(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2024-10-18) Ciaramitaro, Fernando
In recent years, the court has been a relevant topic in historiography. When we refer to the court as a space that is political, artistic, financial, etc., we should not only think of the court par excellence, that of the king, but also of the other distinct spheres made up of nobles, ecclesiastics and illustrious members of the common folk, who formed centers of scholarly discussion and power and exercised a political, religious, cultural and economic role in the territory. In the Indies, different courts were juxtaposed with each other, but researchers have tended to focus on viceregal courts. In these courts, the highest monarchical office was executed: the viceroy acted as the link between the monarch and his American vassals, and as an impressive focal point for groups that composed the sociopolitical framework of the viceroyalties. The court was the most prestigious center in which guidelines, ideologies, and symbols were developed, all of which were elements that comprised the essence or core of power. The objective of this study is therefore to analyze the main plans that, from the court of the monarch in Spain and the Indies, were drawn for the Americas: theoretical designs that did not become fact. They are, nonetheless, valuable for understanding the changes in political thought and law, throughout the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2024-10-18) Suárez, Margarita
This article analyzes how distribution of power between peninsular institutions and the viceroys coexisted with the legal and informal channels that were established to accommodate the aspirations of various viceregal groups. Although the power of the viceroys and the elites had increased since the end of the 16th century, under the protection of buoyant mining production, the polysynodial system did not allow Peruvian elites to rise within it. This resulted in a system circumvented through tricks, advice, and even by evading laws and corrupting patronage, which would end up vitiating the system of gifts that had previously worked successfully and allowed the union of the Hispanic empire in the beginnings of modern Europe.
