1697. Carta de Juan Antonio del Manzano, alcalde mayor, para el doctor Francisco Martínez de León.

Letter from Juan Antonio del Manzano, a mayor, to Francisco Martínez León, a doctor.

The author asks Francisco Martínez León not to bring his claim before justice and justifies the delay of some neighbours´ payment of the census.

In 1697 Francisco Martínez de León, a doctor from Colmenar de Oreja, tried to collect the money from a debt owed by the village of Belmonte de Tajo for providing care to the sick. The debt consisted in 872 reals of fleece. He appointed his son, who was a theology student at the University of Alcala de Henares, as his proxy in order to proceed with the litigation for collecting the debt. Bartolomé Martínez de León, the doctor´s son, supported his claim in some letters addressed to his father from Juan Antonio del Manzano, the mayor from the village, and also from Morate, a lawyer. Both letters certified the existence of the debt and constituted enough proof to prosecute the economic claim, despite the authors having stated their disagreement. Nevertheless, the appeal focused on the request of inhibition from the tribunal in Alcala. Francisco Martínez de León was deemed to have acted with malice by using his son to issue the lawsuit and it was demanded for the trial to be brought before civil justice.