Palace intrigues and clientelism drove politics at the viceregal court of colonial Mexico. By carefully reconstructing social networks in the court of Viceroy Duke of Alburquerque (1702-1710), Christoph Rosenmuller reveals that the Duke presided over one of the most corrupt viceregal terms in Mexican history.
Alburquerque was appointed by Spain's King Philip V at a time when expanding state power was beginning to meet with opposition in colonial Mexico. The Duke and his retainers, though seemingly working for the crown, actually built close alliances with locals to thwart the reform...
Palace intrigues and clientelism drove politics at the viceregal court of colonial Mexico. By carefully reconstructing social networks in the court of...
This book provides new perspectives into a subject that historians have largely overlooked. The contributors use fresh archival research from Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, and the Philippines to examine the lives of slaves and farmworkers as well as self-serving magistrates, bishops, and traders in contraband. The authors show that corruption was a powerful discourse in the Atlantic world. Investigative judges could dismiss culprits, jail them, or, sometimes, have them garroted and their corpses publicly displayed.
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This book provides new perspectives into a subject that historians have largely overlooked. The contributors use fresh archival research from Spain...
