Objective/Context:

The article argues that the lawsuits for unequal marriages in the Province of Antioquia, at the end of the 18th century, highlighted the emotional dimensions of the Spanish Empire by showing the strategies in language, practices, and dilemmas of those involved in these judicial proceedings, who sought to move within the limits of an emotional empire. Through policies such as the Pragmática Sanción of 1776 and the Real Cédula of 1778, to fend off unequal marriages in Spain and the colonies in America, the Empire endeavored to maintain and monitor the social order by controlling moral sentiments such as honor.

Methodology:

An analysis is made of how judicial mechanisms and ecclesiastical collaboration worked in cases of lawsuits for unequal marriages. Next, we debate how and who established the inequality or equality of those who wanted to marry. The concept of honor structuring an emotional empire, with the figure of the King as the father, brings us to a close. The research stems from an analysis of “unequal marriage” lawsuits in Antioquia at the end of the 18th century and the secondary bibliography about the family, the public and private life of Hispanic America in the 18th century, and the historiography of moral sentiments.

Originality:

The article contributes to transcending historiographic barriers by proposing that moral sentiments are crosscutting to the spheres of politics, the economy, and public and private life. We highlight that the Spanish Empire at the end of the 18th century functioned on the basis of an emotional regime of honor.

Conclusions:

We conclude that the Spanish Empire operated as an emotional regime, in which honor was the structuring element of the politics and the relations between the subjects and the King.

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