The cabildos of the Canary Islands
The cabildos, or municipal councils, were the main institution of government
in the Canary Islands during the early modern period. Established after the
conquest of the archipelago by the Crown of Castile at the end of the
fifteenth century, they took charge of the political, economic, judicial and
territorial administration of each island, becoming the axis around which
Canarian institutional life was organised for more than three centuries. On
the royal islands — Gran Canaria, La Palma and Tenerife — the cabildos were
established directly by the Crown, whereas on the seigneurial islands —
Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Gomera and El Hierro — they were tied to their
respective feudal lords.
Organisation and powers
As governing bodies, the cabildos were made up of a group of officials whose
duties complemented one another in the administration of the island. Presided
over by the governor or his deputy on the royal islands, the sessions brought
together aldermen, notaries and other officials charged with deliberating and
adopting the resolutions needed for the day-to-day running of the island.
Their powers included the administration of justice in the first instance,
the provisioning of the population, the regulation of trade and markets, the
management of municipal property and levies, the upkeep of woodland and roads,
the organisation of defence, sanitary control and many other matters relating
to local government.
The Books of Minutes as a historical source
The work of these institutions was recorded in the so-called Books of Minutes,
in which the notaries set down the deliberations and resolutions adopted at
each council session. Today these minutes are one of the main sources for the
study of the history of the Canary Islands during the early modern period,
since they reveal not only how the island administration worked but also many
aspects of the political, economic, social, military and cultural life of the
archipelago. Their pages cover everything from grain supplies and defence
against corsair attacks to the regulation of trade, public works, health,
taxation and land management.
The CADIEM corpus
CADIEM takes as its starting point the Books of Minutes of the Cabildo de
La Palma preserved for the years between 1559 and 1599. By transcribing,
editing and structuring them as an annotated historical corpus, the project
makes it easier to consult and analyse one of the most significant documentary
series for understanding island administration and Canarian society in the
early modern period. As well as preserving and disseminating this documentary
heritage, the platform opens up new research possibilities through its tools
for searching and exploring the texts.