"Maestrescuelas" in Salamanca during the Baroque period: university jurisdiction and power conflicts

Abstract

The maestrescuela (schoolmaster of the cathedral chapter), on whom relapsed the administration of the university jurisdiction, became during the Baroque period in a fundamental position. In this article we offer a brief socio-professional profile of the people who occupied this position, jurists designated by the Crown to impart justice in an institution as important as the universities, and in particular that of Salamanca, which was considered the main University of the Spanish Monarchy. We also reflected on some of the fundamental concerns that they had to face during their performance. It is at this point where Law history and history of Universities converge in the search of a common concern to disengage some of the conflicts of power that arose in the heat of the exercise of academic or university jurisdiction.