“Prime Mover of All Machinations”: Rodrigo Pimentel, Smuggling, and the Artifice of Power

Local elites in Santo Domingo, including figures like Rodrigo Pimentel, exploited and manipulated royal institutions to consolidate power, expand influence across the Spanish Caribbean, and profit from contraband networks. This study reveals how these elites shaped the edges of the empire according to their interests, while simultaneously limiting Madrid's authority. By analyzing Pimentel’s political career, it exposes the profound limitations of the Habsburg monarchy’s bureaucratic apparatus in governing its colonial territories, particularly beyond Mexico City and Lima. The research demonstrates that Audiencias and governors often became extensions of local communities rather than anchors of royal power, illustrating a dynamic where local groups both challenged and defined the Spanish empire's structure.

(Ed.). (2020). “Prime Mover of All Machinations”: Rodrigo Pimentel, Smuggling, and the Artifice of Power. Islanders and Empire, 172–222. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108477659.006