El carácter voluntario de los donativos indianos, entre la praxis institucional y la construcción del consenso (Siglos XVI-XVII)

When reading the literature on the voluntary donations requested by the Habsburgs of Spain during the 17th Century, it’s possible to reach two main conclusions. First: the request for donations was made during the reigns of Charles V and Philip II, was dispensed with during the reign of Philip III, and only became systematic under Philip IV. Second: the practice was anything but “voluntary,” despite its official name. This literature does not allow us to develop a general rule for the entire Spanish monarchy as it only examines the limited geographic area of the Iberian Peninsula. It is therefore not possible to state if the donations requested by the crown in other areas of the Spanish empire had the same dynamics, such as in the West Indies.