Hacer de la necesidad virtud. Evolución de la identidad nobiliaria entre las élites canarias en la Edad Moderna: los memoriales de los Salazar de Frías

This paper aims to analyse the process of construction of the noble identity of the Canarian elites in the early modern age. For that purpose we propose a study of the several family memoir produced throughout the 17th and 18th centuries by different members of the Salazar de Frias family, which was a paradigmatic example of the new Canarian nobility who made their fortune among the upper strata of the island's society. In order to legitimize their new position, a series of family self-representation initiatives were developed. Thus, the discourse generated and readjusted allowed the family to confront certain needs in moments of special difficulty for its members. In this paper we analyze the evolution of the idea of nobility shaped by the Salazar de Frias by examining the most significant milestones of the privileged identity which they succeeded in recreating through several service memoirs.