Los mecanismos del honor y la nobleza en Castilla y Portugal, 1556-1621

Abstract

The thesis analyzes the evolution of the idea of nobility in the kingdoms of Castile and Portugal during the reigns of Felipe II and III, from a new cultural history and comparative history perspective.The analysis is based on the study of two complementary sources: the group of treatises of Castilian and Portugese nobility and administrative docüments pertaining to information about the nobility status of knights belonging to the Castilian orders of Santiago, Calatrava, and Alcántara. This second source offers the novelty of being considered a treatise on nobility itself starting with an analysis of its structure and evolution between1 556 and 1621. Similarly, a comparison of both kingdoms, especially since the incorporation of the Kingdom of Portugal into the Spanish monarchy in 1580, allows for an understanding of the mechanisms and agents involved in the formulation and dissemination of a nobility discourse. By the same token, we have been able to analyse the presence and influence of Castilian texts in Portugal. The result of the study of administative sources, which delineate "proofs" of nobility, as a treatise on nobility itself, is without a doübt an innovative contribution that has allowed us to analyse the presence of a nobility discourse and its forms of transmittance, verifying its evolution and expressions during the reigns of Felipe II and lI. The evolution that the concept of nobility underwent during both reigns in Castile and Portugal allows us to establish the basic principles that shaped the idea of nobility, as well as identify the actions of certain agents in its codification.