1807 - History Lab

The El Escorial Conspiracy as seen by an exiled Jesuit (1808)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:33:11 +0000

The document deals with the so-called Conspiracy of El Escorial from the point of view of the Jesuit exile. This conspiracy consisted of a plot led by Prince Ferdinand of Bourbon to depose Manuel Godoy. It is suspected that the conspiracy was ultimately intended to remove Charles IV from the throne. The Ferdinand attempts failed on 28 October 1807 when the King ordered Ferdinand’s arrest. How did the Jesuits deal with this attempt? The conspiracy was viewed sympathetically; the diary of the Jesuit Manuel Luengo gives evidence of the thoughts of this group: Ferdinand was a victim of Godoy’s political abuses and was entitled to act.

The post The El Escorial Conspiracy as seen by an exiled Jesuit (1808) first appeared on History Lab.

The incluse. The wet nurses. Arturo Barea Square (Madrid)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:27:41 +0000

The video, which is 4.48 minutes long and chronologically presented, is part of “Madrid, Ciudad de las Mujeres”, a cultural and tourist application where the traces of women in the city of Madrid are recovered http://madridciudaddelasmujeres.es/. As indicated in the presentation on the website, to which we refer for this description, the Inclusa de Madrid was a charitable institution dedicated to collecting abandoned children that in 1807 was installed in a large house located in the Plaza de Arturo Barea. The institution, founded two centuries earlier, took in an average of a thousand children a year. Some were abandoned in the adjoining Casa de la Maternidad and others in the lathes that were scattered around Madrid. According to its statutes, the objectives of the Inclusa were to “prevent infanticide and save the honour of mothers” as well as to collect “all children born of illegitimate conception”. Although it could function as a place of temporary abandonment or a place of redistribution of abandoned children among the families of the neighbourhood in exchange for a small amount of money, with the construction of this building it was planned to house them up to the age of seven. The wet nurses of the incluse are a clear example of how care has historically been entrusted to women, especially those from the most fragile economic strata, who made their milk available externally. Women who practised the so-called “mercenary breastfeeding”, a widespread custom among the middle and upper classes. Their working conditions were not good, and not only because of the possibility of falling ill, but also because of their low economic compensation. The Inclusa became a privileged setting in which to debate about care, payment for care and its impact on women’s lives.

The post The incluse. The wet nurses. Arturo Barea Square (Madrid) first appeared on History Lab.

Teresa Montalvo a salonnière. Calle de la Luna (Madrid)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:27:41 +0000

Teresa Montalvo was a Cuban intellectual whose literary and political salon shone in Madrid at the end of the 18th century, located in an estate that no longer exists on Calle Luna and the old Calle Panaderos. Married to the Count of Jaruco, Teresa’s life changed when she moved to Madrid in 1789. In the capital, her intelligence, personality and social skills turned her house, where she had a large library, into a political, economic and cultural centre that was frequented by Goya, Moratín and other writers and intellectuals of the time. Despite her personal difficulties, such as the death of her husband in 1807 or the rumours that identified her as the lover of José I during the War of Independence, her figure is considered a catalyst of Enlightenment ideas, a facilitator of projects and business – especially between Spain and Cuba – and an intelligent person who knew how to make the most of the Spanish court customs of the time. The video, 4.48 minutes long, is part of “Madrid, Ciudad de las Mujeres”, a cultural and touristic application where the traces of women in the city of Madrid are recovered http://madridciudaddelasmujeres.es/ and to which we refer for this description.

The post Teresa Montalvo a salonnière. Calle de la Luna (Madrid) first appeared on History Lab.