Castilla-La Mancha - History Lab

Life cycle and peasantry in the Sierra de Alcaraz (1753)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:31 +0000

One of the most characteristic groups due to their mobility and social reproduction during the Modern Age were the labour and livestock labourers. The large number of this profession, together with that of labourer and farm labourer, marked the labour activities for young people up to 35 years of age in the Sierra de Alcaraz, a study area in central-southern Spain. Why did it increase so much up to that age? These activities were a good way to enter the world of work. Of the three dominant professional groups, from the age of 35 onwards, it was the young men who abandoned their work the most to seek another livelihood, normally sponsored by the clientele networks they had acquired in their old trade, while the day labourers and farm labourers remained relatively stable until the age of 45. This structure is influenced by the life cycles of the protagonists; the departure from the family nucleus, where many of the young men’s own tasks were carried out, led them to seek another form of independent life.

The post Life cycle and peasantry in the Sierra de Alcaraz (1753) first appeared on History Lab.

Distribution of land ownership in the Sierra de Alcaraz (1753). Cultivated land.

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:31 +0000

In mountain areas such as the Sierra de Alcaraz, land ownership was conditioned by the orography of the territory. In 1753, 28.3% of the land in this mountain range was under cultivation. Of this figure, almost 50% of the cultivation belonged to only 2% of the owners. Likewise, almost half of the total landowners owned only 2% of the arable land. The marked imbalance of ownership translated into different economic benefits: the concentration of land in a few hands meant that 17% of landowners owned more than 1,000 reals of gross produce, a figure that rose to more than 40,000 for the few individuals who owned the most; again, conversely, more than 70% of landowners owned less than 500 reals of produce. The rest of the uncultivated land, 71.7%, could belong to the Council, which was also controlled by the local elites. Livestock farming, like agriculture, showed the same tendency towards concentration in the hands of a few individuals. The survival and future of the less well-off depended on the leasing of land, either for cultivation or as pasture for livestock. These data are but one concrete example of the inequalities that existed in the Ancien Régime and which were perpetuated throughout southern Spain.

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The post Distribution of land ownership in the Sierra de Alcaraz (1753). Cultivated land. first appeared on History Lab.

Wide looms at work in Toledo in 1692

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:07 +0000

During the Modern Age in the city of Toledo, the silk weaving industry stood out. From its great splendour in the 16th century, it began to decline from the last quarter of the century until its disappearance at the end of the 18th century or the beginning of the 19th century. The legislation in force and the guild’s own constrictions, added to the discrimination against artisans from other cities such as Valencia, led them to paralyse their looms in 1737 as a sign of their discontent.
As the author of the article points out, at the end of the 17th century (in 1690) there were 530 looms in operation in Toledo, falling to 500 a year later and decreasing drastically to 285 in 1692, the time of the appeal. According to testimonies of the time, the cause of this decline was the radical increase in the price of silk; for a few months this raw material did not arrive in Toledo, which forced many manufacturers to cease production directly.
Faced with this situation, the overseers of Toledo asked for methodological and technical exemptions so as not to have to adjust to the weight required for their products, alleging inconsistent guidelines such as the fact that thicker silks did not fit together well or that clothes with a smaller amount of weaving could be of higher quality. In the face of their submissions and evidence, the Board of Trade accepted their tolerance of these modifications. A year later, in 1693, the number of looms in operation rose again to 622.

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Disentailed assets sold in Castile-La Mancha (1836-1844)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:27 +0000

In the liquidation of the Ancien Régime system, three major agrarian reforms were carried out by the liberal governments. The three disentailments had a great socio-economic impact, as the primary sector was the hegemonic sector in the Modern Age: the disentailments of Godoy (1798), of Mendizábal and Espartero (1836-1844) and the General Disentailment (1855-1895). But what were the disentailments? They were measures that put assets belonging to the Church, the municipalities and the aristocracy that could not be bought or sold up for auction. The aim was to liberalise the agrarian sector by changing the ownership of land and to increase the Treasury’s accounts with the auctions. The reality was that the auctioned land was bought back by the same people who owned it, without changing the ownership structures. Moreover, the disentailed collective and communal lands became private property. Wage-earning peasants, for their part, saw their traditional rights eroded as the concept of land ownership changed.
In Castile-La Mancha, the disentailment of 1836 particularly affected the province of Toledo, with 10,586 estates affected, which were valued at 66.9 million reales and sold at auction for 159.8 million reales. These figures for Toledo accounted for 5% of the national total. The province that contributed the least was Albacete with 772 estates valued at 6.7 million and sold for 11.9, a lower percentage improvement than the rest of the provinces (Ciudad Real 3,370 estates valued at 21 million and sold for 54.4; Cuenca 1,463 estates valued at 13.5 and auctioned for almost double that: 24.2; and Guadalajara with 10,354, valued at 20.6 and sold for 36.6). In sum, the disentailed Castilian-La Mancha lands were valued at 129 million and sold for almost 287 million, 9% of the national total.

The post Disentailed assets sold in Castile-La Mancha (1836-1844) first appeared on History Lab.

