La présente thèse analyse le contrôle des pratiques médicales dans le royaume de Castille au XVIe siècle à travers, notamment, les procès des protomédicos. Le changement substantiel qui a lieu au sein des professions de santé se produit au moment où les protomédicos parviennent à obtenir le monopole légal sur le contrôle des pratiques médicales. Ce fait demeure en étroite relation avec la consolidation du pouvoir royal. Le processus d’institutionnalisation de la charge de protomédico n’est pas en progression régulière et n’est pas exempt de difficultés ; il touche non seulement ceux qui ont pour métier de soigner mais aussi le pouvoir municipal, le royaume et le pouvoir royal. Dans ce concert de forces, le protomédico est l’une des branches du pouvoir royal qui joue un rôle fondamental. Sa légitimité : être médecin de la Chambre du roi et son « alcalde examinador mayor ». Or son autorité est très contestée dans la pratique car il représente la mainmise royale sur des métiers qui autrefois furent sous l’autorité des autorités municipales. Ses actions sur le terrain sont ainsi une permanente source de conflits et controverses dans le royaume de Castille au XVIe siècle. / The present dissertation examines the control over medical practices in the kingdom of Castile during the XVIth century and, notably, the trials against protomédicos. An essential change that occurred in the medical profession during the period saw the protomédicos attempting to gain control of legal monopoly over the all medical practices. This issue was strictly linked to the consolidation of royal power in Castile. The establishment process of the office of the protomédico does not follow a regular progression and it was not created without struggles. This process does not only concern those that provide medical care but also the municipal authorities, the kingdom and the royal power. Thus, through this interplay, the protomédico became one of the branches of royal power that exercised a major role in the kingdom. The protomédico became the first official physician at the royal Chamber and the “alcalde examinador mayor”. However, his authority is highly contested in the practical field because he holds royal stranglehold over offices that were formerly subordinated to the municipal authorities. The protomédico’s activities on the ground were thus a permanent source of conflicts and controversies in 16th century Castile.

abstract: The Iberian Queen Sancha (r.1037-1065), of the kingdom of León and Castile has received minimal attention from scholars. As the last Leonese heir, Sancha had the sole responsibility of ensuring that imperial traditions of patronage never waned. Her acts of giving and the commissioning of objects have been attributed by (male) scholars as an obligation to legitimize her husband, Fernando I of Castile. Persuasive evidence found in documents suggests that her involvement in donation transactions was predicated on more than formality. My thesis argues that Sancha used the act of giving, the act of commissioning objects, language in documents, and the powerful institution of the infantazgo, to assert an agency identical to her male predecessors to gain political influence. Creating a “donor profile” of Sancha that examines the total of her donating practices enables the exploration of her conscious and unconscious motives for donation. My investigation into these acts supports a new theory that the building construction projects of Sancha and Fernando I began at the beginning of their reign rather than after 1053 as is currently believed. As the first woman to use the titles regine emperatriz and regina totius Hispaniae, Queen Sancha did more than just legitimize her husband, she built a legacy that established a new female center of power in León that endured until the thirteenth century. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Art History 2017