User manual AHDOPE
By clicking on the following link you can download the user manual of the database of the Historical Archive of the Dominicans of the Province of Hispania (AHDOPE): here
Brief history of the Archive
The Provincial Chapter of the Dominicans of the Province of Spain, held at the Virgen del Camino (León) between December 1974 and January 1975, ordered the creation of the Dominican Historical Institute of San Esteban de Salamanca. The primary task of this Institute was the conservation, organization and cataloging of the existing documentation in the Provincial Curia and in the convents that wanted to deposit their archives in said body. Thus was born the Dominican Historical Archive of the Province of Spain (AHDOPE). The first steps were taken thanks to the legacy of Fr. Justo Cuervo and Fr. Vicente Beltrán de Heredia and the convent of San Esteban de Salamanca. Subsequently, the contribution of the archive of the Provincial Curia and of some convents, such as San Juan Bautista de Corias, Santo Domingo de la Coruña and San Pablo de Valladolid added to the quantity and quality of the documentation in this Archive. Today, the evident shortage of friars, which forces to reduce the number of convents, has favored, and favors, that the dispersed documentation is grouped and preserved in this said provincial archive. Since 2016 it has functioned as the Archive of the Province of Hispania, which was born from the union of the old Provinces of Aragon, Bética or Andalusia and Spain. For this reason, the name of the provincial archive has been changed to the Dominican Historical Archive of the Province of Hispania, although the acronym AHDOPE is maintained. Therefore, the documentation of the Province of Spain is kept until 2016, and the documentation generated by the recent Province of Hispania will be preserved over time.
Catalog of the Archive of the Province of Spain
This Catalog therefore offers a wide range of documentation of the life of the Provincial Curia and its projection in the American missions and Vicariates, of a good part of the convents and religious who, due to their lives and cultural activities, have left historical information about interest. We all wish the Old Fund were more abundant than it is. Historical circumstances - the War of Independence, the confiscation of 1835 and the Spanish Civil War - have caused the religious orders to lose most of their documentary heritage, which they had conserved and pampered for centuries. It will always be necessary to go to the National Historical Archive of Madrid, to investigate the documentation of the various convents. However, we must say that there is more documentation, prior to the confiscation, than expected to be found. The catalog that we present refers primarily to handwritten documentation, with some printed works of a documentary nature. There is still a lot of material to be cataloged.
Contact
For any query about the Archive, go to the following address:
AHDOPE
Convento de San Esteban
Plaza del Concilio de Trento, s/n, 37001, Salamanca, Spain
Hours (working days): Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (closed in August)
Tel. 923 27 30 99
E-mail: ahdope@dominicos.org