Las redes sociales en Madrid y la congregación de San Fermín de los Navarros, siglos XVII Y XVIII

Abstract

From the end of 16th Century, Madrid, as the home of the court and the main recipient of the landed revenues of the monarchy, aristocracy and Church , rapidly increased in size and attracted huge migration, thereby becoming a significant consumption market and financial center. Those who migrated set up complex social networks as well as hospitals and brotherhoods for mutual help. One of those, the Congregacion de San Fermin de los Navarros, linked those coming from Navarre, who held important positions in commerce, banking and royal bureaucracy through strong kinship and patronage networks. The building of a new church for the fraternity shows up the strong economic position of its members. Several internal debates point out how consistent the reciprocal relationship was between these brotherhoods and the close but separate neighborhoods fo the Navarrese and Basque communities in Madrid.