Abstract

The bind between politics and religion in the government of the Catholic Monarchy has been a focus of the historiography for a long time. This study traces the last decades of research, starting from the broadening of perspectives it has witnessed, both in Italy and Spain, above all in studies on the court and in the new diplomatic history. In this context, specific practices and methods of royal service on the part of ecclesiastical figures in Italy and Spain are analyzed. These analyses are useful to examine not only the modalities of nomination and development of ecclesiastical careers, but also the game of factions, family networks and infra-Order relationships. These reconstructions shed light on other important historiographical themes and religious and political events of the early modern period. "Elements of connection" within the different dominions of the Spanish Monarchy, the ecclesiastics in the service of the King between Italy and Spain served as connecting links of alliances and transversal networks, contributing to legitimizing political choices of the court groups both on the level of practices and of politico-theoretical reflection.