Creole Politics and Bourbon Global Monarchy during the War of the Spanish Succession, 1701–14

Bourbon colonial reforms of the early eighteenth century continue to receive little attention from historians of Spanish America, who typically associate such administrative changes with the enlightened despotism of the latter half of the century. My paper seeks to broaden this chronological perspective—as well as our understanding of the individuals involved in promoting such reform—by focusing on the correspondence of the Peruvian nobleman José de Rozas y Meléndez, the Count of Castelblanco. Like many other Creole elites at the time, Castelblanco benefitted politically (and economically) from Spain’s transition to Bourbon dynastic rule despite the turmoil resulting from the War of the Spanish Succession. The writings of Castelblanco—above all, his secret report addressed to Louis XIV—illustrate the ways in which Spanish American subjects both embraced Philip V’s initial reforms and perceived his reign’s potential for introducing new models of imperial rule through the so-called Union of the Two Crowns (the alliance between the Bourbon kings of Spain and France). Using documents from France’s naval and foreign affairs archives, this paper sheds light on the influence of Creole identity and political leverage on shaping early-modern European geopolitics.