At the limit what is permissible: wills of Ginés de Toro y Pedro Vélez, Santiago de Chile´s sribes of the number

Abstract

Even when they had a prominent status within the colonial institutional and legal structure, Chilean scribes had great difficulty sustaining a social rank according with their expectations of upward mobility. This was due to his family background and socioeconomic stunted, and the fact that their training was not academic but practical; the scribes were not different from those artisans whose social prestige and economic opportunities were very limited success.