May 2006

"CENTENARIES"

The Tasso’s family, also known as Tassis or Taxis depending on the epoch and the countries they inhabited, managed and organized the postal service for centuries in most parts of Europe. Coming from the Italian Lombardy, they settled in Spain under the kingdom of Joanna of Castile (called The Mad) and Philip the Handsome. On the occasion of the 5th Centenary of their establishment in the country, the philatelic service issues a commemorative stamp depicting a close-up view of a horseman carrying news from different parts of the empire. Even if the establishment of a regular postal service throughout the kingdom was of key importance under the Catholic Monarchs’ sovereignty, it was not until Philip the Handsome’s time that the post turned into a completely organized system, thanks to the influence of the king’s homeland. In 1505, Francisco de Tassis, at the time responsible for the postal service under the emperor Maximilian I, was in charge of establishing the postal communication among Spain, France, the Netherlands and Germany. On 19 May 1506, Francisco de Tassis and his nephew Simon were appointed postal chiefs by the kings Joanna and Philip “pa traer e llebar las cartas e enboltorios e pliegos .. en las Cibdades e villas e logares destos mys Reynos ....” (in order to carry all correspondence to and from every corner of their kingdom). The relationship between the Crown and the Tassis’ family was reinforced under Charles I, who, in 1516, signed an agreement to regulate the postal organization at the emperor’s service in all its territories. The agreement stipulated the time each postal sending should cover; for example, a period of 7 summer days or 8 winter days was established for sendings from Burgos to Brussels. In turn, the king obliged himself to offer royal advantages for consignments crossing its territories and provided the Tassis’ with horses –at least two spare horses would be available at each postal station– as well as with supplies to avoid possible delays. Under this monopolized and profitable activity, the emperor annually paid 11,000 gold ducats, of which 6,000 were disbursed in Spain. In 1518, the Tassis’ family were granted the Spanish nationality. They monopolized the postal system until 1622, a period up to which its organization and necessary infrastructure were greatly improved. They established the use of the ‘postal horn’, later called cornamusa, to announce the arriving post, as well as the yellow color identifying most of today’s postal administrations.