Building for the Crown: Contracts and administration under the Spanish monarchy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Monastery of El Escorial
| Author(s): |
Pilar Chías
Tomás Abad |
|---|---|
| Medium: | conference paper |
| Language(s): | English |
| Conference: | 6th International Congress on Construction History (6ICCH 2018), July 9-13, 2018, Brussels, Belgium |
| Published in: | Building Knowledge, Constructing Histories [2 vols.] |
| Page(s): | 89-96 |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Abstract: | Royal building works in Spain were subject to regulation from Emperor Charles I's creation in 1545 of the Board of Works and Forests. As the board's mission was to protect royal interests, its functions consisted in defining and controlling all building projects undergone in palaces and estates belonging to the crown. To that end, the relevant rules were drawn up governing the contracting, supervision, building, valuation and settlement of projects. Each project required a detailed description of the work to be done and was often accompanied by sketches and drawings and by references to the use of moulds and full-scale drawings. Abundant documentation survives in several Spanish archives and their joint study throws new light on royal building works. At the same time, sixteenth and seventeenth century-procedures turn out to be very modern, as can be seen from current Spanish legislation for public contracting. |
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10078154 - Published on:
23/09/2018 - Last updated on:
05/03/2019
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