Experimentados y silenciosos: The Peruvian Operators of the Viceroys’s Businesses in Tierra Firme, Chile and México in the Second Half of the 17th Century

Espinosa M.S. · Anuario de Estudios Americanos (2025) · DOI: 10.3989/aeamer.2025.2.1182

Resumen

The objective of this article is to analyze how the enrichment operations of the viceroys of Peru were articulated with agents who did not necessarily belong to their peninsular entourage. Through the study of the business of the cosmographer Francisco Ruiz Lozano, it will be demonstrated that the astronomer was part of a very close and, above all, silent network, which carried out the business of the viceroys of Peru from 1655 to 1678. These activities allowed the astronomer to rise socially, and he was considered by his contemporaries as «valido» of successive viceroys. Thus, in this American version, the favorites were almost always Creoles, or long-time residents of Peru. They did not fulfill the political-administrative functions of the «Secretario de Gobernacion», but were in charge of conducting the private affairs of the viceroys of Peru. Copyright:

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú