Silence and concealments in the nobility titles. Critical analysis of its content

Abstract

The concession of a nobility title not always was preceded of worthy services, although numerous merits consisted normally in these titles, which were justifying the obtaining of that high distinction. These documents turned this way into a suitable space to praise the qualities of the ennobled one and to conceal unfavourable circumstances for his reputation, as having acquired a nobility title after a monetary disbursement. Therefore, to know the authentic nature of the entitled or the real motives that were behind a concession, we cannot consider only the information including in the nobility titles. It is essential to cross this source with others —as we have proceeded with the nobility title of the first Marques of Casa Boza— to reconstruct, as far as possible, the reality of the facts.