Allies or occupants: the identity of the “Spanish” community in the capital of Christendom by the voice of a Portuguese traveler from the medieval twilight

At the beginning of the 16th century, the Spanish community in Rome possessed a special status, directly indebted to the fact that the papacy found in the Hispanic sovereign the great support for the pursuit of the internal and external policy of the States of the Church. However, this "privilege" raises important questions: who exactly are these "Spaniards"? What political outlines define its presence in the capital of Christendom in the opening years of the 16th century? How was this foreign community perceived by the native population of Rome? What is the reaction of the Romans to an ever more massive, constant and influential presence on the part of the Spaniards in the conduct of the destinies of the Eternal City? And, above all, what is the role of the main Roman families in this scenario? Written at the end of the first quarter of the 16th century and having for sole recipient Jaime (1479-1532), IV duke of Braganza, for whom the author worked as a servant, a singular Portuguese document that came to be known as Memoirs of a Nobleman from Chaves sheds light on all these questions.