A MONARCHICAL RES PUBLICA. THE SPANISH MONARCHY, A POLYCENTRIC IMPERIAL STRUCTURE OF URBAN REPUBLICS

The colloquium approaches the study of asientos de negros - monopolistic contracts between the Crown and entrepreneurs for the purpose of bringing slaves into the Indies – broadly and from different analytical perspectives. The asientos de negros contracts allowed the Spanish Monarchy to concentrate a series of useful services in the hands of solvent businessmen for the whole of its territories. It did so, firstly, to satisfy the constant demand for slave labor in the Indies. Slave labour was needed on plantations, in mines, domestic service, construction, and in fact for an endless number of economic purposes. The asientos also facilitated the trade in slaves as a luxury product exchanged to access the most valuable American items: silver, salt, tobacco, cocoa, indigo, and grana, and other commodities. The asentistas were the tip of the iceberg in the development of vast mercantile networks that connected markets, ports and institutions through variegated client networks of reciprocal collaboration that extended across the Atlantic. As a result, the asientos de esclavos were much more than the subcontracting of a specific service in exchange for certain tax revenues. The asentistas concentrated and channeled numerous interests and services in their hands: transport, loans, shipbuilding, supplies and military protection, among others. These services involved a plethora of agents of all provenances, conditions and professions. Thus, the "Asiento" offered the asentistas a way to insert themselves into extensive transnational networks that were Atlantic or even global in scope, but had strong local roots. This method of inserting themselves and operating on the local level of urban, port, mercantile, diplomatic and financial networks gave them a privileged role in terms of access and circulation of information as well as connecting different urban contexts the slave trade linked to other interests. Despite their relevance for operating the Spanish Monarchy at the local and international level, the "asientos de negros" have not been the subject of many global studies. They are almost always considered a secondary matter in works about the Atlantic commercial system, the development of the Iberian empires, or the participation of foreigners in the Spanish commercial system. In the current historiography, though, works on imperial transnational networks and the study of slavery have gained remarkable momentum. The issues they consider are linked to some of the central axes of our project REXPUBLICA, specifically those relating to the role of urban polynuclear networks in the operation of a polycentric imperial structure of urban republics such as the Hispanic monarchy. Indeed, the urban centers acted as the nodes around which a complex structure of overlapping networks of different nature was built, capable of operating within the framework of a great variety of diverse jurisdictional, fiscal and institutional spaces. These were networks on the move and specialized in the provision of a varied range of services, in permanent competition and collaboration, attracted by the promotional possibilities their agents not only had to manage, but also integrate into the heart of a variety of local spaces jealously defending their autonomy and privileges. Approaching the complex system of agents, networks, corporations and institutions associated with the slave trade from a variety of angles will allow us to question Philip Curtin's description of mercantile diasporas operating on a global scale and between different cultural spaces as socially integrated communities and closed groups characterized by a high level of social and cultural cohesion. Instead, following Francesca Trivellato, we are more inclined to emphasize the role of intercultural cooperation and, especially, of the cosmopolitan communitarianism that characterized this kind of mercantile networks with a strong transnational component. However, we will be interested in looking not only at the high degree of cosmopolitanism evident in these transnational agents, but also the processes by which they were rooted in or excluded from the cities of the monarchy. We will observe how these networks were settled within the mercantile frameworks of the different cities and their hinterlands, and how they were configured for collaboration and competition with other networks, companies or agents at the same time. This will enable us to trace the loyalties, identities, friendships and, of course, clientele that gave cohesion and shape to these networks through trust and mutual interest. Moreover, studying these networks across long periods of time will also allow us to see how these networks adapted to different contexts both within the Spanish imperial system and outside, and highlight their capacity for resistance and adaptability to changing circumstances. We suggest that the most pertinent way to approach the complexity associated with the processes of interconnection and with the mutual influences operated within an imperial structure of global dimensions is the analysis of the leading role of the great variety of agents that circulated within it, examining their multiple interactions as well as the strategies and forms of rationality that guided their actions. It is precisely these interactions between the local and the global and the dynamics that they were able to generate in decision making or in the channeling of information that make us rather focus on a jeux d’échelles capable of offering a more complex and attentive approach to a greater variety of documentary sources. Based on these postulates, the colloquium will offer a multi-angled vision of the "Asiento" system, addressing it as a space of innovation, adaptation and creation of formal and informal institutions linked to the development of a fragmented but interconnected Atlantic space in which the Hispanic Monarchy was a fundamental political aggregate. The "Asiento" was a permanent subject of European diplomacy and was articulated by transnational mercantile networks made up of private traders whose political, social, cultural or religious affiliations were extremely varied. In addition, the slave trade allowed to connect distant territories under different jurisdictions and political entities, constituting a fundamental element in the international scene and an extremely attractive object of study.

