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alcalde de realengo

English translation: senior local judge (of first instance) appointed by the Crown

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:alcalde de realengo
English translation:senior local judge (of first instance) appointed by the Crown
Entered by: peter jackson

20:00 Mar 20, 2011
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - History
Spanish term or phrase: alcalde de realengo
I'm getting very stuck here. Earlier in the text I had translated this as crown-appointed mayor (not great, I know) but now it's in the same semtence as "corregidor" which is apparently mayor appointed by the king:

Ahora, con objeto de evitar negligencias, se reglamenta con mayor precisión la composición de la Junta del pósito: en primer lugar el corregidor, alcalde mayor realengo o de las órdenes (no el de señorío), un regidor en calidad de diputado, un depositario o mayordomo, y el procurador síndico general.

And then "o de las órdenes (no el de señorío) has me completely lost.
peter jackson
Spain
Local time: 14:04
senior local judge (of first instance) appointed by the Crown
Explanation:
The Spanish term is "alcalde mayor realengo", not "alcalde de realengo".

This is indeed very tricky and technical material, and I firmly endorse Jenni's advice to include the original Spanish terms (I would normally put them in italics) with English equivalents either in parentheses or in notes, depending on your own preference and/or your client's instructions. It would be unsatisfactory not to include the original term, because any English equivalent one chooses comes with its own associations from other jurisdictions, which do not coincide perfectly with the specific characteristics of the Spanish officials in question.

It is true that both a corregidor and an alcalde can be described as mayors, in that they presided over a local administration, but I would not use the term here, since, as Jenni says in her reference comment, it is likely to be misleading.

A corregidor was a the chief magistrate or judge for a district, appointed directly by the Crown. I would use the term "royal district chief magistrate".

An Alcalde mayor was basically a similar figure, though of lesser authority. As I have indicated above, I think the best term is probably "senior local judge of first instance"; "of first instance" could be omitted if you like, but I think "local" (or "district" again, if you prefer) should be included, and I have added "senior", because there were also "alcaldes ordinarios", who were lower down the scale and could be called simply "judges" or "magistrates".

Then we come to "realengo", "de las órdenes" and "de señorío". These refer to three kinds of towns: (a) those owned directly by the crown, (b) those owned by one of the Military Orders of Santiago, Calatrava and Alcántara (powerful aristocratic organisations of medieval origin), and (c) manorial towns, owned by a local feudal lord. In each case, the local Alcalde mayor would be appointed by the relevant local overlord, so they were only crown-appointed in the first category. Corregidores, by contrast, were by definition Crown appointments.

So the sentence which is causing you trouble might go something like this:

"Firstly the corregidor (royal district chief magistrate), the alcalde mayor (senior local judge of first instance) if appointed by the Crown or the Military Orders (but not in manorial towns), [...]."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2011-03-21 08:45:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

A pleasure, Peter. It does seem natural, at first sight, to call these people "mayors". Nowadays, after all, an "alcalde" is a mayor and not a judge, and it seems logical that the mayor should be on the grain store management committee ex officio, as it were. But I still think it's better not to. In early modern Spain, even an ordinary "alcalde" had essential judicial functions, and many "alcaldes" were not mayors in any sense at all, but just judges, such as the Alcaldes de Casa y Corte (who were a bit like the modern Audiencia Nacional, very loosely speaking).
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 14:04
Grading comment
Many thanks, Charles.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4senior local judge (of first instance) appointed by the Crown
Charles Davis
Summary of reference entries provided
discussion here
Jenni Lukac (X)

Discussion entries: 4





  

Answers


3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
alcalde mayor realengo
senior local judge (of first instance) appointed by the Crown


Explanation:
The Spanish term is "alcalde mayor realengo", not "alcalde de realengo".

This is indeed very tricky and technical material, and I firmly endorse Jenni's advice to include the original Spanish terms (I would normally put them in italics) with English equivalents either in parentheses or in notes, depending on your own preference and/or your client's instructions. It would be unsatisfactory not to include the original term, because any English equivalent one chooses comes with its own associations from other jurisdictions, which do not coincide perfectly with the specific characteristics of the Spanish officials in question.

It is true that both a corregidor and an alcalde can be described as mayors, in that they presided over a local administration, but I would not use the term here, since, as Jenni says in her reference comment, it is likely to be misleading.

A corregidor was a the chief magistrate or judge for a district, appointed directly by the Crown. I would use the term "royal district chief magistrate".

An Alcalde mayor was basically a similar figure, though of lesser authority. As I have indicated above, I think the best term is probably "senior local judge of first instance"; "of first instance" could be omitted if you like, but I think "local" (or "district" again, if you prefer) should be included, and I have added "senior", because there were also "alcaldes ordinarios", who were lower down the scale and could be called simply "judges" or "magistrates".

Then we come to "realengo", "de las órdenes" and "de señorío". These refer to three kinds of towns: (a) those owned directly by the crown, (b) those owned by one of the Military Orders of Santiago, Calatrava and Alcántara (powerful aristocratic organisations of medieval origin), and (c) manorial towns, owned by a local feudal lord. In each case, the local Alcalde mayor would be appointed by the relevant local overlord, so they were only crown-appointed in the first category. Corregidores, by contrast, were by definition Crown appointments.

So the sentence which is causing you trouble might go something like this:

"Firstly the corregidor (royal district chief magistrate), the alcalde mayor (senior local judge of first instance) if appointed by the Crown or the Military Orders (but not in manorial towns), [...]."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 12 hrs (2011-03-21 08:45:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

A pleasure, Peter. It does seem natural, at first sight, to call these people "mayors". Nowadays, after all, an "alcalde" is a mayor and not a judge, and it seems logical that the mayor should be on the grain store management committee ex officio, as it were. But I still think it's better not to. In early modern Spain, even an ordinary "alcalde" had essential judicial functions, and many "alcaldes" were not mayors in any sense at all, but just judges, such as the Alcaldes de Casa y Corte (who were a bit like the modern Audiencia Nacional, very loosely speaking).

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 14:04
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 312
Grading comment
Many thanks, Charles.
Notes to answerer
Asker: Wonderfully detailed answer, Charles. Many thanks.

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Reference comments


11 mins
Reference: discussion here

Reference information:
They weren't mayors in the modern sense of the word, perhaps better described "keepers of the kings peace" - judges, advisers, the crown's local (sometimes itinerant) representative: http://books.google.es/books?id=1W6OKDmpLe8C&pg=PA110&lpg=PA...

Jenni Lukac (X)
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 111
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