Entre oficinas. La vida de la oficina de Reales Servidumbres contada por ella misma (1749-1808)

Abstract

Among the improvements carried out by Ensenada in the middle of the eighteenth century, was the new arrangement for the running of Royal Households. The different offices of treasurer and paymaster in the palace were combined in a single office with the designation of Treasurership of Royal Servants, under the management of the General Treasurership. The «Libro de la oficina de Reales Servidumbres», written by Francisco de Santiago Martínez, offers testimony about the circumstances which officials experienced for half a century, recording both prosperous and adverse elements of that little corporation. The vexations of household servants, aroused by bitter rivalries between the various officers and by the strained relationship of their masters, can be reconstructed within this markedly corporate context.