Reforma, orden y concierto en el perú del siglo XVII: El arbitrio de joan de belveder

Abstract

This article analyzes the life and work of Aragonese mathematician Joan de Belveder, who arrived in Peru at the end of the 16th century to make a living as a merchant. He published in Lima a work on gold and silver equivalents and, imbued with the spirit of arbitrismo, wrote a long memoir describing the general situation of the Kingdom of Peru and drawing attention on several matters that called for urgent resolution, including royal finance, tax evasion, embezzlement, smuggling in Atlantic and Asian trade, and the cultivation of crops competing with those produced in Spain. Belveder's work provides an excellent overview of the main problems facing the Spanish administration and trade in Peru at the beginning of the 17th century.