Acceso usuarios
José Manuel de Bernardo Ares 
In this article Jose de Bernardo Ares begins by describing the theory and methodology of the systematic study of urban local government on the broadest scale. The aim of such studies should be to elucidate the role and position of urban local government authorities in the power structures of the society as a whole. In this case the target society is the kingdom of Castile in the early modern period. It is suggested that there arc two dimensions to the power struggles in such municipal authorities, the ‘fight for power’ among the local governors, and the ‘fight against authority’ which derives from conflicts of community. The article suggests what aspects of local society and its relations to the centre need to be studied, including the parliamentary dimension. The article then reviews the different kinds of source materials available for study of the subject in Spain and the potential usefulness of each kind and concludes with a review of the relevant historiographical work that is extant in France and Britain.
