Historia. Instituciones. Documentos (Dec 2008)
Pan y obras: la alhóndiga de Sevilla y las obras de 1402-1403
Abstract
This article demonstrates the fundamental role played by the construction project on the alhóndiga undertaken from 1402 to 1403 in the development of the provisioning system of the city of Seville. A close examination of documents containing data on materials, labor, and expenses to repair and extend the locale where, over the course of time, the distribution of cereal grains became centered comprises the evidential and analytical base for this study. During the fifteenth century, Seville developed a carefully structured system to ensure grain provisioning for its citizens. The construction project examined here formed a significant component of the developing urban infrastructure in this late medieval metropolis. Not only do physical elements of that infrastructure become evident through these documents, but also details concerning prices and salaries in the context of such developments emerge, enabling us to gain a clearer picture of that essential component of human survival, grain provisioning, in the early fifteenth century.
