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26 death of dr. centurio Dr. Centurio . . . expired with a quick convulsion. —francisco gonzález perellón T he royal governor of seville’s responsibilities were many and diverse, and in times of crisis not only was he called upon to direct the city government, administer justice, and make decisions affecting the entire province, but he or his deputies were expected to address daily emergencies, to coordinate the efforts of various officials, and to respond to letters and petitions from vecinos and visitors alike. While Diego de Toledo was pressing the count for a ruling regarding the travelers from Segura de León, the governor was asked to intervene in other matters as well. One of the people petitioning the Count of Villar on Monday, 19 March, was María de Moya, the lonely wife of the surgeon Pedro García Arroyal, whom the governor had sent in January to Constantina and Puebla de los Infantes to treat the sick. The surgeon, who had served the city for many years, had finished his tour of duty but could not return to Seville directly. Instead, he was languishing in Paradas, a small town near Marchena, which belonged to“Señor Rodrigo Ponce de León, the Duke of Arcos.” María de Moya begged the count to permit her husband to join her once again in their home in Triana because his absence “causes me great harm and injury,” and she included her husband’s testimony certified by the notary of the cabildo of Paradas. Pedro García Arroyal stated that he had come to Paradas on 6 February, after the Count of Villar had refused to let him enter Seville so soon after leaving the two plague-infected towns. The exasperated surgeon claimed that as of Saturday evening, 17 March, he had been in Paradas for forty-one days, living in “the house of one of his daughters and his son-in-law.” García Arroyal assured the governor that “by God Our Lord’s mercy” everyone in town, including his family, was well. Quarantine, as its name implies, was normally im- death of dr. centurio | 201 posed for forty days, and clearly enough time had passed since the physician had left the infected towns; therefore the count issued the license for his return to Seville. Another physician in the city’s employ did not fare as well. On 20 March the count received the sad news that Dr. Centurio, who had been treating plague victims in Constantina, “died and passed away from this present life.” The licentiate Francisco González Perellón, Constantina’s chief justice, sent a brief notice of the loyal doctor’s death with a promise that a more detailed account would follow. The main reason for the short missive was to ask the governor to send a replacement, because the plague was still raging. The count obliged and ordered Bachiller Miguel Díaz, a surgeon from Seville, to travel to Constantina. It would be several days before Licentiate González Perellón’s follow-up letter, penned on 25 March, reached the count and the plague commission. González Perellón, who on many occasions had praised Dr. Centurio’s skill and his services to Constantina’s sick, related the circumstances of the physician’s death. He died on Saturday, 17 March,“while making his will,” before he could finish instituting his father, Blasio Cirozio, as his heir. González Perellón noted that to convince the sick doctor to make his testament,“my persuasion and exposing myself to danger and enter his lodgings was not enough, until the very necessity compelled him to do it.” Dr. Centurio came from the mountainous border region between Italy and Austria. González Perellón commented that although the doctor was dying, he dictated the information of his origins “with such spirit that he spelled what he was saying in order for it to be understood.” Lest there be any doubt, the chief justice declared that Dr. Centurio died “of two buboes and two carbuncles” and remarked that he “expired with a quick convulsion.” There was no mention of an executor of the will, but Dr. Centurio probably chose Licentiate González Perellón to safeguard and eventually distribute the property according to the doctor’s directives. In his letter to the governor the chief justice listed some of the physician’s possessions, which included a hefty gold chain and about 640 reales in cash as...

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