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ENCYCLOPAEDIA of Rebellions

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Oropesa riot in Madrid 1699

Synopsis
On the morning of April 28th, 1699 the so-called Oropesa riot broke out in the city of Madrid in the context of a subsistence crisis and the political struggle triggered by the succession of king Charles II. The immediate event that led to the outburst of the riot took place in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor, the city’s main square. The rude and condescending response of Madrid’s Corregidor, Francisco de Vargas, to a woman who had complained about the increasingly high prices of bread and its poor quality ignited a violent protest from offended bystanders at the Plaza Mayor. From this location, demonstrators rallied to the Royal Palace, demanding from the king lower grain prices and the fall of Madrid’s Corregidor. Their appeals were finally met, but this did not prevent the attack of the residence of the president of the Council of Castile, Manuel Joaquín Álvarez de Toledo, Count of Oropesa, who was likewise forced to resign.
Additional info

Starting date: . Ending: . Duration: 1 day. Name in sources: tumulto, sublevación, motín. Location: Madrid Country (current): Spain. Monarchy: Spanish. Main participants: Artisans. Number of participants: >500. Main reasons & motivations: Multiple. Leadership: Unknown. Relevance: medium.

Further reading
EGIDO LÓPEZ, Teófanes (1980). “El motín madrileño de 1699”, Investigaciones Históricas, época moderna y contemporánea, 2: 253-294. NIETO SÁNCHEZ, José Antolín; GONZÁLEZ PAÑERO, Juan Antonio (2001). “El conflicto social en el Madrid del siglo XVII”, in F. J. Guillamón Álvarez, J.J. Ruiz Ibáñez (eds), Lo conflictivo y lo consensual en Castilla. Sociedad y poder político, 1521-1715. Murcia: Universidad de Murcia, pp. 377-400. TESTINO-ZAFIROPOULOS, Alexandra (2015). “Querellas políticas en torno al Conde de Oropesa en las postrimerías del reinado de Carlos II”, Atlante. Revue d’études romanes, 2: 264-291.
Cite this entry

Llanes Parra, Blanca (2020). "Oropesa riot in Madrid 1699", in J. V. Serrão and M. S. Cunha (coord), Encyclopaedia of Rebellions in the Early Modern Iberian World. https://mappingrebellions.com/revolt/oropesa-riot-in-madrid-1699/ (accessed on 12 March 2026).