Valencian parliamentary assemblies and the voting of servicios to rescue slaves. Duties and tax incomes in the eighteenth century

The Nueva Planta decrees (1707–16) caused an important change on the institutional and legislative map, not only in the Crown of Aragon but also in the Crown of Castile. The call for only one parliament within a ‘new institution’ – the General Courts of the Monarchy – was one of the consequences of this process of abolition undertaken by the representative institutions of each kingdom. This process deserves special attention because of the significant changes in its functions. The functions and duties of this ‘new parliament’ mainly revolved around the interests of the absolute monarchy, and the calls made during the eighteenth century – in 1713 and in 1789 – were thus intended for the oath of the heir to the throne. Among the various functions given to the parliament, the voting of servicios (a subsidy or petition) – usually a donation request – certainly stood out from time immemorial. The funds from petitions were used for different purposes, but they usually served to cover the expenses of the king and his kingdom.The research for this article was carried out within the framework of the Research Project Rupturas y pervivencias de la tradición jurídica y financiera de la Corona de Aragón en la crisis del Antiguo Régimen (Breaks and Survivals of the Legal and Financial Tradition of the Crown of Aragon in the Crisis of the Ancien Régime) (2013–15). DER 2012 37970. Main researcher: Remedios Ferrero Micó. It also relied on the support of the research groups Instituciones Jurídicas valencianas (Valencian Legal Institutions) and Estudios Árabes e Islámicos Sharq Al-Andalus (SAA) (Arab and Islamic Studies Sharq Al-Andalus (SAA)), financed by the Vice-Rectorate for Research, Development and Innovation of the University of Alicante