Casa de Contratación (Seville)

Timeline

1. 1503–1520Seville · SevilleA decree by Ferdinand and Isabella established the Casa de Contratación in Seville, monopolizing licenses for the American routes, founding a navigation school and archive, and requiring all colonial goods to clear customs through Seville, establishing the model of state control over Spanish colonial trade.
2. 1551–1560Casa de Contratación, Seville · SevillePotosí silver output was registered by the Casa and shipped to Seville; the institution reviewed fleet squadrons (flota), issued passes, collected the quinto (one-fifth tax), and coordinated policy with the Council of the Indies (Consejo de Indias); this decade was a key stage of Habsburg Spain's fiscal dependence on American silver.
3. 1560–1790Seville–Cádiz · AndalusiaAs merchant ship tonnage grew and the Guadalquivir River silted up, the center of trade gradually shifted south; the Casa long oversaw charts, pilot examinations, and colonial judicial appeals, until the late 18th century when free-port policy reforms merged it into the commercial system of Cádiz.