The admission of ship’s scribes in the Carrera de Indias

Abstract

The ship's scribe was a key character in the maritime business of the Carrera de Indias. His main function was to certify the goods that were loaded on the ships that traveled to America. As time went by, it adopted new functions, not only with respect to the control of goods, but also to the control of passengers, to the registration of wills and post-mortem inventories of all those who died during the voyages and, in general, to all the contracts and actions that were carried out during the trips. The most important institutions related to American trade participated in the appointment and admission of this character, given his importance. These procedures lead to the issuance of different documents in the Consulate of merchants to the Indies and in the House of Trade that have reached us in the form of files. The analysis of this documentation, from a diplomatic perspective, is the main objective of this work.