom of Galicia since the current month that it was exhibited to me and collected by D .José Juárez to be able to notarize or lease the conduct of letters from the Post Office from this town to the Valle de Valdeorras and, from there to that of Castro del Valle, it is done in favor of D. Francisco de Castro by virtue of the present order and, by virtue of said order, for a period of time and space of four years that begin on the first day of January of the next coming year of 1770 and will expire at the end of December 1774, in the same agreement that until now served the conduction of Estafeta from this town of Villafranca to Castro de Valdeorras , Francisco Domínguez taking it and doing it from this town to that one on Sunday and Wednesday of each week, for 800 rs. of fleece that, in each of the four years, will be given and paid to the aforementioned D. Francisco monthly in this regard. of the amount in the Estafeta of this expressed town penalty of execution and costs of the collection to which Mr. José Juárez is obligated in form, in the name of the Real Renta de Correos with the goods and effects that in this case can and should From time to time, the aforementioned D. Francisco de Castro was obliged and obliged with his person and movable and real estate, existing and to be had, to serve as the conductor of Mail Letters from this town and Estafeta to that of Castro de Valdeorras, from a to another and from this one to that one, taking and bringing their respective correspondence on Sunday and Wednesday of each week of the next four years to come in the same manner as Francisco Domínguez did until now from the town of Villafranca to this Estafeta del Castro de Valdeorras and of it without any omission or fault, nor that considerable delays of any damage to the Royal Treasury or person, Council or any community are originated, penalty of suffering the fines that are imposed by the Judges General Administrators of the Rent of Correos for the expressed amount that has to be given in the form that is said.

And so that he would rather comply with it, he gave his consent to Matías Martínez as his guarantor, who, being present and doing as in this case, makes his own debt and business of another's and, being as you confess, aware of the right that belongs to him, is constituted by such and obliged himself with his person and movable and real estate, existing and to be had, that D. Francisco de Castro will do and execute everything that he has promised and hereby considers all damages repeated and where not, he is his guarantor without waiting for the end or any term...

Mortgage:

A high and low house with a cellar in the town of Molinaseca and on its main street that adjoins to the Midday and West with another of El Horno in the town and the house of Manuel Carro, her neighbor, the one that is worth for sale 8,800 rs, for fleece and it is free of all cargo and will not sell it if the one that now imposes a nullity penalty.

And both parties, in order to comply, gave enough power to the Justices of S.M. competent authorities and, in particular, to the Judges General Postal Directors who compel him to do so as by judgment passed in res judicata, renounce all the laws of their jurisdiction and rights in their favor with the General in form and proper jurisdiction, jurisdiction and home.

And so they granted it before me, Notary Public, being witnesses: Antonio de Sotto, D.José Baylina, residents of this town, and Tomás Pérez of the aforementioned Molinaseca and of the grantors, whom I attest to, signed by those who knew and, for the one who did not, one of the witnesses.

Before me,

Antonio Javier de Carus

Filled out on the second seal with warning that the reason be taken from him and that he would not vouch for the one included.

I attest.

Power of attorney to Mr. Antonio Sotto, Postmaster of Astorga

D.Pedro Pascasio Hernández, a resident of this town in Ponferrada, I grant and give all my power of attorney, the one that is required by Law and is necessary, the more it can and should be worth, to D.Antonio Sotto, Post Office Administrator of the City of Astorga, so that, in my name and representing my own person, action and right, I take to Redeemable Census of the Convent and Religious of Sancti Spiritus of the City, the amount of 300 fleece ducats, granting this individual the competent Deed of Imposition with all the clauses, circumstances and requirements that are required for its validation, forcing its fixity and security for the general obligation all my assets, as well as movable and real estate, existing and to be had, and by the special and express those that result from memorial that before now I have remitted for its attainment those that I confess to be my own, free of all charges, sufficient and substantial for the payment of principal and income, inserted herein as if they were to the letter and, likewise, so that there is, receives and collects the amount giving from it the competent Letter of Payment that, from now on when it takes effect I approve, confirm and ratify and I want it to have the same validation and firmness as if it were present by me, being that the general special power of attorney and enough for all the aforementioned and oblige me to pay Census revenues in this regard of 3% according to the latest Real Pragmática de S .M. May God preserve, in the interim its capital is not redeemed and taken away and to put the amount annually in the hands and power of the Mayordomo who is or was of the Convent, the same is required, I give it with free general administration, obligation and relief in form.

