Archivo de las Indias in Seville

 The Archivo de las Indias in Seville is a bit like the British Library: it is free to enter and you can see some of the most interesting documents there. Of course all the documents are post-Columbus, as “las Indias” really means America here. The documents are hand-written, one can see the delelopement of document hand. The earliest, like the treaty of Tordesillas of 1494, are written basically in style of mediaeval documents, later documents (some of which are dated) show the developments of later styles.

There are no Neudorfer-style fraktur initials, but in some documents we see clearly Baroque flourishes.

The treaty of Tordesillas

The treaty of Tordesillas

Charge against Hernan Cortes, 1533 

Charge against Hernan Cortes, 1533

Charge against Hernan Cortes, 1533

Charge against Hernan Cortes, 1533

Charge against Hernan Cortes, 1533

Document of 1663

Document of 1663

Document of 1665

Document of 1665

Document of 1665

Warning about English pirates, 1683

Document of 1744