Archives of Spain - PARES
archives: (noun) a collection of historical documents or records providing information about a place, institution, or group of people.
PARES - Portal de Archivos Españoles
The Spanish Archives Portal (PARES) was created by the Ministry of Culture of Spain as a platform for the dissemination of archival information prepared by the network of eleven state-owned archives.
PARES includes the following archives:
- Archivo de la Corona de Aragón
- Archivo General de Simancas*
- Archivo de la Real Chancillería de Valladolid*
- Archivo General de Indias*
- Archivo Histórico Nacional*
- Archivo General de la Administración
- Centro Documental de la Memoria Histórica
- Sección Nobleza Archivo Histórico Nacional
- Archivo Central de Cultura
- Archivo Central de la
- Secretaría de Estado de Educación
*These are of particular interest to Cuban genealogists.
IMPORTANT: Please contact, and credit, the CGC if you use any part of this collection by sending an email to secretary@cubangenclub.org
Archivo General de Indias
Edificio de la Lonja
Av. de la Constitución, 3
Edificio de La Cilla
C/ Santo Tomás, 5
41071 Sevilla
The Archivo General de Indias (General Archive of the Indies) is the repository of extremely valuable archival documents illustrating the history of the Spanish Empire in the Americas and the Philippines.
Partial Catalog of the Documents in Section XI (Cuba) of the General Archives of the Indies
Papeles Procedentes de Cuba
The Papeles Procedentes de Cuba is a section of the Archivo General de Indias in Sevilla holding records of the Spanish colonies throughout the Caribbean and on the North American continent. They contain documentation from the mid-seventeenth century well into the nineteenth century and are particularly rich for the period from circa 1760 to 1821.
Collection at University of Florida - PK Yonge Library
The Reales Cajas legajos of both East and West Florida found in the Papeles Procedentes de Cuba contain the most complete New World treasury records in existence. The calendar of the P.K. Yonge Library’s holdings of the Papeles Procedentes de Cuba incorporates about 60,000 catalog cards. The collection is organized by legajo number and then by date within each legajo. Individual reference entries generally represent documents, but may represent various document details, depending on what the legajo contains (letters, court cases, etc).
Descriptive catalogue of the documents relating to the history of the United States in the Papeles Procedentes de Cuba deposited in the Archivo General de Indias at Seville by Roscoe Hill (1880)
Catalog of Passengers to the Indies during the XVI, XVII and XVIII Centuries
The authors are Luis Romera Iruela; María del Carmen Galbis Díez; Archivo General de Indias
Volume V (1567-1577) / Book I (1567-1574) and includes an alphabetical index
Volume V (1567-1577) / Book II (1575-1577) and includes an alphabetical index
Archivo General de Simancas
Catálogo XXII del Archivo de Simancas : Secretaría de Guerra (siglo XVIII) : hojas de servicios de América. (Service Records)
Published: Valladolid : Patronato Nacional de Archivos Históricos, 1958.
Available at Florida International University’s Green Library
Special Collection Dept.. – Call # CD1858.L3A49 1958
Service Records prior to 1809 in the following LDS Church DIGITIZED microfilms:
Hojas de Servicio de Militares en Cuba 1765-1809, Secretaria de Guerra, Simancas
(Spaniards in Cuba; military service records, 1765-1809)
Film #1156324 (Legajo 7259)
Film #1156325 (Legajo 7260)
Film #1156326 (Legajo 7261)
Film #1156327 (Legajo 7262)
Film #1156328 (Legajo 7263)
Film #1156329 (Legajo 7264 & 7265)
Link to digitized microfilms
Surname Index to the Service Records Noted Above
Catálogo XXII del Archivo de Simancas, Secretaría de Guerra (Siglo XVIII), Hojas de Servicios de América
Available at Florida International University’s Green Library (Special Collection Dept.. – Call # CD1858.L3A49 1958)
List of Individuals from Catalunya Residing in La Habana - 27 Jan 1797
Archivo General Militar de Segovia
The Archivo General Militar de Segovia (General Military Archive of Segovia) holds more than 62,000 files containing personal files from the 15th to the 20th centuries with the majority being from the 18th and 19th century. Within the personal files you will find information about the soldier
such as their service record and their baptism record.
The records of those that served in the Americas are found in the General Archive of Simancas.
These records include the following places: Buenos Aires, Cuba, Chile, Philippines, Guatemala, Nueva España (originally Mexico and Central America except Panama), Viceroyalty of Peru (originally included most of Spanish South America),
and Indias (Florida, Puerto Rico y Venezuela)
Archivo General Militar de Segovia; índice de expedientes personales.
