Archival Note: Archivo del Duque del Infantado

Abstract

THE Gui'a de fuentes para la historia de Ibero-America is already proving an excellent tool for students of colonial Hispanic America.' This note calls attention to some additional colonial American materials found in one of the archives the guide describes so well: the Archivo del Duque del Infantado (ADI) in Madrid.2 The ADI contains over 30 folio-size, vellum-bound volumes of papers of Juan de Mendoza y Luna, Marques de Montesclaros. Over half of these relate to America; almost all the documents are manuscript, and mainly cover the period from 1590 to 1630. They are notable for the geographic variety of their subject matter and the quality of many individual pieces. Rather than Montesclaros' own correspondence, such as might be found in the Archivo General de las Indias (AGI), Lima 35-36, they are the sources the viceroy probably used in writing such letters. The documents relating to New Spain, where Montesclaros was viceroy from 1603 to 1607, have no particular focus. Among them are viceregal and audiencia ordinances and descriptions of Sinaloa and San Juan de Ulloa. There are quite a few documents from the Far East, some detailing early missionary activities. Peruvian materials constitute the greatest volume of American papers in the collection and are fullest for the years 1607 to 1615, when Montesclaros was viceroy there. Notable is an account of the inhabitants in Concepci6n and other central Chilean towns, recording for these places the names of all vecinos and moradores. Many,