Power and musical exchange: the Dukes of Medina Sidonia in Renaissance Seville
2009; Oxford University Press; Volume: 37; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1093/em/cap063
ISSN1741-7260
Autores Tópico(s)Historical Studies on Spain
ResumoTHIS article forms part of the larger urban music project described in John Griffiths’s article, and focuses on a specific area, the private musical space, in particular on the households of the major noble families of Seville.1 I will concentrate here on one of the two most important noble dynasties which dominated urban life in Seville from the 15th century, the Guzmán family, especially Juan Alfonso de Guzmán, the Sixth Duke of Medina Sidonia (1502–58). Formerly the capital city of the Almohad Empire, Seville was literally vacated and completely repopulated in the 13th century, having been conquered by King Ferdinand III in 1248. Its regrowth was spectacular, and by 1400, with the support of the Crown, Seville had some 20,000 inhabitants and had become the most populous city of the Castilian kingdom and its largest commercial centre, with important ramifications for both regional and international trade.2 Its development throughout the 16th century was extraordinary, as it became the port and gateway to the Indies and one of the most important cities in Europe. By 1588, its population exceeded 140,000 permanent residents, in addition to which was a high number of itinerants, seeking their fortune locally or embarking for the Americas.3 The higher echelons of the Andalusian nobility have been characterized by Ladero Quesada as ‘fundamentally regional’: they resided within their own territory and had few feudal interests beyond regional frontiers. In terms of the governance of Seville, the Guzmán and the Ponce de León families initially exercised power in the city, from the end of the 13th century, although were later joined by other noble dynasties established in the city. These included the Cerda (from the early 14th century), the Zúñiga and the Enríquez who established themselves in the early 15th century, as well as the Sotomayor and the Téllez Girón who were to become significant later in the same century.4
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