Author: Archivo General Militar de Segovia (Spain)
Published: Madrid, Ediciones Hidalguía, 1959-1963.
Link to Biblioteca Virtual del Ministerio de Defensa: 9 downloadable volumes in PDF
(9 Volumes – Organized by Surname)
Vol I – A-Blum
Vol II – Bo-Chy
Vil III – D-Garces
Vol IV – Garci – H
Vol V – I – Mazzini
Vol VI – Meabe-Pereyra
Vol VII – Perez-Samuel
Vol VIII – San Agustin-Vazquez
Vol IX – Vea-Zuzuarregui
If you find your ancestor in the index, you then must write to the archive giving the information you found in the index.
They will then inform you of the available documents and the cost of reproduction.
Physical book available at Florida International University’s Green Library (Special Collection Dept.. – Call # U11.S7A73)
Index, by Surname, created by Hispagen
Source: Hispagen, 2010, www.hispagen.es
Indice de los expedientes matrimoniales de militares y marinos que se conservan en el Archivo General Militar, 1761-1865
(2 Books)
Author: Ocerín, Enrique de Conde de Abasolo
Published: Madrid, 1959
Physical book available at Florida International University’s Green Library (Special Collection Dept.. – Call # CS956.R4O25)
"Limpieza de Sangre" or Purity of Blood
“Limpieza de sangre”, or purity of blood, is a term that was used in ancient times as a requirement for access to public office; such as brotherhoods, religious orders, guilds, military orders, etc., which did not allow the mixture of races, a rather discriminatory issue for some and full of pride for others, who could demonstrate the “purity of their blood.” These 16th-century laws strengthened the laws against anyone of Jewish ancestry and were more racial than religious in nature.
Purity of blood was a matter of honor, it demonstrated before everyone else not having ancestors of another religion, and it excluded all converts and their descendants, being more social than a legal issue. Therefore, a social distinction was made: those who were from a family of old Christians and the rest, descendants of converts, Jews, or Muslims, in the case of New Spain, belonged to another caste: Indians, blacks, and mulattoes among others.
The “Limpieza de Sangre” Statutes
What were they?
The Statutes of “Limpieza de Sangre” were procedures derived from the European Inquisition, in which the genealogy of the applicants (the parents, the four grandparents, and in certain cases up to 7 generations) was required for admission, in different fields of religious, military, labor and cultural. The purpose was to demonstrate that they had their ‘clean blood’, that is to say, that their ancestors were always Catholic, demonstrating that they were not new converts (especially Jews, but also Muslims, Christianized blacks, or heretics.) The 1st Statute was issued on June 5, 1449, when the mayor of Toledo, Pedro Sarmiento, headed a persecution of the converts of the city for having helped collect a new tax so that the Constable of Castile, Don Álvaro de Luna, would have money to support the war with Aragon.
When did they start to rule?
Formal education was only reserved for elite men: you had to be a man, a legitimate son, and prove “clean blood” to be able to access a career. It was required for the first time for access to public office. Later, and throughout the 16th century, it was required for admission to colleges.
Sources:
- https://www.britannica.com
- FamilySearch.org – https://www.familysearch.org/es/wiki/La_limpieza_de_sangre
Where can I find these documents?
For Spain:
- For information on purity of blood: the Archivo Histórico de la Nobleza or the Archivo Histórico Nacional
- The Ejecutorias de Hidalguía are in the Archivo de la Real Chancillería
- The Vizcainías are in the Archivo de la Real Chancillería de Valladolid
- For universities: the Archivo Histórico Nacional
- For soldiers: the Archivo de Segovia and in Guardias Marinas
For Cuba:
- They may be in the Archivo Nacional, or in the Oficina del Historiador (de La Habana.)
- If it is for someone who studied at the University of Havana, in the University archive.
- In the Archbishopric: the cleansing of Aspirants to the Priesthood and the Chaplaincies (las capellanías.)
Online Archives in Spain
Civil Registry – Seville, Spain
The following Excel database was transcribed by volunteers of the Yahoo Group “GenSevilla”.
PLEASE NOTE: You must download the files below to your computer to view them on Excel.
Matrimonios – 1841-1882 – Registro Civil de Sevilla – Download
Defunciones – 1841-1882 – Registro Civil de Sevilla – Download
Hispagen Documental Archive – Spain
Hispagen is the Spanish Genealogical Association. The link will take you to their documental archive.
Spain – Record Finder
Courtesy of FamilySearch.org’s Research Wiki
Spain Civil Registration – General Information
Courtesy of FamilySearch.org’s Research Wiki