Corpus mysticum and cuerpo de nación. Modernity and the End of a Catholic Empire

Abstract

Traditionally, historiography on the dissolution of the Spanish Empire focused on the transition from monarchy to nations and from empire to independent states. I propose here to consider another aspect of this process that has to do with the transition from a Catholic imperial monarchy to Catholic nations and republics. This essay explores the relevance of the corpus mysticum in the public space, and how it to a great extent determined the understanding of the reach of the constituent power of the cuerpo de nación.