Este artículo muestra las relaciones que se dieron entre conocimiento y política a fines del s. XVIII en el reino de Chile. Los protagonistas de nuestra historia fueron un objeto y un fortuito acontecimiento. Sus peculiares historias quedaron estrechamente vinculadas. El primero un objeto, el llamado «pino de Chile», despertó el interés de naturalistas y políticos. El segundo un hecho particular: a fines de 1780 el navío de guerra San Pedro Alcántara, fondeado en la ciudad de Concepción, sufrió el ataque de un rayo mostrando la necesidad que en esos años se tenía de maderas. Este accidente provocó el descubrimiento de nuevos «pinares» en territorios del «país de indios». Su descubrimiento desencadenó y movilizó acciones cognoscitivas y políticas tanto en Madrid como en Chile provocando la actuación de actores locales. Este particular objeto y este imprevisto hecho mostraron no sólo la relación entre conocimiento y política también la importancia de la gestión local de lo imperial.

Resumen: Este artículo tiene como propósito entregar algunos elementos de análisis que permitan comprender la historia del reino de Chile como una parte de la historia de la globalización moderna. Para ello, recurriendo a nuevas corrientes historiográficas que muestran que la monarquía española desarrolló un modelo policéntrico de administración, el trabajo propone que considerar a los actores locales, especialmente en territorios de frontera, como conectores que lograron vincular e integrar realidades políticas, físicas y culturales lejanas rompiendo con el modelo explicativo centro-periferia. El caso de la "Plaza fuerte y Vecindad" de Valdivia en el siglo XVIII ejemplifica como núcleos urbanos de naturaleza híbrida son expresiones de relaciones complejas en el ámbito local, regional y global. Abstract: The purpose of this article is to provide some historical elements of analysis that allow us to understand the history of the kingdom of Chile in this period as a part of the history of modern globalization. Incorporating new historiographic currents that shows the Spanish monarchy as a polycentric monarchy, the paper proposes that local actors must be considered, especially in border territories, as a connectors who linked and integrate distant political, physical and cultural realities, breaking with the explanatory center-periphery model. The case of the city of Valdivia in the 18th century shows how hybrid urban centers were expressions of complex relationships on the local, regional and global scale.

This Companion aims to give an up-to-date overview of the historical context and the conceptual framework of Spanish imperial expansion during the early modern period, mostly during the 16th century. It intends to offer a nuanced and balanced account of the complexities of this historically controversial period analyzing first its historical underpinnings, then shedding light on the normative language behind imperial theorizing and finally discussing issues that arose with the experience of the conquest of American polities, such as colonialism, slavery or utopia. The aim of this volume is to uncover the structural and normative elements of the theological, legal and philosophical arguments about Spanish imperial ambitions in the early modern period. Readership: All interested in the history of political thought, the conceptual bases of Spanish imperial expansion, and the history of the legal and normative language of Spanish empire.

Ciclo de conferencias anual promovido desde el área de Historia Moderna de la UPO y la Escuela de Estudios Hispanoamericanos de Sevilla (EEHA) vinculado al grupo PAIDI Europa, el mundo mediterráneo y su difusión atlántica (HUM-680) y a los proyectos Rexpublica La Monarquía Hispánica,una estructura imperial policéntrica de repúblicas urbanas(PGC 2018-095224-B-I00), Cartografías en movimiento (I+D+i FEDER-Andalucía 2014-2020, UPO-1260972) y Las redes internacionales del comercio de libros en la Monarquía hispánica, 1501-1648 (HAR2017- 82362-P).

The Peace of Westphalia of 1648 is generally presented as the foundation of a system of international relations based on the principle of balance between fully sovereign states, independent from any form of supranational authority. According to this interpretative framework, the triumph of the modern nation-state and the formation of a series of check and balances designed to prevent the emergence of hegemonic powers in Europe germinated during the second half of the 17th century. With the creation of collective control mechanisms and the organisation of multilateral congresses that allegedly guaranteed international stability, religious and jurisdictional ties that bound states to superior entities, such as the Pope or the Emperor, were displaced by a univocal raison d'etat, without which rulers could not aspire to enjoy full sovereignty over their respective territories. Without questioning the farranging consequences of these treaties, and after examining in detail the diplomatic negotiations that led to the Peace of Münster between the Spanish Monarchy and the Dutch Republic, the first of the bilateral treaties signed in Westphalia, the present chapter argues that, even if the treaty brought about great changes, substantial continuities can also be attested, while paying attention to the background of the diplomatic negotiations. In order to achieve this, emphasis will be laid on such aspects as the growing importance of mercantile and colonial factors, the active role played by local agents in the drawing of new frontiers, and the increasingly secondary part played by religious matters.