Aristocratic Power in the Spanish Monarchy : The Borromeo Brothers of Milan, 1620-1680

Abstract Aristocratic Power in the Spanish Monarchy uses the Borromeo family from Milan as a lens through which to study the transformation of aristocratic power in the composite Spanish monarchy of the seventeenth century. It details the Borromeos’ growing entanglement with the Spanish monarchy in the seventeenth century and the ways in which this Milanese family negotiated that transition. In Italy, the Borromeos have long been held up as a rare example of paternalist aristocrats who withstood the temptations of self-enrichment so many of their peers fell for. This monograph challenges this myth and explains how it came about. Based on research in the previously inaccessible Borromeo private papers, the volume charts the family’s increasing involvement with, and dependence on, the patronage of the Spanish crown over the course of the seventeenth century. At the center of the analysis are the ways in which this representative family sought to rationalize and conceal this rapprochement in the face of popular opposition to their pay-to-play. As their self-seeking behavior came under scrutiny, the erstwhile clients of successive minister-favorites reinvented themselves as courtiers committed to delivering good governance for the subject populations who had contested their rule. The book offers new answers to old questions: through a case study of a representative noble family, it explains a major shift in aristocratic power in the seventeenth century, uncovering how dissimulation and subterfuge became central to the preservation of social privilege in an age of unprecedented threats to established power from below. In Italy, the powerful Borromeo family of Milan have long been held up as a rare example of paternalist aristocrats who withstood the temptations of self-enrichment so many of their peers succumbed to during the period of Spanish rule. Aristocratic Power in the Spanish Monarchy , the first major study of the family in the seventeenth century, challenges this myth and explains how it came about. Based on research in the previously inaccessible Borromeo private papers, the volume details the Borromeo's increasing involvement with, and dependence on, the patronage of the kings of Spain. At the center of the analysis are the ways in which one family sought to rationalize and conceal this controversial relationship in the face of popular opposition to their methods of buying their way into political power. As their self-seeking behavior came under scrutiny, the clients of successive minister-favorites reinvented themselves as paternalist courtiers committed to delivering good governance for the subject populations under their rule. In doing so, the book offers new perspectives on broader questions: through a case study of three brothers from a representative noble family, it explains a major shift in aristocratic power in the seventeenth century, uncovering how dissimulation and subterfuge became central to the preservation of social privilege in an age of unprecedented threats to established power from below. Steeped in sociological and anthropological research on elite power, this captivating story from seventeenth-century Italy tells us much about the reproduction of social inequality in our own times. The first major study of the powerful Borromeo family of Milan in the seventeenth century, uncovering their growing entanglement with the Spanish monarchy, and the ways in which the Borromeo grappled with the ethical implications of this controversial relationship, repeatedly reinventing themselves to preserve their social privilege.