Approximation to the value of dowry letters in the Sierra de Alcaraz in the 18th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:27 +0000

The dowry was the movable and immovable property that the woman brought to the marriage. Its amount and composition varied according to the economic possibilities of the family: clothes, kitchen utensils, furniture and household goods were the most common. From the studies carried out in the Sierra de Alcaraz (province of Albacete) for the 18th century, we obtain that the average value of the dowry was 10,086 reals. This average is the result of a clear inequality between the few most valuable dowries (10% of the dowries were worth more than 25,000 reales, accounting for 44% of the overall amount) and the greater number of dowries with a value ranging between 1,000 and 5,000 reales: 52% of the cases. This 52% is a reflection of the general economic inequality, although regional variables can be observed; in the cities of Lorca and Murcia this percentage drops to 40; the party of Cáceres shows similar data, although the city of Cáceres doubles the average amount of the dowry in relation to the Sierra de Alcaraz. The variability is explained through socio-economic factors predominant in each place, as well as its demographic structure and property ownership.

The post Approximation to the value of dowry letters in the Sierra de Alcaraz in the 18th century first appeared on History Lab.

Socio-professional group and sex of the relatives in the jurisdiction of the city of Alcaraz (1753-1787)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:27 +0000

Within the studies on the family, the analysis based on sex reveals the different characteristics of the household: productive, welfare or ostentatious. The professions set the trends: while among labourers and day labourers the proportion of male relatives living in the household was around 40-45%, merchants, waiters and the liberal professions had the fewest, with 28.6%, 20% and 33.3% respectively. Between 1753 and 1787, the parameters were reversed, with the domestic aggregate among the clergy (from 35.3% to 80.8%), waiters (from 20% to 63.8%) and merchants (28.6% to 65.4%) standing out. In general terms, the presence of men in the household increased by 29.5%, while the number of women fell from 192 (59.6%) to 125 (31.4%). Finally, it is worth noting the importance of servants in the household. By sex, these were determined according to the professions of their employers; in 1753, while among the farm labourers almost 95% of the servants were men, among the members of the liberal professions, women accounted for 40%, a figure which increased over time.

The post Socio-professional group and sex of the relatives in the jurisdiction of the city of Alcaraz (1753-1787) first appeared on History Lab.

Contributions to marriage in the Sierra de Alcaraz according to wills (18th century)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:27 +0000

Wills, like wills and letters of dowry, were another way of contributing movable and immovable property to the marriage. Being a much more widespread practice than dowry deeds, their information is of great importance. From the set of wills studied for the Sierra de Alcaraz (province of Albacete) in the 18th century, we found that in around 35-45% of the cases the contracting parties had contributed something to the marriage. Of the total cases, 41.3% had brought no more than 500 reales, a small figure compared to the average: 3,566 reales. In terms of gender, women contributed more frequently than men, but their value was lower than that of men (averages of 2,687.5 versus 5,170.9 reais). The differentiation between men and women was also determined by what they contributed; while men tended to give tools linked to agricultural work (tools, chickens, small livestock or grain), women’s goods corresponded to the domestic sphere (clothes, frying pans, beds…). Affective relationships within the family were evident when the kinsmen helped their maidens with goods. In the same way, friends could contribute to the dowry of the woman, although these cases were more widespread the higher the social and economic status of the bride’s family.

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Children over 25 years old in the household by socio-professional group (jurisdiction of the city of Alcaraz)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:27 +0000

The study of household composition leads us to focus on family forces over the age of 25. While women tended to marry early, maids and men who continued to live together in the household did so because of the type of family economy, social status, or various situations such as widowhood or the illness of their parents. Therefore, the professions of the fathers conditioned the future of the sons; the family had political strategies for its reproduction and social maintenance. Therefore, trades such as craftsmen and merchants, where labour was important, tended to be patrimonialised by the family, initiating their descendants into the guild. For their part, labourers, farm labourers and day labourers needed productive labour forces to cultivate the land, although the unequal distribution of land ownership meant that many of these trades depended on specific leases, causing children to seek other alternatives. At the end of the 18th century, these trends only became more pronounced, with women’s percentage growth being particularly noteworthy.

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Household structure and socio-professional group in the Sierra de Alcaraz in 1753

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:27 +0000

The socio-professional group to which one belonged tended to determine the structure of the household. An example of this is the data provided by the Cadastre of the Marqués de la Ensenada for the study of the Sierra de Alcaraz (1753). By professions, farmers, tradesmen and, above all, the groups in the administration and liberal professions have a higher proportion of complex households than day labourers and wage earners. The county average is set by the crafts and trades sector. From these groups, women and farm and livestock labourers, together with the clergy, make up the majority of the solitary household figures. In the formation of the different family groups, numerous variables appear, such as material wealth, status, mentality, family and individual projection, all of which are reflected in the trades carried out by the heads of the family.

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Typology of the heirs in the Sierra de Alcaraz in the 18th century

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:27 +0000

The transmission of property is fundamental to explain the material perpetuation of families. In most cases, children were designated as heirs, although in their absence, the property was passed on to other members of the family. Of the cases studied for the Sierra de Alcaraz, in the province of Albacete, in the 18th century almost 85% of the inheritances were destined to children, followed by spouses (9%), siblings (6.9%), grandchildren (4.6%) and nephews and nieces (3.3%). The data provided by the Sierra de Alcaraz follow the practices of the egalitarian model of the Castilian inheritance system; a descending level of transmission and with relative equivalences between men and women (53.76% and 46.24% respectively). In terms of matrimonial status, in the transmission of assets, an attempt was made to put unmarried children on an equal footing with gifted children if they had married, so that the eldest son did not benefit more than the others as a general rule. On the contrary, younger children could be given advantages because they had not yet left the family nucleus and were able to help with the work or assist the testators when they were ill. If the children were young, the spouses were appointed curators and usufructuaries or, in their absence, the closest relatives.

The post Typology of the heirs in the Sierra de Alcaraz in the 18th century first appeared on History Lab.