Amount of the gross income of bishops (annual average in reales de vellón)

This table shows the evolution of the incomes of the Spanish bishops located both in the Crown of Castile and in the Crown of Aragon. As the table shows, over the next two centuries the income of these bishops practically multiplied. This situation brings us back to the context of the church in Spain. The members of this institution often did not enter it by their own vocation. The structuring of society based on the entailed the need to place the second-class members of the wealthy families, and the church was one of the most frequent destinations. After all, apart from the prestige that could be reaped by growing up, the church guaranteed an income that allowed the religious to support themselves. On the other hand, the extraordinary situation that arose with the irruption of the Protestant reform demanded a response that materialised in the Catholic reform, in which the number of clergy increased. However, the enormous growth of the clergy caused concern at the highest political levels. Above all because, apart from receiving income, the clergy were exempt from paying taxes. The first signs of this problem were already reflected in the Junta de Reformación proposed by Olivares, in which he urged control of the granting of licences to build new convents or to train more religious. However, the problem did not seem to improve, although other politicians tried to come up with new solutions, such as the Count of Oropesa during the reign of Charles II.

Collection: Statistics

Project: 2. Social and economic impact of technological revolutions in Europe., 5. Power and powers in the history of Europe: oligarchies, political participation and democracy.

Chronology: XVI, XVII, XVIII

Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University

Link: https://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/10045/44686/1/Revista-de-Historia-Moderna_32.pdf

Resource type: Statistics

Format: Table

Source: Relaciones de valores de las mitras enviadas a las Secretarías del Real Patronatode Castilla y de Aragón. Abarcan un periodo que va desde mediados del siglo XVI hasta 1834. Seencuentran en los archivos de la Corona de Aragón de Barcelona, General de Simancase Histórico Nacional de Madrid.

Language: Spanish

Date: 2014

Owner: Djebril Bouzidi (Modernalia)

Identifier: Relaciones de valores de las mitras enviadas a las Secretarías del Real Patronatode Castilla y de Aragón. Abarcan un periodo que va desde mediados del siglo XVI hasta 1834. Seencuentran en los archivos de la Corona de Aragón de Barcelona, General de Simancase Histórico Nacional de Madrid.

Abstract: Gross income of the bishops in Spain during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries