The illumination of an hidalgo: a sixteenth-century document reveals a portrait of a New World nobleman while reflecting conditions in the Old World.

• Author: Tennant, Anne W.
• Position: Peruvian resident Francisco Quintano de Villalobos' petition for noble status - Includes related article on the document - Cover Story

In the year 1597 the bitter adversaries Queen Elizabeth of England and King Philip II of Spain were nearing the end of their long reigns, the Turks continued to ravage the coasts of the Mediterranean, and the Spanish were consolidating their empire in America. In the world of the arts, Shakespeare at thirty-three had just established himself as England's foremost playwright, Rubens was serving his apprenticeship, and Monteverdi busied himself composing the first proto-operas. In October of that same year, the king of Spain granted noble status to Francisco Quintano de Villalobos, a resident of Potosi and Porco in colonial Peru.

Petitions to the Spanish monarch for nobility were commonly undertaken on both sides of the Atlantic. However, for this Peruvian citizen to attain the coveted station in life he sought was a painstaking, expensive, and time-consuming process. The prerogatives of nobility, however, were substantial. Hidalgos were exempt from paying the pecho, a tax paid to the king that was based upon the value of property owned. Nobles also escaped the onerous burden of billeting the king's troops on their property and could not be sentenced to debtor's prison, torture, or to death by hanging. These advantages made the tedious process of obtaining the required documents more than worth the effort.

Success in a petition to the king for noble status hinged upon several factors, in addition to the ability to fund the considerable expenses incurred. "Clean" lineage, meaning in those times no taint of Moorish or Jewish blood, no bastards in the family or run-ins with the Inquisition, which no doubt disqualified many hidalgo wannabees, was paramount. Unbroken ownership of the family lands, noble connections, and lack of inclusion in the township tax register of commoners were also essential. It was this last requirement that nearly destroyed Francisco's case.

Twelve witnesses -- mostly commoners from the plaintiffs hometown or neighboring areas -- testified on his behalf. Their depositions not only provide a sympathetic and revealing portrait of the new hidalgo but also open an intriguing window on the social and political conditions that prevailed in sixteenth-century Extremadura, the westernmost province of Spain from which Quintano de Villalobos and so many of his countrymen emigrated to the New World.

Francisco initiated his petition when he was about fifty-five years old. He had traveled to the Indies in the 1560s, as an eighteen-year-old fresh out of the tiny hamlet of Belvis de la Jara, located just south of the Tagus River in rural Extremadura.

The lot of most inhabitants of sixteenth-century Extremadura was not an easy one. Its craggy plateaus and shallow soil made agriculture difficult. The climate and terrain were best suited to beekeeping, the raising of sheep and pigs, and to the cultivation of olives and grapes. Most people were engaged on the family properties as farmers or artisans, but many also worked as servants or retainers for the great landowning grandees of the area, the counts of Deleitosa and Oropesa.

Given the harshness and monotony of life during those times in rural Spain on the one hand, and tales of the wealth and prestige to be gained in mineral-rich Peru by following in the footsteps of fellow Extremadurans on the other, the decision to emigrate to America was easy to comprehend. Francisco Pizarro's recruiting trip back to Spain in 1525-30, during which many Extremadurans joined the force that soon afterwards delivered the might Inca Empire and its treasure to the conquerors, had made a profound impact upon the people of the province. As a result, Extremadura supplied an exceptionally large number of emigrants to the New World.

In spite of its remote location, the region was kept up-to-date on activities in Spanish America because of the constant flow of boatmen and their passengers up the Tagus River from Portugal into the heart of the province. Tales of preferential treatment accorded to...