Clients, conflicts and the court: The viceroyalty of the X Duke of Albuquerque in New Spain, 1702--1710
Description
The history of New Spain in the early eighteenth century has been relatively ignored. This thesis is directed toward filling this lacuna by focusing on the viceregal court and politics of the tenth duke of Alburquerque (1702--1710). The central conflicts among the viceroy, his creatures , the power elites, and the crown that encompassed traditional privileges, personal interests, and reform initiatives, form the focus of this thesis. Through prosopography I unravel the social networks intrinsic to the politics at the viceregal court I posit that the crown during the War of the Spanish Succession (1700--1715) had already taken on colonial oligarchies and corporations in order to tighten control over New Spain. Processes of social disciplining as described by Max Weber and Gerhard Oestreich were clearly at play in Mexico Alburquerque, chosen by the Bourbons for political motives, resisted these tendencies underway. He allied with the local merchants in derailing the mercantile policies and joined the oligarchy of the city of Puebla to rebuff the royal superintendent's levy of taxes. Together with the Dominican Order, the viceroy also opposed monarchic policies geared toward secularization in Oaxaca As long as his transatlantic ties to grandees and ministers in Spain lent powerful support, the viceroy could pursue his politics forcefully. But when his allies' power crumbled, the hostile clique at the Madrid court took revenge. By castigating the duke with an extraordinary fine, the Bourbon politicians also sent a warning to the viceregal successors to cease from drastically flaunting royal directives The Mexican subcourt in this period still fulfilled a decisive role in agglutinating the colonial social networks. With nearly all of the royal institutions located in the palace, the viceroy and power elites aligned easily and negotiated their political agenda. Only during the mid eighteenth-century, the Mexican institutions began to 'move out of court' in favor of a more separate and disciplined administration. By rescinding the creole elites' influence over the Mexican court, the crown contributed to their alienation, casting the foundations for Mexico's independence