(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2024-10-18) Rosenmüller, Christoph
In this article, I argue that the entourages of the viceroys traveling to New Spain declined notably during the eighteenth century, but with marked exceptions. While the aristocrats of the early century brought sizable retinues, a modest group of twenty criados (retainers) accompanied the Marquis of Casafuerte (1722-1734). Then Juan Francisco de Güemes y Horcasitas reinforced this transformation in 1746, when arriving from another posting in Spanish America with his wife, eight children, and perhaps a handful of criados. Some viceroys married to wives of significant social importance broke with the trend towards modesty, however these vicereines were entitled to their own criadas (female retainers) and criados to serve them, contributing to larger entourages. For that reason, the Marquis and Marquise of las Amarillas traveled with their son and sixty-six criados and criadas during the mid-century, while thirty-three criados and criadas came with the Marquis of Branciforte and María Antonia de Godoy y Álvarez de Faria in the year 1794. An important countercurrent jostled with the steady decline of viceregal patronage during the century.
(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) Gálvez Peña, Carlos M.
Published in Lima in 1644, fray Alonso de Almeida´s Pretendiente de la tierra is a complex treatise that explores both the nature of power and the mission of Christian government embodied by the Spanish Empire of the seventeenth century. It is an original appropriation of both Castiglione´s The Courtier (1528) and Botero´s Reason of State (1589). An interesting case of cultural appropriation, Almeida´s work is, however, notably original, since it is designed to be a manual for honorees of the Peruvian viceroyalty to navigate the court at Madrid. The book not only covers formalities and protocol, but, above all, delves into their meaning in the wider context of an ailing Hispanic Monarchy and the relaunch of government based on anti-Machiavellianism. Almeida’s notion of Christian government includes both the individual and the State.
