Introduction.Treasury and Economy in 17th century Castile

Tax system has been held accountable for the Castilian economic crisis in the seventeenth century. The tax burden probably was not greater than in other countries, but other factors like new taxes, the use and abuse of extraordinary receipts, and the changes in the ways of collections did not give incentives for commercial and urban activities, that was the base for the development of the markets. The articles included in this Dossier analyze some interesting questions about the consequences of the tax system upon the rural and urban economies, the donation of 1629, the public debt and the spend of local communities in infrastructures, that explain us how economy was upset by the Royal fiscal policy.