History of the Ribera del Júcar · Cuenca DOP

Perhaps for historical reasons, perhaps for agro-climatic characteristics, and without a doubt for economic reasons, the cultivation of the vine, along with cereals, took deep root in the region.

One might wonder what crops existed before vineyards arrived in these fields.

The older people in the area have said that they always saw vineyards, sharing the fields with cereals and “sumac.”

**Sisante priest’s map, year 1787. Dictionary of the towns of Spain. Diocese of Cuenca. Tomás López 1787, Mss-7298. National Library.**

There is documentation from the year 1613 about a donation by Dr. Xpobal de Tébar Origuela y Balençuela to the Society of Jesus – “… some houses and a vineyard… planted with stone, in the jurisdiction of San Clemente, called Casas de Fernando Alonso… which is of great value.”

– The stone enclosure planted with 53,000 vines of maxuelo in Casas de Fernando Alonso was for the support of the Society of Jesus, and outside the enclosure, they had about 500 almudes for wheat and barley. There was also an oak forest of about 690 almudes.

There is also a special census of Casas de Fernando Alonso that, based on the data it contains, is wonderful, and it refers to the enumeration of various social aspects of each individual. It is from the year 1753, from which some details can be noted (Montero, 2001):

– “At that time, our town had 134 neighbors, totaling 513 inhabitants, of which 256 were males and 257 were females.”

– “The inhabitants of this village owned about five thousand almudes of cereal, three hundred of vineyard, and three hundred of olive.”

– “The production of cereals was all with the benefit of manure: in barley, thirteen and a half fanegas per almud; in wheat, three and a half per almud; in lentils, the same, and in rye and oats, the same, producing an almud planted with saffron onion ten pounds, eight arrobas of wine from the planted vineyard and three arrobas of oil from the almud planted with olives.”

– “A fanega of wheat was worth eighteen reales, the same for lentils, twelve reales for rye, eight for barley, and four reales per arroba of wine.”

– “There were four hundred sheep, sixty pigs, one mare, twenty-seven mules, and fifty donkeys in the locality.”

– “There were one hundred and twenty houses, all single-story or ground floor. There was no tavern or inn, nor was there a butcher or shop. There was only one tile oven, producing eight thousand tiles a year. Each person made their own bread, going to grind at the Júcar mills for the majority.”

On the other hand, Martínez (1982) refers to the situation in Sisante, Vara de Rey, and their villages (Pozoamargo and Casas de Benítez), all revolving around “where to get the salary to pay the Corregidor.

The Council of Castilla decrees that his salary should be paid by the towns of Sisante, Vara de Rey, and their villages proportionally to their population and estates.

The Corregidor informs the authorities of the town of Vara de Rey about this, and they reply that they are poor and have no money.

The Council of Castilla insists that the money for the Corregidor should come from the residents.

Vara de Rey also insists that they cannot burden the residents and seeks a solution by fencing off land, leasing it to the tenants, and using the proceeds to pay the Corregidor.

On January 22, 1752, the Council of Castilla grants the authority to fence off land, provided it does not harm the neighboring towns and communal lands of Aragón.

The towns of La Roda and Minaya protest, opposing the event, claiming that Sisante and Vara de Rey produce a lot of wine, saffron, and oil, and have significant commercial traffic, and they write to the Council.

In June 1754, the town of La Roda writes to the Superintendent of Rents of Cuenca, requesting information on the produce, rents, taxes, etc., of the towns of Sisante, Vara de Rey, and their villages.

He responds with a complete report in July of the same year, stating:

• “…Noting that according to the calculation, the produce can be estimated separately for Vara de Rey: Regulation of residents and landowners of Vara de Rey: Wheat 9,001 almudes, Barley 7,543 almudes, Rye 3,104 almudes, Oats 5,922 almudes, Chickpeas 18 almudes, Lentils 600 almudes, Wine 4,200 arrobas, Oil 200 arrobas, and Saffron 800 pounds.

The same for these and the villages of Pozoamargo and Casas de Benítez: Wheat 18,019 almudes, Barley 10,978 almudes, Rye 7,742 almudes, Oats 5,922 almudes, Chickpeas 49 almudes, Lentils 712 almudes, Wine 7,532 arrobas, Saffron 1,098 pounds, and Sumac 170 almudes.”

The Council of Castilla ordered an inquiry among the residents of La Roda:

• “…To the eleventh question, he said: He knows and is aware due to his extensive knowledge and dealings with the residents of the villages of Pozoamargo and Casas de Benítez, near the Casas de Fernando Alonso, his hometown; that they are also landowners and traders, and have very good wine and saffron harvests, and can very well bear most of the Corregidor’s salary if it is apportioned to them…”