Poder local y redes socialesoligarquía, familia y parentescos en Mazarrón (1550-1592)

Abstract

Local power and social networks: oligarquy, family and kinship in Mazarrón (1550-1592) When we started our research project, we had to institute some objetives. In our case, the objectives were two, essentially. On one hand, we wanted to define the oligarchic power group in Mazarron in Sixteen century. On the other hand, we wanted to establish the social and political behaviour within the group. The way to do it was through the relationships and links between the members of the group and between them, and the Marquesses of Vélez and Villena. We also had to consider two fundamental aspects of the politic of Felipe II: the exemption of places and the privatisation of public funds. Both were the platform when we have to build our work. The methodology that we applied, had a dual perspective: quantitative and qualitative. First, we workd with the source documents exhaustivelly. When we got all dates from them, we organized our work with tables and sheets. In essence, we wanted to apply the methodology wich was proposed by New History of Local Administration. Conclusion When Mazarron got it independence, Marquesses of Velez and Villena started to control the council through particulars who belonged to their network of patronage. In fact, oligarquy of Mazarron was buid by patronage relations more than blood relationships. Families within oligarquy group, had some link with one of the Marquesses, normally. Furthemore, they wanted to establish and consolidate their links within the group by means of marriage.