Maria Teresa Chicote Pompanin (SAS) - 2016-17 Students
maria.chicotepompani@postgrad.sas.ac.uk

Patronage, Fame and Memory in Early Modern Spain. Juan and Diego Pacheco, Marquises of Villena (c. 1445 – 1529)

This PhD project examines the genesis, evolution, and subsequent legacy of the cultural patronage sponsored by the Marquises of Villena in Castile between 1445 and 1529.The research focuses on the historical identity and memory the Villenas attempted to foster with their patronage as a reaction to the negative image of them promoted by the monarchy through official documents and chronicles. This doctoral project intends to demonstrate that the Villenas’ cultural patronage is an important testimony to how early modern men staged, fashioned, and saw themselves by showing their figure in both their public and private apparatus, and by connecting their dynasty to the conscious use of artistic, religious, and literary narratives. It will also focus on how aristocratic patronage was used to change the memory of events and families in an effort to consciously combat the damnatio memoriae promoted by the monarchy. Establishing suitable links among these aspects will enable me to begin answering the much broader question: How did early modern nobles fashion themselves through acts of patronage to counteract an image externally projected on them?