Escribir y prosperar en Sevilla: el notario Juan Álvarez de Alcalá (1500-1518)

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the professional career of Juan Álvarez de Alcalá, notary public in Seville at the beginning of the 16th century, and an example of the importance of the litterati in the Castilian society of the time. Heir to the learning and the ways of the Middle Ages, he became an indispensable intermediary in the different institutions, both private and public, of the city. His first undertaking as a man of letters, his belonging to the group of notaries in one of the most dynamic cities in the Kingdom of Castile, and his ability at writing and drawing up documents permitted him to enter the social circles of the city and, at the same time, to prosper.

Keywords

• Document
• notaries
• notary practice
• institutions
• clientele