Royal Seals in the Courts

The Royal Audience and Chancery Court of Granada is a high court of justice, originally established by the Catholic Monarchs in Ciudad Real, in 1494.

Its jurisdiction encompassed all the territories in the Crown of Castile region to the south of the River Tajo.

It was moved to Granada in 1505, where it remained until 1834 when the legal system defined by the Constitution of Cádiz was introduced.

When a new monarch took the throne, the seals of the previous incumbent would be destroyed.

New seals were brought to Granada with great pomp and circumstance.

Once received, they were carefully placed within the "casa del sello," a safe room within the Chancery Palace.

The chancellor was responsible for sealing documents issued by chanceries and offices who had the right to do so: councils and the Treasury.

The role of Chancellor of the Great Seal was linked to the Manrique family from the time of García Fernández Manrique, the first Marqués de Aguilar, during the reign of John II of Castile.

Silver stamps were used to make the dry seals that all the paper documents issued by the Chancery had to carry. A steel or turquoise stamp would be used to melt the lead seal that was placed on parchment documents.

There was one Chancellor of the Great Seal in Castile and he positioned his deputies within the chanceries of Granada and Valladolid.

The Dry Seal of the Catholic Monarchs

Provisions issued on paper by audiences, chanceries, and councils were validated with a dry seal.

The secret seal was used to validate confidential provisions issued by the "Acuerdo del Crimen" at the chanceries.

Both stamps had their own register with copies of the documents issued.

Dry Seals Used During the Reign of Carlos I

At the Audience and Chancery Court of Granada three figures were involved in issuing royal documents from the "tabla del sello." The chancellor's deputy, the registrar, and, from 1640, an accountant.

The secret seal was used to validate confidential royal provisions sent by the "Real Acuerdo" to assist the criminal courts in special cases. They served as a catalyst in certain affairs that demanded discretion. The secret seal was recorded in its own special register.

There is a catalogue of the fixtures and fittings of the seal room at the Royal Chancery of Granada. It details the requirements to be met by the officials of the "tabla del sello" to fulfill their duties.

The role of the document register was essential at the Royal Chancery. It ensured that no letter could be sent for sealing without having been previously entered in the ledger. This condition meant that a document could only be entered if the secretary or scribe endorsing it detailed the issuance fees, registration, and seal on the back of the document.

Although seals were meant to be destroyed when a king died, the last two have survived.

The seal matrix used in the wax seal during the reign of Fernando VII (1808/1814–23) is kept at the High Court of Justice of Andalusia in Granada.

During the reign of Isabel II, royal provisions ceased to be issued and wax seals were no longer used. The new methods of the Department of Justice and, crucially, changes in legal procedure rendered the use of these official documents redundant as new high court procedures were implemented.

The appropriate courts within the chanceries heard cases put forward noblemen for their elevated status to be recognized by the councils where they had taken up residence. Once granted, this condition also allowed them access to government council bodies.

It was in the chanceries, in front of just a small number of representatives of the Crown of Castile that these pleas for nobility were heard. Courts were specially allocated to administer this type of jurisdiction.

The only legal way to gain noble status, was to make a nobility claim via a possessory or ownership claim in a provisional proceeding, presenting proof ad perpetuam rei, and providing further provisions.

Nobility claims were heard up to three times depending on the rank of the appeal. Firstly, in the court for nobility claims, the "Sala de Hijosdalgo," then in front of the "oidores," and finally in front of the same "oidores" as a retrial. Either way, the process would begin and end within the confines of the Chancery.

The plea put before the court for nobility claims would end with a royal letters patent of nobility as a final, irreversible judgment.

The letters patent is the legal document through which a final ruling is issued. Issued by royal provision with diplomatic status they are a summary of the case whose rulings, whether interlocutory or final, are included and issued.

Depending on the economic power of the person in receipt of the letters patent, these documents could be embellished with miniature portraits and written with a varying degree of care. They could be richly bound in leather stretched over wood, or in sumptuous fabrics with embossed irons, metal decorations, and clasps made from an abundance of fine materials. And always with a handsome lead seal hanging from colored silk threads.

In the event of a successful nobility claim, a royal letters patent would be issued. From that moment on, the council would receive the claimant as a nobleman and consider him and his descendants as such.

The financial privileges include exemption from paying tax and tolls to the crown.