Patrons, Partisans, and Palace Intrigues: The Court Society of Colonial Mexico, 1702–1710 (review)

Historians have paid remarkably little attention to most viceroys of colonial Spanish America. Similarly, the study of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries has been relatively slight. In this thoughtful examination of the rule of grandee Duke of Alburquerque in New Spain (1702–1710), historian Christoph Rosenmüller gives overdue attention to a viceroy that served during the War of Spanish Succession. He focuses particularly on Alburquerque’s use of patronage to benefit himself and retainers (criados) he brought from Spain and clients or allies he cultivated in Mexico and the interplay between the viceroy and local elites that occurred in the viceregal court.

Rosenmüller briefly reviews relevant historiography about the nature and extent of the reforms of Charles III and the significance of social networks before carefully placing Alburquerque’s appointment and rule within the shifting political winds in Philip V’s early rule. He similarly outlines the nature of “corruption” at that time and describes the personnel and physical setting of the viceroy’s household.

Although the crown had restricted viceregal appointment of criados, the large number of district officials in New Spain afforded Alburquerque extensive opportunity to create personal bonds through naming them on an interim basis; most such appointees held the positions for about two years. The viceroy made 281 appointments as alcalde mayor, corregidor, and gobernador during his tenure. This number was about half of those possible and enabled him to reward at least 26 criados during the course of his incumbency. Not surprisingly, the appointees went to the most lucrative districts. In addition, the viceroy was able to name a small number of men to positions in the viceregal treasury. How many of these appointments the viceroy sold is unknown, but the number was undoubtedly substantial. Strikingly, Philip V took no steps to restrict Alburquerque in this use of patronage. Indeed the viceroy’s dedication to personal gain, opposition to several reforms emanating from Madrid, and grandee status linked him more to predecessors named by Habsburg monarchs rather than Bourbon appointees such as began in 1722 with the effective military commander Marquis of Casafuerte.

Rosenmüller examines in detail Alburquerque’s role in purging the powerful Sánchez de Tagle clique from the Mexican consulado. The viceroy’s success meant a victory for contraband traders, traders that routinely paid him bribes for allowing their illicit activities. A review of legal cases also demonstrates the importance of both friendship and opposition of audiencia ministers and high-ranking clerics for the outcomes.

Albuquerque demonstrably exploited being viceroy to advance his own finances. On returning to Spain, however, he immediately discovered the extent to which power had shifted in his absence; the crown confiscated his luggage complete with 150,000 pesos. Although a residencia largely whitewashed his transgressions, a special junta at court thought differently and a majority supported the summary that Alburquerque’s conduct was “disobedience, feigned resistance and…persistent excess” (p. 153). Encouraged to have all charges dismissed in return for a “donation” to the king, Alburquerque agreed to pay 700,000 pesos, an amount exceeded perhaps only by the one million pesos the crown seized in 1705 from the estate of the Count of Monclova, former viceroy of Peru.

Based heavily on archival research in Spain and Mexico and complemented by secondary materials in German as well as French, Spanish, and English, this fascinating book offers a detailed view of viceregal politics, power, and corruption in early eighteenth-century Mexico. Rosenmüller has successfully combined prosopography, analysis, and narrative in an excellent monograph that provides both new information and a benchmark against which subsequent efforts at reform in New Spain can be measured. All colonialists should read it.