1633. Carta de don Rodrigo de Mendoza, duque del Infantado, para don Juan de Escobar, tesorero.

Letter from Rodrigo de Mendoza, duke of Infantado, to Juan de Escobar, a treasurer.

The author informs Juan de Escobar of the latest news after his grandmother passing away and he thanks him for his help; he gives him several orders regarding certain items and his future house in Madrid.

In 1637 Juan de Escobar sued the duke of Infantado regarding a donation made on February the 1st 1633. The duke was bound to pay Escobar a lifelong pension of 500 ducats per year for his services. The aforementioned pension not only referred to his treasurer functions, but also to the financial support that Escobar had given to the duke while his grandmother and his father, the duchess Ana and the marquis of Saldaña respectively, were still alive. Despite these premises, the duke did not comply with his obligations and argued that Escobar had achieved great profits throughout his time as a treasurer, likewise he argued that the financial support was given in accordance with obligations under his own patrimony. Juan de Escobar emphasized the good work he had carried out for the house of Infantado and also his family´s work (his wife had been the countess of Saldaña´s assistant). He provided accounts and several letters in which different people mentioned his good job and the duke´s intention to favour him. The treasurer´s own annotations in the letters pointed out their authors´ inconsistencies, who wrote one thing and then testified another during the questionings.

In the superscript of the letter transcribed in here, Juan de Escobar wrote: "Letter from the duke to thank me for having sent the money on the night my lady died, since he really needed it due to the hardship in his house. Also that he wanted to favour me and to ask me to send him the proxy, which I did by my own means for more than two thousand ducats".