1555. Carta de Martín Sánchez Ropero para su primo Francisco López.

Letter from Martín Sánchez Ropero to his cousin Francisco López.

The author asks his cousin to meet with him for solving some problems related with the property he shares with his wife.

In 1564 Martín Sánchez Ropero, a resident of Tunja in Nueva Granada, brought a lawsuit against his cousin Francisco López for breaching of agreement. The plaintiff had sent the defendant one thousand and five hundred gold pesos and emeralds valued in five hundred pesos for him to deliver it to Catalina Martínez, the plaintiff´s wife. Francisco was also supposed to take Catalina from Spain to the Indies to fulfil the marital reunion mandate from the Council of Indies. Francisco López denied the charges and alleged several reasons. First of all, he stated the trial should have been brought to justice in Almonacid, where he was a resident. He also assured the documents presented by Martín Sánchez Ropero to prove he delivered the money and the gems were false. He also stated that his cousin could have never put such a quantity together since he was extremely poor and it was actually himself who borrowed money to Martín. Lastly, he expressed that the reasons behind Martín Sánchez Ropero´s sue against him was to avoid the marital reunion. Francisco López tried to prove his point by presenting a letter from Martín Sánchez Ropero. Although the plaintiff admitted it was his signature, he denied the content of the letter as being his. The council ruled in Martín Sánchez Ropero´s favour.