Carmine Nicola Caracciolo, the Prince of Santobuono: An Example of a Transnational Career Between Naples, Spain, and Peru During the Early Eighteenth Century

Abstract

A man of his time, cosmopolitan and boasting an international career, Carmine Nicola Caracciolo can be considered an individual who was capable of connecting political and geographical spaces that were both distant and disparate. As a member of one of the most important Neapolitan aristocratic families, the trajectory of his career, which developed between the end of the 1600s and the first two decades of the 1700s, demonstrates the level of interaction between the multiple interests of ministers operating under the Spanish monarchy. Indeed, his actions highlight his personal and familial interests and aspirations, on the one hand, and his desire to express his loyalty to the ruler on the other. These dual objectives, which at times were not compatible, form the basis of the events that played out during his lifetime between the Italian Peninsula, the Iberian Peninsula and Peru. This was a trajectory that was regularly punctuated by the necessity, on the part of the Prince of Santobuono, to identify trustworthy collaborators, establish networks, construct alliances and generate profit. The construction of this web of relationships, which managed to transcend the borders of sub-kingdoms and the Spanish Empire itself, while also linking the Mediterranean with the Atlantic world, will form the basis of this work