La agencia en Madrid del VIII duque de Medina Sidonia, 1615-1636

This article faces one institution, never studied before as such: the agencies of representation held by noble houses in the Royal Court. The case study of the House of Medina Sidonia in the years of the VIII duke provides an excellent starting point in order to study how noble power managed to make their voice be heard among the king’s closest circle of decision. The changes that took place during this period allow us to present it as a significant example of the long-term political strategy of the Medina Sidonia House. By this, we seek to avoid the relative exclusion of the socalled «periphery» by a certain historiography of the power phenomena in the Early Modern History, excessively concentrated inside the boundaries of the Royal Palace