La población de Nuestra Señora de Talavera a comienzos del siglo XVII:

españoles, montañeses y extranjeros en el Interrogatorio de 1604

Abstract

Our investigations about the colonial city of Nuestra Señora de Talavera (1566-1609), have involved both the study of archaeological and documentaries sources. In this work we will analyze the conformation of the population of this urban location at the beginning of the 17th century. More specifically we will characterize the so-called “Spanish”, “montañeses” and “foreigners” present in this city, which belonged to the Goverment of Tucumán. For this purpose, our main documentary source is the Questionnaire for the West Indies, elaborated and ordered by the Spanish Crown in the year of 1604 and individually answered by the inhabitants - neighbors and residents- in the year of 1608.Besides the richness of these individual statements, this historical source was produced exactly the year before the city was moved and relocated in a newsite, which means it was a crucial moment in the history of the Nuestra Señora de Talavera.