The Doucet Scholarship
The Doucet Collection
The Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory was able to substantially expand the collection of its library in the area of the history of derecho indiano, thanks to the integration in 2015 of approximately 4,800 titles belonging to the collection of the legal historians Lourdes Lascurain de Doucet and Gaston Doucet. The collection contains editions of both historical and fundamental legal-historical sources, as well as scientific research on the history of modern early law, covering the entire Hispanic-American sphere (including the Philippine Islands) up to the time of independence. The Doucet Library has more than 600 works on history in general, over 1,700 titles on New Spain, more than 800 works on the River Plate and another 600 on Peru and Alto Peru, as well as many other books on the Antilles, Florida, Yucatan, Chile, the Philippines, Venezuela, New Granada and Paraguay. To consult the titles that make up the Collection, you can access the catalogue of the institute's library and enter "Provenienz Doucet" in the basic search field of the Opac:https://sunrise.rg.mpg.de/webOPAC
The Doucet Scholarship
In order to facilitate access to the collection for young researchers from outside Frankfurt, especially from Latin America, who are interested in using this important collection, the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory provides an annual scholarship for a three-month research stay at the Institute.
The candidates that have been selected thus far:
2026 Andrea Sanzana Sáez (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile), La administración de la salud en Santiago colonial: de la norma a la práctica médica y asistencial (ss. XVII–XVIII)
2025 Ellen Marques Luz (CéSor-EHESS), A Cúria Romana e o processo de ereção de dioceses no império português: prerrogativas, normas, agentes e dinâmicas institucionais (Séc. XVI e XVII), (vea el blog post sobre su estancia)
2024 Ana Plaza Roig (Universidad de Buenos Aires), Un buen servidor de ambas majestades: un análisis del mecenazgo de Juan José Fernández Campero de Herrera (activo entre 1680 y 1718); (vea el informe sobre su estancia y su blog post Gastón Doucet: un legado que trasciende el tiempo y el espacio)
2023 Felipe Garcia de Oliveira (Universidade Nova de Lisboa), Slaves, indigenous, freedmen and the colonial legal culture in São Paulo in the 18th century (vea el informe sobre su estancia)
2023 Leopoldo Martínez Ávalos (Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia), Normatividades del diezmo de indios en el arzobispado de México (vea el informe sobre su estancia).
2022 Alejandro Chiliguay (Universidad de Salvador/Argentina), La justicia episcopal en la Antigua diócesis del Tucumán, 1704–1740 (vea el informe sobre su estancia).
2020 Katherine Godfrey (Pennsylvania State University), Negotiationg Law, Justice, and Ethnic Identities in the New Kingdom of Granada, 1538–1680
2019 Bruno Oliveira Castelo Branco (Universidade Federal Fluminense), Fronteiras Sobrepostas: entre o trabalho e a escravidão guarani na conquista e colonização da América Meridional (1541–1641)
2018 Marcela Saenz Castro (Universidad de Buenos Aires), Reclamos indígenas y justicia. Los viajes a la Real Audencia de Buenes Aires a fines de la colonia
- 2018 Cristian Miguel Poczynok (Universidad de Buenos Aires), Los derechos de propiedad de la tierra en Hispanoamérica entre los siglos XVIII y XIX: un balance desde los aportes de la historia cultural y crítica del derecho (vea el informe sobre su estancia).
Call 2026
The eighth call for applications for the "Doucet Scholarship” is open and the deadline for sending applications for a stay from January to March 2026 (05.01.–31.03.2026) is 15 September 2025.
Specifically, the financial support consists of a scholarship of 1,365 €; reimbursement of the airfare (up to 1,500 € for transatlantic flights, 750 € for flights within Europe). There is also the possibility of renting a room in the Institute's residences (available for full months and costs approx. 680 € per month).
Young researchers may submit proposals on the legal history in early modern Hispanoamerica, directly related to the monographs and editions of sources that make up the Doucet Collection.
Applications (CV, project description and motivation letter regarding the use of the Doucet Collection) are to be submitted in Spanish or English by 15 September 2025 via our online application form.
If you have any questions regarding the content of your application, please contact sekduve@lhlt.mpg.de.