Looking for the encomendero. Lucas Martinez Vegaso, the administration of justice and the networks of colonial power. Tarapaca, 16th century

Abstract

Based on a very particular case referring to the dispute for the great entrust of Tarapaci by Lucas Martinez. This article describes and analyzes the forms that the struggle for the control of the resources acquired before the great reforms of the administration of viceroy Toledo and, In connection to this, the establishment of colonial government and the administration of justice. From a local history, it reaches the high spheres of vice royal power in the 1560s, a turning point in shaping the future order of the kingdom. The context of the study are the details of the Audience's visit to Commissioner Briviesca de Munatones, a case that serves as the guiding principle of the article, which allows us to approach the complex social, family and economic networks of the emerging colonial society.Keywords Author Keywords:encomienda; administration of justice; visits; networks of power; Tarapaca