Love, loves and past loves in South Peru during the late eighteenth century

Abstract

This article analyses the problems of spanish, indian and mestizos couples in urban and rural areas of the Diocese of Arequipa in the late 18th century. Such problems underly tensions in colonial society since the family was a microcosm. The documents reveal the mechanisms to take advantage and scape a justice made to keep everyone in its place. Despite the rigid legal system intention of controlling mixte marriages, there were possibilities to adapt and neutralise the rules, partly due to the distance of the region we study from major urban centers.