Summary
The present documental collection collects the preserved medieval ledgers of the church of San Sebastián in Tafalla (Navarra) that encompass the period from 1486 to 1509. This church was one of the most outstanding and famous in late medieval Navarre. The accounting system is formally kept stable during all these years, and there are few modifications. It corresponds to a general biconceptual plan: Income or Recepta, and expenses or Expensa. Each exercise ends with the total results. Once the suma universal of all the expensa and recepta of the year has been exposed, the accounts were approved by the oidores de comptos, the mayor, jurors, witnesses and a notary. In the body of each section, a note is made on the origin or destiny of the monies, and the exact amount, which are placed in the marginal column and are reduced to certain uniform types of currency. The "Libros de recepta y expensa" of the church of San Sebastián constitute an arsenal of news and data of considerable interest in history, art, linguistics, and anthropology, hagionimy and other disciplines. Evidently, the fact that these are ledgers converts them into an interesting source of study of the fiscality from the 15th and 16th centuries. But, without doubt, what appears more profusely collected in these ledgers is the popular religiousness that is generated by the sanctuary. Their interest transcends the "microhistory" of Tafalla to become a reference point when studying late medieval religiousness in Navarre and Gipuzkoa.
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