Cuenca represented the living image of the crisis of the 17th century in which its population, productive activity and wealth had declined enormously. At the same time, at the end of the century, a slight recovery could be glimpsed among its neighbours and the recovery of Cuenca’s flourishing textile industry of the past. However, the impact of the subsistence crises during the modern period caused by natural phenomena with their consequences on prices, mortality or marriage rates, tried to be attenuated by the interventions of the municipal administration. In October 1709, the lack of wheat became evident, making it necessary to resort to the Cathedral Chapter so that its members could deliver grain for the supply. The Council of Castile revealed how some councillors did not comply with the grain pragmatic order, selling wheat at 38 reales per bushel. In other places, such as Sanlúcar de Barrameda, the price of a bushel of wheat reached 120 reales and bread 47 cuartos, making it impossible for the average worker to buy it on a daily wage of 5 or 6 reales. The rise in the price of wheat hit Cuenca and Murcia particularly hard in 1709, while in towns in the north of Castile such as Burgo de Osma the price rose to a lesser extent. In the southern half of the peninsula, in Jaén, the price began to stabilise around 1708, as from 1709 the maximum price per bushel was set at 28 reales.
Collection: Graphics
Project: 2. Social and economic impact of technological revolutions in Europe., 3. Rural world and urban world in the formation of the European identity.
Chronology: XVIII
Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University
Link: https://adeh.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ADEH-2020-1-Victor-Alberto-Garcia-Heras.pdf
Resource type: Graph
Format: Line chart
Source: García Heras, Víctor Alberto, «Crisis poblacional: Escasez, conflicto y mortalidad. La Guerra de Sucesión en Cuenca», Revista de Demografía Histórica, vol. 38, nº1, 2020, pp. 7–35.
Language: Spanish
Date: 2020
Owner: Álvaro Romero González (Modernalia)
Copyright: ©Víctor Alberto García Heras; ©Revista de Demografía Histórica
Abstract: Evolution of prices per bushel in Spain through examples in different Spanish provinces following the War of Succession
Image
Tags
