Abstract

ESCANDON, Patricia. Hipólito Villarroel. Enlighted thinking and autobiography in Enfermedades Políticas. Rev. hist. Am. [online]. 2019, n.157, pp.107-128.  Epub Feb 28, 2022. ISSN 2663-371X.  https://doi.org/10.35424/rha.157.2019.72.

Although the well-known work of Hipólito Villarroel, Enfermedades políticas que padece la capital de esta Nueva España (written at the end of the 18th Century) has been often cited and quoted, it has not yet deserved a real case study. The purpose of this paper is to contribute in this direction and examine some aspects of the Enfermedades from the perspective of the Enlightment, and the Bourbon Reforms, but above all, from that of the career and personal political experiences of the author in New Spain. This approach attests to the fact that even the most fervent supporters of the administrative modernization of Charles III were deeply influenced by the American realities which moderated or shifted their thought in a fashion not considered by the original Spanish models.

Keywords : Hipólito Villarroel; Enfermedades políticas de la Nueva España; Bourbon reforms.