As vice-rainhas e o exercício do poder na Nova Espanha (sec. XVI e XVII)

This article examines the Mexican viceroyalty court throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, reflecting on one of the less analyzed aspects by specialized historiography: the role of the vicereine and their entourage. Our research studies the significance of their relations with local society and their participation in the everyday exercise of authority. We will not only focus exclusively on the figure of the vicereines, but also examine the role of all those women who belonged to their entourages and participated in the social and political dynamics in the Mexican Court. These ladies, who could be European or creole (Spanish women born in America), remained anonymous to historians, and their role is key to understand the political and social strategies around the Court