These 15 essays were presented at a namesake symposium in Cologne in December 1998. Identidades implies the cultural, the mentalité. In a Hispanic context, as Frédérique Langue reminds us, that signifies a craving for ennoblement through martial prowess. In fact, most papers highlight an elite dynamic based on migrants, money, and matrimony. Understandably, the anthology’s four-fold division—into core areas, border areas, long-term vertical studies, and lesser centers—does not relate to the content of the several contributions.
Two studies appear misplaced: Pedro Guibovich Pérez’s on Lima chronicles, for its irrelevance; and Susan Socolow’s advice on refining research as too scant. Four are general summations. John E. Kicza sure-footedly reviews the Mexican elite through 1700: About 50–60 households of encomenderos and merchants, all rich and centrally located, and staying on top through diversification and endogamy. Barbara Potthast lucidly surveys Paraguay’s ruling mestizos whose autonomy relied on their isolation and conquistador ancestry. In...
