Barcelona - History Lab

Collection of the Bolla Tax in Barcelona (1599-1695)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:41 +0000

The so-called “derecho de bolla” was an indirect tax applied to all goods sold in Catalonia during the 16th century until 1769. Within the Catalan market, the textile industry was an important sector. The graph shows a decrease in the collection of the bolla tax from 1599 to 1695. Undoubtedly, as the author points out, the decline of the Catalan textile sector meant lower revenues. The industry of this product lost competitiveness as a result of the counterfeiting that took place, both in the fabric and in the dyes. This was compounded by the massive influx of fabrics from central and northern Europe. Even with margins for modernisation of the sector, the “War of Separation or the War of the Reapers” between 1640 and 1659, with the incorporation of Catalonia into French sovereignty after the betrayal of the Catalan elites to the Spanish Monarchy, led to the numerous imports of French products into this territory, increasing the level of tax collection of the bolla duty despite the detriment of the local product. The demographic decline also led to lower consumption and production; nevertheless, the level of tax collection was bicephalic. Thus, the level of consumption was just as important as the effective collection capacity of the authorities, a capacity that led to collection problems due to political and social instability.

The post Collection of the Bolla Tax in Barcelona (1599-1695) first appeared on History Lab.

Average ages of servant boys and girls in the advertisements of the Diario de Barcelona (1795-1849)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:36 +0000

The graph shows the evolution of the age of access to the labour market for child servants between the end of the Ancien Régime and the beginning of the industrial economy. The spatial scope situates us in Barcelona, and the periods covered have “gaps” of information based on episodes that altered the sources, such as the War of Independence. The author points out that during the period between 1795 and 1850, the variation in age was a response to the work to be carried out by the children: while girls between 9 and 10 years of age began to work as nannies, boys who began to work at that age were employed as footmen. However, the age of majority was between 13 and 14 for girls and 14 and 15 for boys. The physical development of adolescence allowed them to carry out harder and heavier work in the service they performed. After the end of the Ancien Régime, the ages of access to work were not affected, showing this resource as an example of continuity in socio-economic practices.

The post Average ages of servant boys and girls in the advertisements of the Diario de Barcelona (1795-1849) first appeared on History Lab.

Cities where Francesc Veray’s books were printed (1787)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:25 +0000

Through the analysis of the personal book collection of Francesc Veray, vicar general of the bishopric of Girona, it is possible to establish the formats, places and dates of printing of the copies in his library. This data is of great interest as it provides unpublished information on the international book trade and the dissemination of printed copies at the time.
Thanks to the data collected in the document describing Frances Veray’s library, the main publishing centres of the 17th and 18th centuries can be seen, as well as the real capacity to spread these publishing imprints through international trade networks.
32.3% of the works analysed were printed in Venice, while 16% were printed in Lyon, making up 44.2% of the total between the two cities. By country, 38% of the volumes came from Italy, followed by Spain with 24.2%, France with 17.7%, Geneva with 13% and Germanic cities with 2.3% of the total. Within our borders, Catalan and Madrid printers stand out.
The predominance of Venice as the main publishing centre occurred especially during the 18th century, due to its great publishing capacity and the already established publishing trade networks that it possessed, both being the fundamental causes of this primacy in its printing presses.

The post Cities where Francesc Veray’s books were printed (1787) first appeared on History Lab.

Militia maintained in Barcelona (1534-1553)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:20 +0000

The city of Barcelona was characterised by an armed society for much of the modern period. This was due to the city’s strategic location on the border with France, which, together with the statutes that only allowed arming armies for self-defence, led Charles I to grant permission to arm citizen armies in 1544. In this way, the monarchy not only ensured cost savings, but also allowed the area to be well protected against invasion attempts. The possession of arms in this context was much higher in the third estate than among the nobility or the militia, which shows the existence of widespread smuggling. This led to serious public order problems during the reign of Philip II, specifically between 1575 and 1590, when veritable networks of bandits were set up, creating a climate of insecurity that was difficult to remedy.

The post Militia maintained in Barcelona (1534-1553) first appeared on History Lab.

Ships entering Barcelona carrying American cotton, 1781-1799 (in pounds)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:57 +0000

The growth of Spanish trade through the American trade at the end of the 18th century played an important role in the beginnings of the Catalan cotton industry. Two of the main points on the peninsula were the main points for the entry and re-export of American goods: Barcelona and Cadiz, with the latter enclave assuming a predominant position between 1760 and 1770, as in 1790 the city of Cadiz took the lead until 1796. The year 1787 is considered a year of commercial and industrial paralysis as Catalonia experienced an economic crisis, which had an impact on cotton imports. However, the recovery and leadership in cotton imports reached its peak in 1793 when Barcelona received a total of 27 ships with American cotton, as well as in 1784 and 1791, years in which several large shipments were received. On the other hand, the right-hand column shows the number of Catalan ships involved in importing American cotton. In this sense, the Catalan shippers established an autonomous stake in the colonial trade.

The post Ships entering Barcelona carrying American cotton, 1781-1799 (in pounds) first appeared on History Lab.

