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Category: Collections

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Royal Blood: Exploring Ancestral Claims to Nobility in the Spanish Kingdom

Posted by: Stephen Mayeaux

The following is a guest post by Johannah Ball, who served as a fall 2021 remote intern transcribing and researching documents in the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress.  Herencia is a rich collection of Spanish government documents from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Many documents fit into definite …

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17th Century Wardrobe Regulation in the Kingdom of Spain

Posted by: Stephen Mayeaux

The following is a guest post by Francesca Marquez, who served as a fall 2021 remote intern transcribing and researching documents in the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress. If, in the words of Victor Hugo, “curiosity is a sort of gluttony. To see is to devour[,]” then life …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

How Havana Became British … For Eleven Months

Posted by: Stephen Mayeaux

The following is a guest post by Silvia Lopez, who served as a fall 2021 remote intern transcribing and researching documents in the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress. One treasure from the Herencia collection of Spanish legal documents for the 15th -19th centuries is the Brief of Jose Antonio Manso de …

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How Not to Apologize: A Lesson from a 17th Century Hospital in Barcelona

Posted by: Stephen Mayeaux

The following is a guest post by Alèxia Devin, who served as a fall 2021 remote intern transcribing and researching documents in the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress. Special thanks to Francisco Macías for translation and analysis assistance. During my Herencia internship, I transcribed quite a few historical documents that …

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Carlists, Conflicts, and Churches — The Village of Ripoll

Posted by: Stephen Mayeaux

The following is a guest post by Anna Weese-Grubb, who served as a fall 2021 remote intern transcribing and researching documents in the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress. Special thanks to Francisco Macías for translation and analysis assistance. During my time on the Herencia campaign, I’ve seen several …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Herencia: 18th Century Marriage Orders and their Consequences

Posted by: Stephen Mayeaux

The following is a guest post by Naomi Welikala, who served as a summer 2021 remote intern transcribing and researching documents in the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress. Throughout my time as one of the Herencia crowdsourcing interns, I have come across a wide variety of themes in …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Smuggling French Hats into 17th Century Spain: Worth a Fight?

Posted by: Stephen Mayeaux

The following is a guest post by Samantha Mendoza, who served as a summer 2021 remote intern transcribing and researching documents in the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress. In present day, it is not uncommon to hear news of attempts to smuggle items across national borders. This can …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Limpieza de Sangre: Legal Applications of the Spanish Doctrine of “Blood Purity”

Posted by: Stephen Mayeaux

The following is a guest post by Meghan Berry, who served as a summer 2021 remote intern transcribing and researching documents in the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress. One of the thrills of working on the Herencia document collection is the possibility of stumbling across an especially dramatic …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

The Royal Order of October 1749 and the Historic Consequences of the Great Roma Round-up

Posted by: Stephen Mayeaux

The following is a guest post by Jacklyn van der Colff, who served as a summer 2021 remote intern transcribing and researching documents in the Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents crowdsourcing campaign at the Law Library of Congress. Note: this post uses a racial pejorative as it originally appears in the collection item record as well …