The Limits of Royal Authority : Resistance and Obedience in Seven

In what is sometimes called the age of absolutism, Castilian nobles and commoners, tribunes and towns, were to a considerable degree able to resist and shape royal commands. This is a study of one such form of resistance: the opposition to military levies in the 1630s and 1640s. The assurance with which such a range of people addressed the crown reveals a society in which a great number of people had a great deal to say about the definition and use of political power.

Contents

Acknowledgements;
Introduction;
1. Recruitment and royal authority;
2. Making soldiers of townsmen;
3. War, lords, and vassals;
4. Common claims;
Conclusion;
Glossary;
Bibliography;
Index.