New Details About the Montes Vigil Family of Asturias (Part 1 of 4)

Asturian countryside

Genealogists have already written extensively about the lineage and history of my 10x-great-grandfather Juan Montes Vigil, who left Asturias, Spain in 1611 to start a new life as a colonist in New Spain. But there is always more to discover about his story.

In the Royal Archive of the Chancery of Valladolid, Spain there is a document recording a lawsuit between Bartolomé de Vigil, my ancestor’s uncle, and another family member, Diego de Argüelles. The document reveals many new details about what happened to Juan Montes’ family and provides clues to his motivation for leaving Asturias for the New World.

I have transcribed and translated the lawsuit, which began on May 4, 1602, and will post it in a series on this blog. In this first part, we learn:

• Juan Montes Vigil, who lived in the parish of Vega de Poja, Asturias, had two sisters (Mencía and Isabel) and two brothers (Lucas and Alonso).

• His parents both died of the plague in 1599. Afterwards, his siblings Lucas, Mencía and Isabel also passed away.

• The lawsuit brought by Diego de Argüelles accused Bartolomé de Vigil of claiming to be the legal guardian for the surviving minors and taking possession of all of the Montes property, including their home, fabric shop and livestock.

• María de Estrada, the great-grandmother of the Montes children, was their only living ancestor and Diego de Argüelles claimed three-fifths of the Montes estate on her behalf.

Read on below for more details and see the original manuscript at the Portal de Archivos Españoles. I have broken up the text into paragraphs and sentences, and made some grammatical adjustments for ease of reading.

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Don Felipe, etc., to our chief justice and to those of our council, president, and oidores of our audiencia, judges, and constables of our house, court, and chancery, and to all corregidores, assistants, governors, alcaldes mayores and ordinarios, and to other judges and justices, and to any and all of the cities, towns, and places of our kingdoms and lordships, both those who are currently serving and those who will serve henceforth, and to each and every one of our jurisdictions, to whom this our executive letter, or its judicial equivalent, signed by a public notary, issued with the authority of justice in proper and public form, may be shown that shall serve as proof.

Be it known that a lawsuit took place and was heard in our court and chancery in the city of Valladolid before our president and its oidores. The said lawsuit was between Diego de Argüelles, a resident of the Consejo of Siero, and Juan Pérez de Espinaredo, his attorney, as plaintiffs, and Bartolomé de Vigil, a resident and regidor of the city of Oviedo, and Juan de Vigil Valdéz, as the husband and joint party with María de Belmonte, his wife, and Juan de Cenal de Vega, as defendants.

The lawsuit began before them by a new claim regarding the matter appearing in the court of María del Campo, where the aforementioned president and oidores were present on the fourth of May, 1602, in a public hearing. Luis de Astudillo, in the name of the said Diego de Argüelles de Vega, presented before them a petition and claim in which he stated that he filed a lawsuit against Bartolomé Vigil and Juan de Cenal de Vega, and recounting the case truthfully, he declared that about three years earlier, more or less, Juan Montes Vega de Poja and his wife had passed away from the plague, and they had left behind five children whose names were Lucas, Mencía, Isabel, Juan, and Alonso de Montes and after the death of their parents, Lucas, Mencía, and Isabel Montes de Vega had passed away intestate.

Due to their deaths, their universal heir was Doña María de Estrada, their great-grandmother, and grandmother of the plaintiff, as there were no closer relatives from the lineage of the aforementioned minors. Therefore, three-fifths of all the property and inheritance left by Juan Montes and his wife rightfully belonged to the aforementioned Doña María. However, Bartolomé de Vigil, under the pretext that he was the guardian of the two remaining minor children, had entered and taken possession of all the property and estate left by Juan Montes and his wife, including both permanent and mobile assets, livestock, rights, and legal claims. He had seized the fabric shop, the ledger, obligations, and promissory notes from many individuals who owed significant sums of money to the aforementioned Juan Montes and his wife. Without making a legitimate inventory of all said property and documents, he had collected a large number of debts totaling more than two thousand ducats.

And by right of inheritance and cession from his grandmother, the plaintiff, as such assignee, had requested and demanded that Bartolomé turn over three-fifths of all the property left by Juan Montes and his wife. However, he had refused and continued to refuse, acting with malice and fraud.  The defendant, as someone who had concealed the accounting records that Juan Montes had with other merchants, had gone to the town of Medina de Rioseco, where Alonso de Bascones, a cloth merchant who had dealings with Juan Montes, was located. The defendant had conspired with him, persuading him to claim that Juan Montes owed him a sum of more than five hundred ducats, even though he was owed no more than one thousand reales. Through a forged document prepared between them, Alonso de Bascones had sold the said five hundred ducats to Bartolomé de Vigil against the estate of Juan Montes, despite only one thousand reales being legitimately owed. Under the pretext of this fraudulent transaction, Bartolomé had collected more than one thousand five hundred ducats owed to Juan Montes.

Additionally, with forged legal documents and without rightful authority, he had entered into the real estate that had belonged to Juan Montes, taking possession of it unlawfully and without any legitimate title or basis. He had seized all the real estate and personal property, including pigs, cattle, sheep, documents, and papers, from which it was evident that only one thousand reales were owed to Alonso de Bascones, and that Juan de Montes was owed more than two thousand ducats in certain and verified debts. Even though the plaintiff had repeatedly demanded from Bartolomé de Vigil the delivery of three-fifths of all the aforementioned property, along with an inventory and a legitimate accounting of everything, he had not done so, nor was he willing to comply without litigation.

Because of this, the plaintiff asked and appealed to us, stating the above as true or, at least, sufficiently proven, to issue our definitive sentence in such a case as follows: that we condemn and order Bartolomé de Vigil and Juan de Cenal to render an account, with payment of the plaintiff's share of three-fifths of all the property, rights, and claims left by Juan Montes and his wife, based on a legitimate, proper and timely inventory. In case of failure to do so, the plaintiff would be awarded damages in the amount of up to two thousand ducats that belonged to the minors from their legitimate inheritance. On this basis, the plaintiff requested the complete fulfillment of justice in the most suitable way and manner. He swore before God and declared solemnly that he did not act out of malice, and demanded justice and the reimbursement of legal costs.

He further stated that jurisdiction over this case pertained to us, as the defendant was a permanent regidor. In response, the president and oidores of our court ordered judicial documents sent to the defendants, issuing our royal writ of summons with the inclusion of said complaint. This was prepared and delivered in due form and Bartolomé de Vigil and Juan de Cenal were duly notified in person.

Continued in Part 2. Subscribe to the blog to receive email updates.