La Guerra de la Independencia y las elites locales: reflexiones en torno al caso sevillano

Abstract

The Spanish Independence War is one of the first steps in the process of elites’ renovation during the transition between the Ancient Regime and liberal society. Using the example of a family of the Sevillean oligarchy, the Aguado family, this article describes the tensions between the old oligarchy and the new elites in 1808. The “santa” revolution of May 1808 seemed like a victory of the new elites, but the French occupation, two years after, was marked by the return of the old oligarchy. After the French defeat, an early process of fusion between old and new elites began in Sevilla.