Violencia cotidiana y criminalidad en el Madrid de los Austrias (1561-1700)

Abstract

This dissertation examines criminal violence in Early Modern Madrid both from a quantitative and qualitative viewpoint, in order to study and better understand the nature of its diverse manifestations, its impact on the Spanish capital and its evolution over time. This research aims at assessing if Madrid experienced a decline in violent crimes during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, following the trend observed by other European cities in this same period. In doing so, this dissertation reveals the importance of analyzing non-lethal interpersonal violence as a means to measure the degree of overall violence present in a given society, while shedding light on the different factors that explain the evolution of homicide rates in the period.