«El mejor arbitrio, el sermón». Religious discourse and political representation in seventeenth-century Peru

The article studies the historical significance of four projects (arbitrios) written by religious scholars from the Franciscan, Dominican and Jesuit orders in Peru, between 1630 and 1659. In particular, it studies the impact of these projects in the negotiation for political representation with the Crown. The article also addresses the importance of these projects as expression of the theoretical modernity of Peru's creole church in the era of Confessionalization.