La Nación Española de Roma y la embajada del comendador santiaguista Gonzalo de Beteta (1484)

Abstract

Gonzalo de Beteta is considered one of the first permanent ambassadors in the history of Spain and the first such ambassador to the Holy See, After he failed in the discharge of his mission, in 1484, there occurred the intervention of the "Nación Española de Roma", taking charge of safeguarding crown interests in Rome until the new ambassador's arrival. These events would be manipulated historically and documentarily centuries later when, right in the 18th century, bourbon regalism tried to project its claims of royal patronage over Spain's national churches in Rome. This article, based upon a manuscript in the Menéndez Relay o Library in Santander, strives to tackle the description of those events and their interpretation from this biased dialogue bourbon objectives and the true events of the late 15th century.