Casas Ibáñez - History Lab

Household structure in Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez (Albacete) by sex and marital status (1753)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:40 +0000

The family structure of the household provides us with a great deal of information to configure the society of the Ancien Régime. The Cadastre of the Marqués de la Ensenada, one of the main sources of study for the 18th century, offers us a complete vision of the Castilian household. Particularly, in this case, María del Mar Simón’s research on two rural areas on the banks of the river Júcar in La Manchuela Albacetense, Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez, reflects a generalised trend in an environment well defined by its rural dynamics and economy based on irrigated crops, hemp and flax for the production of textiles in the case of Jorquera, and dry crops, such as saffron and cereal, in the case of Casas Ibáñez. In both towns, the number of married households far exceeded the rest of the compositions (77.37% in Jorquera and 69.29% in Casas Ibáñez), highlighting the importance of widows as heads of household (12.10% and 13.19%), while male widowers tended to have second marriages. The male sector stands out, comparatively speaking, in the area of bachelorhood. One of the main reasons for this is the age of marriage, which is later for men than for women. Churchmen, subject to celibacy, also swelled the ranks of single heads of households, although this position is not considered by the author to be statistically significant. In sum, the male-headed household constituted 72.28% of single women compared to 27.72% of single women.

The post Household structure in Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez (Albacete) by sex and marital status (1753) first appeared on History Lab.

Size and composition of the household in the state of Jorquera (Albacete) according to its structure. 1753

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:40 +0000

The towns of Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez are located in La Manchuela albacetense. The former, on the banks of the Júcar, had its economic configuration around irrigated farming, while the latter focused on dry farming, mainly with the cultivation of cereals and saffron. In the mid 18th century, according to data from the Ensenada Cadastre, the heads of the family households were married (72.75% on average of the two towns). This meant that the rest were households headed by bachelors (9.35%) and widowers (17.79%) of both sexes. This resource analyses the composition of these households, which had an average size of 3.76 persons per residential unit in Jorquera, and 3.49 in Casas Ibáñez (excluding servants). These figures are slightly below the demographic context of neighbouring towns: Abengibre with 4.03; Alatoz with 4.09; and Alcalá del Júcar with 4.55. By household typology, the largest size is represented by 4+5 households (extended households and multiple households), followed by nuclear households (type 3), households without structure (2) and solitary households (1). The defining characteristics of the household types themselves set the trends in size, but not in their total number. The primacy of the nuclear household was total and in stark contrast to the solitary, extended and multiple households.

The post Size and composition of the household in the state of Jorquera (Albacete) according to its structure. 1753 first appeared on History Lab.

Age groups, sex and marital status of heads of household in Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez (Albacete, 1753)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:40 +0000

The marital status of the heads of household, regardless of their sex, is directly associated with the stage of the life cycle. In 1753, according to the Ensenada Cadastre, in the towns of Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez in Albacete, the majority of married people were between 25 and 34 years of age, with men and women entering marriage at an age close to the lower end of the range. Among the single heads of household, there is a majority female presence among young women under 25, while men stand out in the 25-34 age range. On the other hand, the highest number of widowers is found in the 55-64 age bracket, and decreases in the over 65 age bracket (due to remarriage); widows stand out in the same age bracket as men, however, there is a significantly higher figure in the 45-54 age bracket with 32.14% compared to 17.78% for men. In this way we can follow the life cycle of these municipalities of La Manchuela: within the group of young bachelors, men married a few years later than women, women were widowed earlier and tended to be single, while men tended to remarry from the age of 55 onwards.

The post Age groups, sex and marital status of heads of household in Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez (Albacete, 1753) first appeared on History Lab.

Distribution of children in Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez according to sex and age (1752-1753)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:40 +0000

During the years of the Ensenada Cadastre, in the municipalities of Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez (Albacete) 78% of the children were under 18 years of age. Of these, 54% were male. Extending the margin up to the age of 25, the age at which they were considered to be of legal age in the mid-18th century, the figures only become more consolidated. From the age of 25 onwards, the number of offspring in the household dropped significantly to only 5%. The author offers us the key to the demographic dynamics of youth: the age of entry into marriage (23 for women and 25 for men). The later entry into marriage on the part of men underpinned their status as offspring belonging to the original family household, as they were conditioned by their father’s apprenticeship in the trade. In the families of artisans, muleteers or small farmers, this help in the workforce was an important added value. On the other hand, during the sample’s childhood, there was a predominance of males over females, confirming the demographic rule that, in general, more males than females were born.

The post Distribution of children in Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez according to sex and age (1752-1753) first appeared on History Lab.

Types of servants in the middle of the 18th century in Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez (Albacete)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:40 +0000

The servants were, within the households, a productive part of the family economy in the rural world. In this context, the data offered by the author with the analysis of the towns of Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez, in the province of Albacete, go in this direction. The majority of the servants (73 out of 176) were livestock servants, followed by domestic servants (52) and labour servants (40). Thus, the majority of servants were linked to agricultural and livestock tasks (64.2%). It was also common for wealthy families to have servants who served more for ostentatious than productive purposes. They accounted for 29.54%, 80% of whom were named after women. Their work was centred on domestic assistance and care. In contrast to livestock and labour servants, service servants tended to live in their masters’ homes. Finally, in the “others” section of the resource, we find servants serving in the trades of merchants, artisans and other liberal professions, which were in the minority in this rural environment and whose performance did not require a servant so much as an apprentice son. Six per cent, 11 out of 176, corresponded to this type of work.

The post Types of servants in the middle of the 18th century in Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez (Albacete) first appeared on History Lab.

Distribution of the group of servants in Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez according to their areas of origin (Albacete, 1753)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:40 +0000

The resource shows the geographical mobility of the servants to rural towns such as Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez, in the current province of Albacete. During the years of the Cadastre of the Ensenada, the basic mobility was registered in servants coming from the region of the State of Jorquera, where both municipalities are located. In a radial fashion, the further away from the interior, the less strong the power of attraction; thus the province of Cuenca and the Kingdoms of Valencia and Murcia nourished this group in decreasing numbers. Finally, it was the northern areas of the peninsula that were the last to incorporate labour force to Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez. This general tendency of the population to move from north to south in search of work and new opportunities was, as the author points out, a constant during the Modern Age.

The post Distribution of the group of servants in Jorquera and Casas Ibáñez according to their areas of origin (Albacete, 1753) first appeared on History Lab.

Distribution of servants according to age in some towns in the province of Albacete in the mid-18th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:33 +0000

Within the province of Albacete, the majority of servants and servants were young (up to 25 years of age). After that age, their number decreased, although it was equally important (42.1% of the total). These data acquire significance if we take into account their life cycle. The Cadastre of the Marquis de la Ensenada for the town of Villarrobledo shows that of the 368 whose marital status is known, there were no married women; among the men, 31.5% were already married and 5% were widowed. Returning to age, the internal hierarchisation of work was related to the length of experience in the work performed: age. Thus, the work of young servants was secondary or subordinate; likewise, the pay was lower.

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The post Distribution of servants according to age in some towns in the province of Albacete in the mid-18th century first appeared on History Lab.