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Casa de Contratación (House of Trade)

Type Object Region Spain Time 1503–1790

A royal trade and navigation agency founded in Seville in 1503, it administered colonial trade licenses, fleet dispatch, nautical data, and tariff co…

Timeline

  1. 1503Seville · SevilleFerdinand and Isabella ordered the Casa de Contratación set up in Seville, monopolizing trade with the Americas and regulating sailing licenses, bringing New World commerce under direct royal control.
  2. 1521–1530Port of Seville and the Guadalquivir River · SevilleIn the 1520s the Casa strictly reviewed fleet rosters, cargo manifests, and sea charts, coordinated the silver ships and supplies bound for and from the Americas, and accumulated charts and weather records for royal decision-making.
  3. c. 1530–1580Seville · SevilleThe Casa gradually took on pilot training, chart revision, and advisory work on colonial administrative divisions, becoming the central agency of Spain's global empire for trade intelligence and navigational standards.

Sources