Consenso e imposición en la conservación de la monarquía. La práctica política en un territorio de la periferia castellana: el Reino de Murcia (1682-1700)

Abstract

For many years, the second half of the seventeenth century has been considered the paradigm of the so-called decadence of Spain. But there are many reasons to reconceptualize this period as one which saw the origin of new socio-economic and political foundations upon which the success attributed to Bourbon reforms would be based. Taking the kingdom of Murcia as a model, this article deals with a generation of political consensus between local elites and the Crown in a context of royal and institutional instability, relating to the succession of Carlos II and to the fact that the Cortes of Castile were not convened. The defence of the borders of the Monarchy meant a perceptible fiscal increase and the development of new administrative instruments to make coercion over the population more effective.