Uprisings, Invasions, and Velvet Cushions: Municipal Privilege Requests in Lima and Buenos Aires

In 1780, the Andes Mountains erupted in the largest anti-Spanish uprising that the empire had ever seen, sparking decades of political instability in Peru. Between 1806 and 1807, the British Navy invaded the Spanish Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata twice. On the other side of the Atlantic, Napoleon Bonapate led a French invasion into Spain in 1808. This crisis forced the monarch to order cities throughout the empire to take up collection funds and limit government functions in order to focus on defense. However, officials in Buenos Aires and Lima had other priorities, such as securing royal permission to use the title of “Your Excellence,” gaining access to velvet cushions for their designated bench at the cathedral, and the addition of new employees.

This paper investigates why such seemingly frivolous rewards remained a high priority for these officials during an unprecedented period of war. It explores the deeper significance of the petitions for privileges that the city councilmen submitted to the royal court. These functionaries understood the special honors that the monarchy granted to them as an integral component of their identity and their place in the empire. It reflected the fundamentally reciprocal nature of their relationship with the king: Spanish subjects expected to be compensated for their loyalty.

Through its analysis of a lengthy series of petitions together with the debates that determined the success or rejection of those requests at the Council of the Indies, this investigation reveals how both sides of this relationship of mutual obligation understood their duties to each other.