Aristocracy and the army in the mid-17th century: the intermediary role of the nobility in recruitment during the crisis of 1658-59

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of the aristocracy within the recruitment crisis suffered by the Hispanic Monarchy during the second half of the 17th century. In order to do so, we have resorted to the important archive sources that are conserved, both at a national and local level. With them we have been able to reconstruct the role of the nobility in a specific levy. At a time of crisis, the monarchy used a new formula, resorting to aristocracy to manage the enlistment of volunteers in charge of the Royal Treasury in different districts, turning the nobles into occasional managers of recruitment, a formula very different from the traditional one.