Exports of raw cotton from Spain (in pounds)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:57 +0000

The growth of Spanish trade through the American trade at the end of the 18th century played an important role in the beginnings of the Catalan cotton industry. Two of the main points on the peninsula were the main points of entry and re-export of American cotton: Barcelona and Cadiz, with the latter enclave assuming a predominant position between 1760 and 1770, as in 1790 the city of Cadiz took the lead until 1796. In that year, the development of the extent of the international trade in Spanish colonial cotton changed. The dimensions between 1792-1795 were captured in the trade balances of those years. This table shows how most of the cotton was destined for Great Britain, although France also held a significant share before the outbreak of war with Spain, in addition to the importance of Italy as a buyer, especially from 1796 onwards.

The post Exports of raw cotton from Spain (in pounds) first appeared on History Lab.

Origins of cotton imported into Spain, 1781-1796 (in pounds)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:57 +0000

The growth of Spanish trade through the American trade at the end of the 18th century played an important role in the beginnings of the Catalan cotton industry. Two of the main peninsular points of entry and re-export of the American goods were Barcelona and Cadiz, with the latter enclave assuming a predominant position between 1760 and 1770, as in 1790 the city of Cadiz took the lead until 1796. The details of the ports of origin of the cotton delivered later are listed in the approvals of the free trade regulations. In this sense, the extension of the Hispanic Monarchy provided the possibility of taking advantage of the resources of two civilisations where cotton was one of the dominant textile fibres. In the American space, within the supply zone, there were some important variations in terms of suppliers. Havana enjoyed a brief hegemony until the mid-1780s. However, this region for which there is little evidence of cotton growth on the island served primarily as an entrepôt for trade, a role strengthened during the American War of Independence in the late 18th century. Cotton was imported from the viceroyalty of La Plata at this early stage. In contrast, Vera Cruz and Cartagena were also important suppliers and from 1790 the ports of Callao and Guayaquil in the Viceroyalty of Peru became regular suppliers. In 1796 a shift eastwards in supply was evident as new points emerged such as Maracaibo, Cumaná, Nueva Guayana and Trinidad.

The post Origins of cotton imported into Spain, 1781-1796 (in pounds) first appeared on History Lab.

Weaving establishments and number of looms in Catalonia, by judicial districts, in 1841

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:57 +0000

The post Weaving establishments and number of looms in Catalonia, by judicial districts, in 1841 first appeared on History Lab.

Monthly wages in spinning and weaving in Catalonia according to the type of spinning, in 1841 (reals of fleece)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:57 +0000

Until the 1970s, the eighteenth-century Indian factories had constituted the continuity of Catalan industry during the nineteenth century. In this sense, Catalan industrialisation did not respond to an exclusive Barcelona model, but rather emerged as a response to the diverse productive structures of the territory, combining the new fibre with new technologies. Nevertheless, cotton reinforced Barcelona in the industry by being the point of entry and distribution. Although there are certain inconsistencies in the different areas, the data are fairly homogeneous. In the area of spinning with mules, wages were much higher. Men earned 272-298 reais as opposed to women, who earned 116-146 while a child earned between 50-59 reais; in the berdagana zones men earned between 146-164, women 59.2-76.8 and children between 33.4-33.6.something similar happened with weaving, since based on the average of the prices of the different parties, men in the mule area charged 62% more than those in the berdeganas area, women 70% more and children 47% more. In weaving, men were paid 28.9% more, women 100% more and children 26.5% more. In Manresa, all salaries were in an intermediate position, while in Reus, weavers were close to Barcelona salaries. Therefore, there were significant wage differences from one area to another.

The post Monthly wages in spinning and weaving in Catalonia according to the type of spinning, in 1841 (reals of fleece) first appeared on History Lab.

100 households in the Sant Pere neighbourhood according to household structure and gender of the head of household, Barcelona, 1770

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:52 +0000

Barcelona in the last third of the seventeenth century was a city in constant change. These changes were reflected in the urban fabric and in the configuration of households. The transformations described above led, through population growth and immigration, to urban densification in the artisan and manufacturing districts, where there was a progressive partitioning of the existing dwellings. The economic differentiation between the working-class and urban strata led to a sharpening of the native population: the distance between the unionised and non-unionised craftsmen, the gradual proletarianisation of apprentices, etc. The increase in the price of housing stimulated various forms of cohabitation and the corresponding appearance of complex households. The methodology proposed by Laslett has made it possible to offer a typology of one hundred households analysed. Following the Cambridge author, the household was defined as the existence or not of servant corresidents. Therefore, one of the results is the scant weight of simple households that coincide with the profile of the nuclear family of biological origin (only 31% belong to this group). Indeed, co-residence was decisive in the processes of immigration and insertion into the urban fabric, allowing newcomers to obtain a roof over their heads and an indispensable network; moreover, it was a key complementary source for balancing the family budget and compensating for the specificities of the labour market, as shown by the incorporation of tenants, lodgers or relatives.

The post 100 households in the Sant Pere neighbourhood according to household structure and gender of the head of household, Barcelona, 1770 first appeared on History Lab.