THE EVOLUTION OF THE POLITICAL ROLE OF THE SPANISH NOBILITY FROM THE MODERN TO THE CONTEMPORARY AGE: THE EXAMPLE OF THE FERNANDEZ DE CORDOBA

This investigation tries to approach the evolution of the noble political power between the xv and xix centuries, starting from the example of the Fernandez de Cordoba lineage. We intend, in the first place, to show in a quantitative way through the analysis of the positions exerted by the group the presence of the nobility in various institutions of the Hispanic Monarchy such as the high administration, the army and the ecclesiastical hierarchy. In addition, we will explain the reason for this process of extension of the nobility power and its chronology, we will answer two central questions in this paper, such as the displacement of the group of political institutions during the eighteenth century carried out by the Bourbons, as well as its adaptation (if any) to the environment of 19th century Liberalism to understand the political role of the nobility in the first century of the Late Modern Period.