[Manuscript] Manuscript parchment - legal document (Spain, 16th century) - Franciscan and missionary Juan de Plasencia (c. 1520-1590).

Manuscript parchment - legal document (Spain, 16th century) - Franciscan and missionary Juan de Plasencia (ca. 1520-1590).

A unique, double-sided manuscript parchment written in Latin in Spain, dating to the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The document is legal and judicial in nature and deals with issues of inheritance of property and confirmation of descent and family rights.

The document is historically linked to the person of Juan de Plasencia (c. 1520-1590), a Spanish Franciscan friar and missionary who spent the later part of his career in the Philippines.

He is best known as the author of early ethnographic descriptions of the Tagalog peoples and co-author of "Doctrina Christiana" (1593), the first printed book in the Philippines. The parchment on display refers to an earlier stage of his life and confirms his ancestry and issues related to the inheritance of family property in Spain.

The manuscript was handwritten on parchment, double-sided, in careful Latin script. The whole is complemented by decorative initials and text fragments in gold ink.

The text contains witness statements and official records confirming the status of the person associated with the document - his origin, inheritance rights and family affiliation. Typical legal formulas of the era used in estate matters appear in the contents, indicating its official and evidentiary nature in the Castilian legal system.

The surviving piece is a valuable monument of legal documentation of the modern era, combining the history of the Spanish legal system with the biography of one of the major figures of early missionary activity in the Philippines.

Very good condition. Format : 23.8 x 34 [cm].

Taken as a whole, this is a well-preserved example of a medieval manuscript of great historical, collecting and research value.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_de_Plasencia