De pasquines y libelos: delitos de anonimato en la Castilla del siglo XVIII

Mauro Hernández

doi:10.70794/hs.113379

Authors

Mauro Hernández UNED https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9574-3111

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70794/hs.113379

Keywords:

libels, popular political culture, riots, Castile, Eighteenth Century

Abstract

Following the steps of 1975 E.P. Thompson’s “Crime of anonymity”, this article explores the materiality and context of manuscript threatening leaflets (pasquines) and anonymous letters that appeared linked to episodes of riots in eighteenth-century Castile. The research shows that most of them were directed against local authorities, and a large portion denounced foodstuff’s policies and municipal corruption. The main issues at stake, however, has to do with authorship of this peculiar pieces of archival documentation; departing from Thompson’s assumptions, we question "plebeian" authorship based on indirect but converging evidence. Finally, the function of these anonymous writing within popular revolt is analyzed, linking them to a process of "politization" of popular classes.

Author Biography

Mauro Hernández, UNED

Professor of Economic History at the UNED. After years of teaching economic history, and despite having published - as co-editor at Crítica publishing house and as author at the UNED - manuals on the subject, I still like to consider myself first and foremost a social historian. The history of urban oligarchies in modern Castile was my initial field of research, although I have subsequently investigated the history of livestock farming and labour history. He is currently embarking on a project on tumult and popular political culture in early modern Castile. He has received several research and teaching awards (including collectively the Santiago Zapata teaching prize in Economic History awarded by the AEHE).