Cited by 13Latin American history and cultureHistorical Studies in Latin AmericaMedieval and Early Modern Iberia

The DOI matches its Crossref record; none of the 36 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

Los caminos reales de América en la legislación y en la historia

Open access
Pérez González, María Luisa·2001·Anuario de Estudios Americanos

Abstract

El presente trabajo analiza las fuentes legales peninsulares y coloniales con referencia a los caminos desde la Alta Edad Media al siglo XIX. El objetivo es rastrear en los cuerpos legales de la monarquía española sus planteamientos en lo referente a los caminos reales y a su implantación y desarrollo en España y América. Se estudian, además, los diferentes condicionamientos impuestos por las circunstancias históricas en la aplicación del proyecto real sobre vías de comunicación. Pretendemos con ello contribuir a esclarecer los mecanismos que estuvieron en el origen de la apertura y consolidación de los caminos reales con anterioridad a las reformas borbónicas del siglo XVIII. Intentamos, asimismo, poner de manifiesto la importancia decisiva de esta red de caminos en la integración y comunicación territorial en América según el proyecto de la monarquía española. En el desarrollo de esta investigación hemos revisado fuentes del Archivo General de Indias y la legislación peninsular y colonial que se produce sobre caminos desde los siglos medievales hasta principios del siglo XIX. Y hemos podido comprobar la utilidad del análisis comparativo de la documentación para entender de manera más precisa los acontecimientos históricos.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This article traces Spanish royal and colonial legislation on *caminos reales* from the High Middle Ages to the nineteenth century, arguing that the “royal road” was above all a legal and public-interest category tied to royal sovereignty and territorial integration. In both Spain and America, the crown sought to protect roads and travelers, but implementation was repeatedly frustrated by conflicting jurisdictions, private interests, and weak enforcement.

Key findings

  • Medieval Castilian codes established the public character of roads and royal responsibility for them: the *Partidas* state that public roads belong to all people, including strangers, and that the king must order bridges and causeways built and bad passages smoothed; maintenance was to be paid from common rents or, if insufficient, by local inhabitants.
  • Royal protection was extended to transhumant livestock and carters: in 1354 the kingdom’s livestock *cabañas* came under royal protection and drove roads became *cañadas reales*; carters received privileges in 1497, 1516, and 1533, with the first recognizing the *Cabaña Real de Carreteros*; in 1629 the *cabaña Real* expanded to include *cabañiles* and long-distance muleteers with convoys of up to one hundred mules.
  • In America, the 1680 *Recopilación de las leyes de Indias* largely repeated medieval concerns, and later compilations added few new road provisions; the 1573 *Ordenanzas* required new settlements to have good land and sea access, while a 1563 law ordered bridges and roads repaired at the expense of those receiving benefit.
  • The American *camino real* was not necessarily a fixed or technically superior road: the *Camino Real de Tierra Adentro* was “a road in name only,” unsurfaced and with alternate routes; the Veracruz road had unequal sections and changing routes; by the late eighteenth century the terms “Real,” “Principal,” and “General” appeared, and Diego Panes distinguished twelve *varas* for a *camino real* versus eight to ten *pies* for a *camino de travesía*.
  • A late example records that from 1803 to 1811 the Mexico–Veracruz/Perote road, 41 *leguas*, received 2,776,906 pesos and 7 reales from the consulado to make it passable for wheels.

Methods

  • Historical-legal study reviewing peninsular and colonial legal corpora from the medieval period to the early nineteenth century, including the *Fuero Viejo*, *Fuero Real*, *Partidas*, *Ordenamiento de Alcalá*, *Ordenanzas Reales*, *Leyes de Toro*, *Nueva Recopilación*, *Novísima Recopilación*, *Recopilación de Indias*, Beleña’s *Recopilación Sumaria*, Ayala’s *Diccionario*, the *Pandectas Hispano-Megicanas*, and Zamora y Coronado’s *Biblioteca de legislación ultramarina*.
  • Archival and published-source research, including documents from the Archivo General de Indias (e.g., Patronato 237; Indiferente General 108 and 427; Estado 40, N 30) and secondary authorities such as Menéndez Pidal, Serrera, Humboldt, Bakewell, and González Tascón.
  • Comparative analysis of legal texts and historical documentation to trace how royal road policy was conceived, applied, and adapted in Spain and America.

Limitations

  • The paper does not include a formal limitations section. It states that it cannot expand here on the decisive importance of the *Honrado Concejo de la Mesta*, and it notes that a review of Muro Orejón’s *Cedularios* yielded no results regarding roads.
  • The text itself makes evident that the study relies heavily on normative legal sources and selected archival examples rather than systematic quantitative evidence, and that coverage is uneven across American regions, with extended discussion of New Spain, Veracruz, and some Andean/Caribbean examples.
  • The paper repeatedly notes that many laws were contradictory, not generally applied, or not complied with, which limits what legislative sources alone can show about actual road conditions.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3989/aeamer.2001.v58.i1.227

Cites

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Verification

Claims the paper makes

61 Own interpretation · 32 Sources not found · 22 No basis given · 4 Not checked yet · 1 Own result

Show all 53 claims

  • It may state two separate claims as one. 36
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 38
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 3
67 of 67
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The legal compilations and documents reviewed are representative enough of the monarchy's road policy to support conclusions about its directives and implementation.

    “Hemos revisado esta legislación para ver cuál fue la política real en torno a los caminos, su evolución, y la importancia que se les asignó en el plan general de la Monarquía.”
    “Con la misma intención que analizamos los códigos españoles, hemos revisado estos cuerpos de leyes para rastrear la situación de los caminos en el proyecto americano.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The Crown had a globally conceived plan for territorial integration through roads in America.

    “Dentro de un plan globalmente concebido desde instancias superiores, el camino real es el camino de interés público desde el punto de vista oficial.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    La Corona no empleaba caudales de la Real Hacienda en la apertura y conservación de los caminos.

    “La Corona, fiel a la práctica de no emplear caudales de la Real Hacienda, siguió el lema de dejar hacer, dejar pasar,”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    La utilidad de un camino se consolida por el tráfico que soporta.

    “porque la utilidad del camino la consolida el tráfico del mismo.”
4 of 4

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

2 of 2

Citations

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Metadata

Authors
Pérez González, M. L.
Venue
Anuario de Estudios Americanos
Published
2001-06-30
Volume
58
Issue
1
Pages
33-60
ISSN
  • 0210-5810 (ISSN-L)
  • 1988-4273
OpenAlex
W1984951662
Cited by
12
References
0
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
FWCI
0.00
Type
journal article
Language
es
Open access
Locations
  • Anuario de Estudios Americanos (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Americanae (AECID Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Latin American history and culture
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Historical Studies in Latin America
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Medieval and Early Modern Iberia
Keywords
royal roads, traffic law, colonial legislation, Spanish monarchy, communication routes, Bourbon reforms, territorial integration, Spanish America, comparative legal analysis, Archivo General de Indias

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