The Council of Indies and Censorship as an Instrument of Control and Management of Knowledge in the Spanish Empire: The Case of Friar Pedro de Aguado and the Chronicle Recopilación Historial (1575-1582)

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes how the Council of Indies, a Spanish conciliar institution responsible for managing the western Indies during Modern Age, was constantly concerned, during the XVI century, with the production and circulation of information in the process of communicative interaction between America and Europe. As a result, several instruments aimed at requesting and controlling information were developed. We understand that censorship, this is, the practice of analyzing, erasing, storing and removing books from circulation, especially Indies chronicles, was configured as an important political of information control by the Council of indies, especially since from the second half of the century. However, Censorship and the practice of censorship have been little visited by studies dedicated to the production and circulation of knowledge in the Spanish Empire. In this sense, this work also demonstrates how censorship became an instrument of political control of knowledge, directly impacting communication between vassals and the Council of Indies. These findings are confirmed through the documentary example of the Franciscan Pedro de Aguado and his chronicle Recopilación Historial, evaluated between 1575-1582.

Keywords:
Council of Indies; Circulation of Information; Control of the Information; Censorship; Management of Knowledge; Recopilación Historial; Friar Pedro de Aguado