Claiming Nobility in the Monarquía Hispánica: The Search for Status by Inca, Aztec, and Nasrid Descendants at the Habsburg Court

By the early seventeenth century, petitioners at royal court in Madrid who claimed descent from Inca rulers of Peru, Aztec Mexico, and Nasrid emirs Granada found ways to acquire noble status secure rights their ancestral lands form entailed estates. Their success securing title mayorazgos (entailed estates) rested on strategies, used over course several generations, that included marriages with peninsular nobility, ties godparentage patronage, military service crown. This article will examine networks formed between roughly 1600 1630 when descendants interacted families court, obtaining entry into orders establishing mayorazgos. strategies for claiming nobility show striking parallels those adopted by Morisco one aim this is suggest how knowledge such circulated among both viceroyalties New Spain Peru.