WRITTEN MEMORY OF THE HISPANIC MONARCHY. PHILIP II AND SIMANCAS

The historians of the Crown of Aragon would continue their official mission, albeit only for a few more years, until the Nueva Planta Decrees and the extinction of the regional institutions cut short the old project of continuing Secretary Zurita's work. Interest in the documentary collections of the former Archive of the Kingdom of Aragon did not diminish for the new Bourbon administration. Quite the contrary. Although, according to the famous report by Santiago Agustín Riol, the archives of that enlightened century displayed general neglect and abandonment, the inventory prepared by José de Yoldi in 1749-1750 and kept in the Secretariat and Superintendence of Finance of the General Archive of Simancas offered a timely account of the true and complete contents of the former archives of the Kingdom of Aragon. Once again, as in so many centuries before, visiting Simancas and consulting its collections became a mandatory task to advance knowledge of the history of archival deposits and their diachronic practice. However, to the delight of contemporary researchers, Ayala's old zeal would contrast radically with the ease, generosity, and professionalism of José Luis Rodríguez de Diego. We have witnessed and, indeed, gratefully benefited from them for decades.