La presencia montañesa en el Perú virreinalmentalidad y comportamientos de los cántabros en lima entre 1700 y 1821

Abstract

The present dissertation addresses the Spanish immigration to Peru which proceeded from the Mountains of Santander, mainly to Lima and the jurisdiction of its archdiocese, between 1700 and 1821. It analyses 863 persons from that origin, who settled in Peru, through a group of peculiarities, and discovers how they employed strategies of social insertion which distinguished them from the late vice regal polítical body. The montañeses, of limited number regarding other peninsular origins, directed their effo1is towards prosperity, with a tendency to agree upon socially acceptable and advantageous marriages, and to seek and maintain status; all this pursuant of a group consciousness which demanded trust and solidarity, and a feeling of social superiority stemming from their condition of nobility. This doctoral thesis approaches the migratory factors of expulsion of their lands of origin, the attraction towards Peru and its capital, the counties of origin and the years of arrival to the vice regal territories. Furthermore, it studies the main occupations, chief among which is trade, as a starting point for the diversification of other activities which generate social prestige, such as, public office, access to the militias, orders of chivalry and entitled nobility, for which they resorted to their privileged situation as nobles. Moreover, it covers the phenomenon of compatriot networks, based on the trust in a common origin, which was reflected in a tendency towards association. Finally, it explains the characteristics of the Cantabrians education level, which was enough to dedicate themselves to commercial tasks instead of manual or artisanal labour.