Historical Note: The Capricious Nature of Privanzas in Habsburg Spain: 1556-1665

Authors

Nathan Harkey, University of Arkansas

Keywords

Charles V, Spain, court

Abstract

The vast reaches of the Spanish Habsburg empire necessitated a change in court politics in order to manage day-to-day issues for the king. The answer to this problem in Spain, as in other European kingdoms, was the emergence of the privado or court favorite as a legitimate official who would ideally manage the influx of state affairs, limiting access to the king that would have been previously attainable through audiences. While the original purpose of the privado was to alleviate the countless duties of an overburdened monarch, early modern privanzas became a form of art in the expression of absolute authority. Using major works from immanent historians of Habsburg Spain, this essay will demonstrate the changing nature of privanzas from the early sixteenth to the mid-seventeenth century.

Recommended Citation

Harkey, Nathan (2019) "Historical Note: The Capricious Nature of Privanzas in Habsburg Spain: 1556-1665," The Ozark Historical Review: Vol. 47, Article 8.

Available at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/ohr/vol47/iss1/8