Hierarchy and Historicism in Fernando de Orbea's La conquista de Santa Fe de Bogotá

The interface of history, social hierarchy and theatre in Bourbon Spanish America is examined in this essay on Fernando de Orbea's La conquista de Santa Fe de Bogotá, which dates from early eighteenth-century Peru. Through a formal and ideological analysis of this tragedy, it becomes clear that Orbea intended to convey an emotionally-charged and highly stylized version of the Conquest that would also address the Bourbon "conquest" of the Spanish Habsburg throne during a pivotal period in the history of the Monarquía.