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Madrid (Spain) Collection

An inventory of the collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 27 Mar 2024

Biographical History

The documented history of the Spanish city of Madrid dates back tothe 9th century, when it was a walled military outpost built during the reign of Muhammad I or Cordoba. The city passed to Christian control in the 11th century, around the time of the conquest of Toledo by Alfonso VI. The town grew slowly throughout the Middle Ages, drawing Frankish, Castilian, Jewish, and other residents. During the 15th century Madrid was popular with the royal courts of Castile and Aragon, and in the 16th century the city became official home to the royal court of Philip II and de facto capital of the Spanish Empire. As a result the city began to evolve noble, civil service, ecclesiastical, merchant, and artisan classes. Under Charles III (1716-1788) Madrid became a truly modern city, with such innovations as streetlights, regulations on carriage traffic, and the erection of many beautiful buildings. The mid-19th century saw the end of the corregimiento and corregidor in favor of the constitutional alcalde, as well as numerous financial reforms, the confiscation of ecclesiastical properties, and the widening of streets and squares across the city, despite occasional civil and student unrest. In 1868 uprisings in Madrid and elsewhere against the highly unpopular Queen Isabella II led to her ouster, and Madrid became the capital of a nation-state rather than an empire. During the latter half of the 19th century the introduction of railways and widespread electric power increased Madrid's importance as an economic, service, and financial center. For more than a hundred and fifty years the city has been governed by an Ayuntamiento, or City Council.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Madrid (Spain) Collection consists of printed material -- pronouncements, edicts, regulations, registers, rules, and so on -- relating to day-to-day life in the city of Madrid during the 19th century. The bulk of the collection are items issued by the Ayuntamiento (city hall or city council), which is the top administrative body in the city.

Arrangement of the Collection

Material is grouped by category and arranged roughly chronologically.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advance notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Subjects

Civil law -- Spain.
Municipal government.

Places

Madrid (Spain) -- History.
Madrid (Spain) -- Politics and government.

Genres and Forms

Broadsides (notices)
Burial registers.
Laws (documents)
Ordinances.
Regulations (executive records)

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Madrid (Spain) Collection,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Found in stacks. Original source of acquisition unknown.

Table of Contents

Printed material

Inventory