Nobilities and Generalitat: the Leading Class and the Exercises of the Political Power from the Institutions (16th˗17th centuries)

Catalan nobility was a very plural social estate: from the ciutadans honrats (“honourable citizens”) to the titled aristocracy, it enjoyed a wide territorial stage and its power radiated from the country’s institutions to the highest instances of the monarchy. In spite of the processes of castilianisation and estrangement, the elite of Catalan nobility largely maintained its political prestige. The bulk of the military estate was a mix of knights and doncels of newly˗made nobility from around the country and an emergent bourgeoisie, especially in Barcelona, assimilated to the former in rights and social recognition. These were the sectors that established true symbiosis with the national institutions, in particular, with the Diputació del General, the permanent delegation of the General Court, which at times operated as the true voice of the social estate. Our aim is to carry out a review of the solid relations built between the military estate (within and outside of the General Court) and the Diputació del General of Catalonia, in its different spheres