Format of Notarial Documents

By the end of the Middle Ages, a basic formula for writing notarial documents
had developed throughout Europe. Every notarial record should contain the following six elements:

1. Reception of the parties by the notary;
2. Date and locality of the transaction;
3. Identification of the parties;
4. Standard legal language specific to the type of transaction;
5. Witnesses to the transaction; and
6. Authentication of the transaction by the notary.¹

This pattern reflects an ideal formulaic process in which the parties presented themselves before the notary, who took notes concerning the transaction and reduced that transaction to a standard format whose regularity added to the legal authenticity that the presence and signatures of the notary and witnesses gave to it.

For comments on how the authenticity and veracity of notarial transactions were established, see below.

Fully defining this process comes only with experience in reading and understanding the documents. While it is impossible to explore all the nuances of notarial records, a practical analysis of their standard parts sets the researcher on a path to understanding them, offering a standard against which to compare and interpret the documents he or she reads. With that idea in mind, return to the six elements that are—or should be—found in every document that came from the pen of the notary.

1. Reception of the parties by the notary: This is most often indicated by language such as parecieron presentes ante mi el infascrito escribano ([the parties] appeared before me the below-signed notary), followed by the names and identification tags of the parties.
2. Date and locality of the transaction: Dates are normally expressed in this form: dos de mayo de mil setecientos tres ([day] two of May of seventeen hundred three). They may appear at the beginning of the notarial document but most often appear in the last paragraph.
3. Identification of the parties: The identification of the parties and the witnesses vary as to the completeness but always involves identification tags as listed in the Figure. The most commonly used are names, surnames, residences, and marital status. Occupation or title is usually only found for professionals or officials such as doctors, mayors, or priests or for titled nobility. Each of these tags has a legal significance in creating an identity for the individual.²
4. Standard legal language specific to the type of transaction: The legal language of notarial documents was so standardized by the sixteenth century that books were published, setting forth specific formats for the notary to copy.³                               
5. Witnesses to the transaction: Witnesses were usually drawn from persons associated with the notary and not necessarily related to any of the parties, except perhaps as neighbors if the document was signed at a home. 
6. Authentication of the transaction by the notary: With words such as "de esto doy fe" (to this, I give faith), the notary not only authenticated the identities of the parties but established the validity of the contract. Authentication is a key concept under notarial law since this is where the legal assumption arises as to the validity of the documented transaction—in and out of court.

Authenticity and Veracity of Notarial Transactions

In order to establish the authenticity and veracity of the document, a notary always ended each document with authentication language such as por verdad lo firmo (for truth I sign it), or para que conste lo firmé (that it might so stand, I signed it), followed by his signature and paraph (rúbrica), which is the ornate, unique, and definitive symbol added following a signature. Ultimately, the notary’s signature gave faith in the party’s testimony, thereby authenticating the transaction.

The legal language of notarial documents was so standardized by the sixteenth century that books were published, setting forth specific formats for the notary to copy. With words such as de esto doy fe (to this, I give faith), the notary not only authenticated the identities of the parties but established the validity of the contract. Authentication is a key concept under notarial law since this is where the legal assumption arises as to the validity of the documented transaction—in and out of court.

As such authentic acts are 1) properly structured private contracts (protocols, acts); 2) executed by a notary in accordance with civil law; 3) properly archived and (now) preserved in the public sector; and 4) refutable only via judicial process, so they carry substantial evidentiary weight. No later alterations of acts were allowed. Amending or nullifying an act required a superseding act.

Analyzing and Translating Legal Phrases and Concepts

One of the major challenges in working with notarial records is the number of legal phrases and concepts that appear. Some of these have parallel concepts in Anglo-American jurisprudence, such as the right of a buyer to both possession of the land and clear title thereto, which in its failure, results in a quiet title action in the court. Translating the language expressing such concepts requires only an understanding of the basic juridical ideas used; however, using a Spanish/English legal dictionary such as that published by Butterworth Legal Publishers enhances the process of selecting a correct English legal term.

Spanish law falls within the continental European Civil Law legal tradition, which has its origins in Roman law. During the early Renaissance of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, legal scholars at universities such as those in Salamanca, Spain, and Bologna, Italy, restored and reformulated not only many of the core principles of Roman law but many specific legal doctrines and even specific laws. The meanings of Latin descriptive phrases such as ultradimidian justi medi preci⁴ can be found by searching in different online reference works. They include:

1. Enciclopedia jurídica at http://www.enciclopedia-juridica.biz14.com.
2. Numen – The Latin Lexicon at http://latinlexicon.org/index.php.
3. The Law Dictionary Featuring Black's Law Dictionary Free Online Legal Dictionary 2^nd Ed. at www.thelawdictionary.org, also downloadable in pdf facsimile format as a free Google eBook.​

1. "Bibliografía del Notariado en España," Estudios históricos y documentos de los archivos de Protocolos (Barcelona: Colegio Notarial de Barcellona, 1974), 195-198.
2. Pérez Fernández del Castillo, Derecho Notarial, 274-291.
3. Bono Huertas, Historia del Derecho Notarial, 208, 217, 226-7 and 246. Reyes Rojas García, "La literatura notarial castellana durante el siglo XVI y su difusión en América," Nuevo Mundo Mundos Nuevos, (30/01/2012); http://nuevomundo.revues.org/62407, accessed 16 Aug 2021.
4. The doctrine is that a buyer or seller may rescind the contract if the actual value of the item bought is fifty percent less than, or greater than, the just sale price during the four years following the date of sale. See Figure 7-14a for an example of its usage.