Una monarquía de cortes. El espacio político de la corte virreinal en la Monarquía Hispánica (Valencia, Nápoles y México, 1621-1635)

The government of the Spanish Habsburg monarchy was characterized by the integration of a wide variety of social and political actors across its various kingdoms, both in Europe and overseas. Although the viceroys acted as representatives of the absent monarch—his alter ego—their authority depended largely on their ability to mediate among the various factions vying for power. In this context, the viceregal court constituted a political space, with both a topographical and symbolic dimension, in which multiple social and political interests were represented and negotiated.

Based on the analysis of a broad corpus of printed and manuscript sources, and from a comparative perspective, this book traces a comprehensive panorama of the political space of the viceregal court in the cities of Valencia, Naples, and Mexico City. It focuses particularly on the figure of the viceroy, on his role as an intermediary between the monarchy, local society, and his own household and entourage, as well as on his capacity for patronage and his political performance in the conflict-ridden context of the reforms promoted by the Count-Duke of Olivares.