Maestros (DCH) (Masters (DCH))

No. 2020-23

Although they were not defined in the official legal collections of the church, the masters and their students were characterized by various treatises, providing rich elements to their understanding. Since the Middle Ages, a new style of teaching was gathered around corporations that came to be known called universities. These corporations controlled, regulated and certified the teaching of the different knowledges (or faculties) so that the students, after a period of learning, became also teachers, a goal that demanded a series of rituals and requirements. When these corporations moved to the New World, they experienced various adaptations that allowed them to function, according to the conditions of each place. The article explains the nature of these corporations and the relevance granted to the academic degrees of bachelor, master and doctor. It describes the privileges that masters and their students had, as well as the faults or sins in which they could incur. Likewise, adaptations, local regulations and their repercussions during the Bourbon Reforms are examined. Finally, a brief historiographical review is carried out.

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