Title

Statutes of the Cofradía de Santa María de Esgueva de Valladolid

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Object history

The Hospital of Santa María de Esgueva was founded in Valladolid during the reign of Alfonso VI by the Counts of Castile, Pedro Ansúrez and Doña Eylo, between 1073 and 1109. With the purpose of attending to the sick, as well as to give hospitality to the poor, the confraternity of Santa María de los Escuderos was created in this center, which would later be renamed Caballeros de Santa María de Esgueva (Knights of Santa María de Esgueva). The hospital was erected on land owned by Count Ansúrez, a key figure in the origins of the city of Valladolid. From the beginning, the hospital was under the patronage of the kings of Castile, and developed an intense activity during the Middle Ages and the Modern Age; however, in the 19th century it began its decline, mainly as a consequence of the disentailment measures. It was then that the hospital came to be directed by a municipal board of trustees, and the Brotherhood of the Hospital of Esgueva came to depend on the Provincial Board of Charity, which is why the history of this hospital can be followed through the documentation preserved in the Municipal Archives of the city (Municipal Archives of Valladolid, ES 47003 AMVA 5.1).

In any case, there are documents of special interest relating to the history of the confraternity that are not found there, such as the Ordinances that regulated its operation, dated between 1401-1500, which are currently preserved in the National Library of Spain, Madrid(Mss. 9468). Also noteworthy is the manuscript relating to the Statutes of the Confraternity of Nuestra Señora del Hospital de Esgueva, which is part of the collection of the Hispanic Society of America, the work that concerns us at this time. It contains thirty-five statutes relating to various details of the organization and administration of the institution. It also gives an account of the number and dignity of its members, as well as an inventory of the properties administered by the confraternity, based on the various donations and testamentary mandates received in 1499 and during the following seventy years. The minutes signed by its members at the end of the manuscript indicate the meeting held by the confreres in 1562. The statutes contain very interesting references about the origin and history of the institution, such as the fact that it was founded by the Count for "lack of a place where the poor have been (sic) cured, which is one of the works of mercy where all are fulfilled" (fol. II/V), or that its members should be "honest and noble people of clean blood" (fol. IV).

This interesting work passed through the hands of the British collector Laurence W. Hodson, and later of Karl W. Hiersemann, a bookseller specializing in antique books, based in Leipzig (Germany), who in 1907 sold it to Archer Milton Huntington, founder of the Hispanic Society of America. The institution received these statutes from the disappeared hospital in Valladolid as a legacy from its founder in 1956, after the collector's death. In 2017 they were exhibited in Madrid, at the Prado Museum, on the occasion of the Exhibition: Treasures of the Hispanic Society of America. Visions of the Hispanic World.

Description

The statutes are written on parchment and are bound. They are written in uniform gothic script and enriched with beautiful motifs. They have one hundred and eighty initials of various sizes with flowers, birds and vines. A miniature of the Virgin and Child, above the initial "T" opens the work. According to John O'Neill: "this folio was added to the manuscript at a later date, as the following folio is numbered "i". Interestingly, the miniature that appears on the original first folio had been taken from a different manuscript, of Flemish origin, and had been intentionally incorporated into the layout of the text. The style of the miniature suggests that it is about a hundred years older than the manuscript" (O'Neill, 2017, 45).

Locations

• Unknown date

  hospital

  Hospital de Santa María de Esgueva (Disappeared), Valladolid (Spain)

• Unknown date

  private collection

  Laurence W. Hodson, Compton Hall (United Kingdom) *

• 1907

  dealer/antiquarian

  Karl Wilhelm Hiersemann, Leipzig (Germany) *

• 1907 - 1955

  private collection

  Archer Milton Huntington, New York (United States) *

• 1956 - present

  museum

  The Hispanic Society of America, New York (United States)