And that due to lack of power, enough circumstance or requirement that is not expressed here, not for that reason it must not have the most complete effect, everything that I will act by virtue of it and to its firmness and validation I oblige my person and movable and real property, having and for having

And by firmness, he granted it with the power of Justice and Waiver of the laws, before the present Notary Public, in this aforementioned town of Ponferrada on the first of March 1787, as witnesses: Pedro Santín Fernández, Ángel Martínez del Pozo and Mr. José Gazalla y Buelta, neighbors and the grantor, whom I attest to, signed and signed it.

Before me,

Manuel González Varela.

I gave transfer with second seal, day six.

I attest

Obligation in favor of the Real Renta de Correos

In the town of Ponferrada, on June 30, 1797, before me, Notary Public, and undersigned witnesses, appeared D. Pedro José de Villalobos and D.ª Juana Valcarce, his wife, from this neighborhood and said:

That having been commissioned by the General Post Office to the Corregidor Knight of the town of Bembibre, Francisco Javier Aragón, for the admission of bids and auction of the two stops from Manzanal and Bembibre to Villafranca by the highway that is being built through Congosto and Cubillos , different bidders appeared and, having arrived the day and time to celebrate it, the aforementioned D.Pedro José de Villalobos was the most beneficial bidder, in the amount of 27,000 rs. de vellón, the two stops for an open year, whose race will begin in the entire month of next August, which is when it is conceptualized, will be concluded or enabled under the following conditions that, at least, are contained in the auction held on the 28th day of the one that awaits before the so-called Caballero Corregidor de Bembibre, Commissioner for that purpose by the aforementioned General Directorate, being one of them that of having the statement D. Pedro in each of the two stops eight horses of all fatigue and good service fit and suitable to be able to do or well six in the event that the Ordinary Correspondence directs it by car, for which and that the public or the King -may God save-, have the slightest just complaint in the prompt and best service of the aforementioned two stops and, likewise , that on account of the last third, the expressed D. Pedro must receive the 8,000 rs. that they have to be advanced from his credit for the same rent to help make the preventions in a timely manner for the maintenance of the horses, granting in his reason the competent Deed of Obligation together with the one expressed by his consort, according to the letters addressed to the effect that remains in my power Notary to which I refer.

And for him to have the aforementionedD. Pedro José de Villalobos and D.ª Juana Valcarce, his wife, prior permission and license that one to the other in such cases is required and necessary, that if it has been requested, granted and accepted, I attest to it, using together and jointly with express waiver of the laws of the commonwealth, division and excursion of assets, as contained therein, are bound with their persons and movable and real estate, existing and to be had, to whom the aforementioned D. Pedro in whom both have been auctioned off Manzanal and Bembibre stops, anticipating 8,000 rs. For the purposes indicated above, he will observe and comply very punctually with the obligation established by virtue of the aforementioned auction, of having to have two ready stops at each of the aforementioned stops and in a position to be able to run the 8 or 6 horses with the grooms. warned by my instruction, as well as all the other conditions specified in the auction to which he was present and signed in the same act that he gives here by inserted and repeated as if they were to the letter and want to harm them according to their tenor and form, to which, if necessary, they consent to be compelled and compelled by all rigor and account of their assets and to comply and be firm, they give power to the Justices of S.M. of their competent jurisdiction that compels them and compels them as by sentence passed in authority of res judicata, they renounce the laws, jurisdictions and rights of their favor and the general one in form, subjecting themselves to greater abundance to the Court of Income of the Post Office from now on It will make the case that it is necessary to carry out some judicial procedure due to the fulfillment of this contract.

And D.ª Juana Valcarce renounces, likewise, her dowry, earnest money and hereditary and community paraphernalia and the laws of Emperor Valeriano, Justiniano, Senatus Consultus, New and Old Constitution with the most of her favor and Swears by God Our Lord and a sign of the Cross in such a way that, to grant this Deed, she has not been induced, forced or frightened by her husband or another person in his name, but she does it of her free and spontaneous will to become her usefulness and benefit, and This oath is not requested nor will it request absolution, relaxation from His Holiness, his Delegate Nuncio, or another Judge or Prelate who can grant it and if granted, he will not use the penalty of perjury and of falling in case of less value.

And so they grant it before me, Notary Public, as witnesses: Pedro Pascasio Morán, Pedro Piensos and José Ortiz, residents and natives of this mentioned town and, the grantors whom I attest to, signed and signed it.

Before me,

Manuel González Varela.

I gave transfer in seal first on the day of the date, I certify.

Documentary Source:

Provincial Historical Archive of León

Section: Notarial Protocols.

Boxes, 2,278, 2,347, 2,389, 2,405, 2,490, 2,567, 2,707

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